Warriors’ youngsters can carry franchise

So often it comes down this way when NBA playoff teams are as evenly matched as the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics. A story is written, certain truths emerge, and the ensuing chapter has no bearing on what came before. Discard all your grand proclamations and expect the losing team to answer with a vengeance.

Perhaps the trend has expired after the first four games of the Finals, and the Warriors will use this 2-2 deadlock as a springboard to glory — their fourth title in the eight years of head coach Steve Kerr’s tenure. You certainly wouldn’t put anything past a Stephen Curry -led team after his stunning work of art in Friday night’s Game 4 in Boston.

It’s just that another trend has emerged in these playoffs, all about a luxury that has become necessity. The Warriors have come to realize they’re getting only a half-baked product with their inside game and athleticism, and for a franchise that sets only the highest standards, that will not suffice.

On the bright side, they appear to have an in-house answer. It’s just a shame that it won’t be unveiled for months, when James Wiseman gets back on the court — he get back there, right? — and Jonathan Kuminga becomes an integral part of the system.

It could be dazzling, spectacular, a wondrous look into the future and a way to sustain the Warriors’ elite status in the league. Let’s hope it’s of that, because the current product is pockmarked with limitations.

Robert Williams III, the Boston Celtics’ 6-foot-9 center, is not among the greats at his position. But he has spring in his step and great passion, and during these NBA Finals he has brought to light a recurring issue of the Warriors’ season. Celtics head coach Ime Udoka calls Williams “a multi-dimensional defender” who can “guard on the perimeter, guard in the post, and obviously rim protection is what he has always naturally done.”

In other words, he’s everything the Warriors don’t have along their front line. And he’s outperforming people on a surgically repaired left knee that has been bothering him for three weeks.

This is not to diminish the greatness of Draymond Green, one of the greatest defensive forwards in league history, but he can’t be asked to shut down offensive threats protect the rim against someone he isn’t guarding. Kevon Looney is a franchise treasure, but he badly needs some help when the inside traffic really gets heavy.

At times — those magical episodes when Curry, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole are all in the lineup, scoring like mad — the Green-Looney combination is quite enough. Then there are nights like Wednesday’s Game 3, when the Celtics outscored Golden State 52-26 on points in the paint and held a 47-31 rebounding edge.

The residue wasn’t merely telling; it was downright embarrassing. Especially considering that in times of real crisis, when points must be scored, neither Green nor Looney is willing to take a shot outside 10 feet. Kerr benched Green for a lengthy stretch of the fourth quarter Friday night, and he felt compelled to remove Green on offensive possessions in the frantic final minutes, rushing him right back onto the floor for defense. That took a lot of guts on Kerr’s part, and he’d rather it not become a habit — in this series or any other time. When it comes to the young first-round draft choices, the Warriors merely have snapshots. It’s Kuminga looking like a potentially great defender when he learns the nuances; shooting a nice-looking 3-pointer without hesitation, or throwing down a massive dunk that electrifies the building and changes the game’s immediate nature.

With Wiseman, it’s dribbling downcourt as fast as any NBA center and effortlessly switching hands; becoming a choice option for lob dunks in the Warriors’ ball-movement offense, or appearing to be a potentially great shot-blocker. (He also has a fluid outside stroke, by the way.)

If the Warriors develop these two players as expected, they’ll feel a lot better going against the likes of Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, the Anthony Davis-LeBron James combination, Zion Williamson and Deandre Ayton in the Western Conference. (Ayton is at contractual and spiritual odds with the Suns and can leave as a free agent; Damian Lillard is making sure Portland gets involved.)

For the moment, there’s a championship to win. As challenges go, for the Warriors’ veteran corps, it ranks right near the top.

Wrong number

With the clock running down in Game 4 and the Warriors’ victory in hand, ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy tried to make a comparison between Curry’s Warriors and James’ experience chasing titles in Cleveland, claiming they are “not an overly talented group.” What? There’s nothing special about the Warriors’ three future Hall of Famers, or the club’s promising youth? Wake up, man. … Dumb mistake: Celtics management draping white shirts over every seat at TD Garden for Game 4, creating a “sea of white” that supposedly would intimidate the visiting Warriors. We’ve seen it around the country for years; my friend Big Mike calls it “Midwestern obedience,” everyone in the building just delighted to be dressed alike. That doesn’t work in Boston, a hard-core sports town in which a good many folks (as you noticed) prefer to come as themselves. You figure some of those shirts were discarded like so many hot dog wrappers. The Women’s College World Series was a festival of softball expertise, historically manifested by Oklahoma slugger Jocelyn Alo. She set the NCAA career record with 122 homers, including five in the WCWS as OU won the championship. She hit .515 for the season. And as we learn on si.com from former Sporting Green writer Jake Curtis, she originally had committed to Cal. Alo grew up in Hawaii but her parents both attended Oakland’s Laney College and her grandparents lived in Berkeley when Alo was an eighth-grader and Cal was a national softball powerhouse. But Cal’s program hit the skids, Oklahoma won back-to-back titles in 2016-17, and Alo changed her mind, telling espn.com, “I wasn’t feeling Cal any more.”

For the combination of accomplishment, camaraderie and thrilling entertainment on the ultimate stage, I’ve never seen anything better than the U.S. women’s national team at the 1996 Olympics: Dawn Staley, Jennifer Azzi, Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and coach Tara VanDerveer, just for starters. Their story will be told on an ESPN “30 for 30” show Wednesday at 5 p.m.

The Warriors appear to have an in-house answer. It’s just a shame that it won’t be unveiled for months.