Golden State looks for boost to get through ‘dog days’
The Warriors took the day off Monday.
They’d taken off most of Sunday too, clocking in just in time to score a 120-118 victory over the sub-.500 Miami Heat. The Warriors trailed 118115 with less than a minute to play. They were down 19 points in the first quarter. As was the case Friday night in Phoenix against the worst team in the NBA, the Warriors lacked focus, energy and interest.
Why?
“You want my honest opinion? My honest opinion, it’s the dog days right now,” Draymond Green said. “We usually hit that in January, but we didn’t hit that because we got DeMarcus back. It gave us an extra boost. We’re there right now.”
“We treated it like a Sunday walk in the park,” said Kevin Durant, who had 39 points including a triple that tied the game at 118.
Next Sunday, Durant and the Splash Brothers will be in Charlotte, N.C., for the NBA All-Star game, a genuine walk in the park. But first two more games: tonight against Utah and Wednesday at Portland. NBA SAYS THEY GOOFED >> The Miami Heat wanted a double-dribble call on Durant in the last seconds on Sunday night. On Monday, the NBA agreed.
“Combining video evidence from multiple angles confirms that the ball does not make contact with (Justise Winslow’s) foot/shin and a discontinued dribble should have been called on Durant,” according to a Last Two Minute Report issued by the league.
Without the violation, Durant resumed his dribble, and while he missed a 3-point attempt, Cousins was fouled after grabbing the offensive rebound. Cousins made both free throws with 5.4 seconds left to break a 118-118 tie, and Miami missed a 3-point shot and a tip-in try in the last three seconds.
Not surprisingly, Heat coach Erik
Spoelstra was critical of the call after the game. Spoelstra said on Monday before the Heat took on Denver that his comments were about “accountability all across” the league, including the officials, whose role he called “the worst job in the league.”
The South Florida Sun Sentinel cited an unnamed source as saying the league was not going to fine Spoelstra for his postgame remarks, although the comments included a reference to Golden State taking 26 free throws to eight for Miami.
“I didn’t say anything inflammatory,” Spoelstra said Monday. “I’m allowed to say my piece about that. I didn’t cross the line, so I didn’t anticipate that I would be fined.” DEMARCUS CLOSING IN ON GOAL >> Cousins has yet to receive his wish of playing 30 minutes, but he did close the game Sunday for the first time since returning to action three weeks ago.
With Andre Iguodala out because of left hamstring tightness and the Warriors also wanting to control Hassan Whiteside, the Heat’s 7-foot center, Cousins played from the 3:38 mark until the final five seconds. He had only seven points and three rebounds in 27 minutes, but he made what Kerr called “one of the big plays of the game.” Cousins grabbed an offensive rebound off a Durant miss with 5.4 seconds on the clock, drew a foul and sank both free throws.
“It was a good night for him and for us to feel that kind of defensive pressure. We definitely have to get better at both ends,” Kerr said. “I thought they exposed us on a couple of sets that bothered us over and over again. We have to make some improvement. But that’s always the case. I was really happy he was out there at the end of the game. It was a good experience for him.”
Whenever Iguodala returns to the lineup, it’s likely Cousins will return to sitting at crunch time.