Converting doubters with every victory
The night began with a question of respect. It ended with a resounding answer.
Apparently, the Warriors don’t win big postseason awards. They certainly didn’t get much respect when they were losing Game 3 of the playoffs by a big margin. But they do win games.
Sometimes in miraculous fashion.
On an unforgettable Thursday night in New Orleans, the Warriors earned everyone’s respect with an improbable, glorious overtime win that will take its place among the NBA’s all- time great comebacks.
That’s how it played out on the court. And that’s how it was scripted in the media. The pundits and the critics — online and on TV — rode the roller coaster of Game 3 between Golden State and New Orleans all night. Just like the rest of us.
Before tip- off, the national conversation centered on injustice. How could Steve Kerr not be the Coach of the Year? And what about Draymond Green? He got the most first- place votes for Defensive Player of the Year? And he didn’t win?
It was painted as a clear case of national disrespect on Twitter. East Coast writers don’t watch the Warriors enough, the TV guys said. This is the best team in the NBA, yet they get no respect: That was the buzz.
Then they played the game, and the Warriors did themselves no favors ... at first. It was a disjointed effort, to put it kindly. Poor shooting. Sloppy passing. Shoddy defense. It was all on display, pretty much for the first time all season. And the haters and the doubters came out in full force. ( See, Barkley,
Charles.)
Then came that crazy fourth- quarter comeback. Down 20, the Warriors stormed back, tying the game on a rain- making three by Stephen Curry from the corner that was simply legendary. The Warriors prevailed in OT.
And the respect came rolling in.
“We can take our hat off to Golden State,” said Barkley, the oft- critical TNT analyst.
“Golden State showed me a lot,” said his TNT partner, Shaquille O’Neal.
That was quite a different tune from what they were singing at halftime.
Despite the best record in the league. Despite the best defense in the league. Despite the topscoring offense, there have been plenty of people who have doubted whether the Warriors’ game will stand up in the playoffs. When the wheels came off during the first three quarters, it seemed the haters just might be right.
Barkley was at the front of the line, as usual, but he showed surprising restraint in applying his standard criticism of the jump- shooting Warriors: “We always know with a jump shooting team, it’s always great ... when the shots go in.”
And the Warriors’ shots didn’t go in for most of the night. The Pelicans looked like a different team in the unfortunately named Smoothie King Center, led by star power forward Anthony Davis.
With Davis looking All- World, Barkley took direct aim at Green.
“I don’t know why ( the Pelicans) weren’t posting up Anthony Davis earlier,” said Barkley. “Draymond is a great defender, but he’s too small.”
And the “Round Mound” wasn’t done.
“You ( should) put two big guys down there, with Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green,” said Barkley, intimating that the Warriors’ forwards are just too little. “They’re what I call chairs. It’s like shooting over a chair.”
But, man, those chairs can rebound. Green finished with a game- high 17 and Barnes seven.
After the game, Barkley repeatedly said that the Warriors won not because of Curry but because of Green’s work on the offensive boards. And he was right.
Perhaps the best televised analysis during the game came from Kerr, who had a mike and a camera on him during a fourth- quarter break. Kerr talked to his team calmly about poise. About what got them the best record in the league.
And then he said what most everyone else was thinking: “I don’t recognize what I’m seeing.”
A few minutes later, it all seemed familiar again.