Maintaining Warrior mojo
The players want to keep energy from pulsating quarter against Blazers
OAKLAND — By the time the Warriors finally take the court again Tuesday night, it will have been more than a week since they staged the most scintillating quarter of basketball of their season, and arguably one of the best in franchise history.
The NBA world is still talking about that 14-0 start, that 35-9 breakout, that pulsating 45-point first period in the Game 4 sweep-out of the Portland Trail Blazers in the opening round. Reflecting on it Saturday, Stephen Curry was still sounding amazed by the synergy of those 12 minutes.
“It all started with our defense,” Curry said. “There’s a certain vibe you can create when you get stops and everybody’s locked in like that.”
Players and coaches say all the time that you don’t want to stop playing when you’re on that kind of perfect-storm performance level. Alas, the Warriors have had to cool their jets for five days now, and they’ll have two more days of down time before facing the Utah Jazz or Los Angeles Clippers at Oracle Arena on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
Can they carry over that
magnificent mojo? Will there be rust? Worse yet, might the team that wins that Game 7 Sunday have its sharp competitive edge from the outset, while the Warriors struggle to find it?
It’s the great unknown of an extended seven-day break like this, but the Warriors don’t sound worried about the game-action inactivity.
“It’s out of our control,” said coach Mike Brown, standing in for the ailing Steve Kerr. “If we were a younger team, I would have a little bit more concern about this, but this is a veteran group. Our nucleus has played deep into the playoffs and they’ve swept teams before, so they’ve been put in this situation. Even when you talk about guys like David West and Kevin Durant, they’ve been with teams that have been in situations like this.”
Brown, who has been through a few extended breaks himself in prior coaching stops, said the Warriors have been staging scrimmages during some of their practices as well as high-intensity conditioning drills to keep players mentally and physically in shape.
“One of our messages to our guys — and they’re very good at this anyway — is when they get what they need, they know how to incorporate stuff and keep themselves going and locked in.”
Two seasons ago when the Warriors won the NBA title, they faced their biggest scare of their entire postseason run after sweeping the New Orleans Pelicans in the opening round. Following a sevenday break, they fell behind the Memphis Grizzlies 2-1 in the Western Conference semifinals and had to win Game 4 in Memphis to stay out of a deep hole. They did that, however, and wound up winning three straight. They also won the opener of that Memphis series following the weeklong layoff, which seemed to dent the idea their deficit was the result of the down time.
Last year, however, they had a four-day break after beating Houston in five games heading into the Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City. The Warriors struggled early in that series, fell behind 3-1, and it took a monumental Klay Thompson performance in Game 6 to pull out that series.
With that evidence in mind, it’s an open question how healthy this latest layoff will be. Then again, the Cleveland Cavaliers had two eight-day breaks last season and wound up winning the championship.
For Curry’s part, he believes every added day of the break is a good thing for the Warriors following the long, arduous regular season.
“It’s definitely a thing for the guys who were a little banged up,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to get rest and come in with fresh legs to the series on Tuesday and the only challenging part is keeping the edge and focus about our practices and understanding the things we’re trying to accomplish every day we’ve come here since Game 4 — keeping our rhythm, staying in shape, remaining sharp skill-wise.”
Curry did admit that having gone through long breaks between series before helps.
“It becomes easier because of experience, yeah,” he said. “Like anything in life, you learn what went right, what went wrong, the next time you know how to do it better. So to have been through this, you just try to pace yourself but at the same keep an edge mentally and physically.”
Durant, who said he n was on a 20-minute limit in Game 4 against Portland, said he’s a full go for Game 1 Tuesday and has been practicing all week. Matt Barnes, who is fighting his way back from a foot sprain, and Shaun Livingston, battling a hand contusion, have also been practicing.
Barnes missed the final two games of the regular season and the entire first round but has been officially upgraded to probable for Game 1 of the second round. Livingston remains questionable. He hurt his hand diving for a loose ball in Game 1 of the Blazers series.
“Honestly, I don’t know what happened,” Livingston said. “I got up and it was all bad. I had a catcher’s mitt (of swelling) on the next day, so I knew it was bad . ... Not all the way (back yet). But hopefully I’ll be ready for Tuesday.”
Brown said Kerr is n keeping in daily communication even while he seeks answers for his spinal condition. Kerr has also made at least one appearance at the Warriors’ practice facility.
“He popped in for a little bit during our coaches’ meeting (Friday),” said Brown.