Warriors hope their fans bring along some energy
Curry is excited to see people in the stands again at Chase Center
On Friday — it had been 409 days since the Warriors last played in front of their home crowd and the day fans will were welcomed back to Chase Center for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We got fans coming to Chase Center,” guard Kent Bazemore said Wednesday after Golden State’s loss in Washington. “I cannot wait! Bring it! Let’s go!”
When the Warriors played the Denver Nuggets on Friday night, it will was the first of nine games in which Chase Center will accommodate roughly 6,000 fans that have been either vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19.
Though Warriors players and coaches have occasionally played in front of fans on the road this season, this opportunity to play to a home crowd has the team buzzing as they make their final playoff push.
“We’ve got a lot to look forward to,” head
coach Steve Kerr said Wednesday, before returning to the Bay Area from a five-game trip. “We have fans coming into our building for the first time in a couple of nights and that’s going to give us a lot of energy, a lot of juice.”
The Warriors were 1710 entering Friday night’s game at home this season despite fans not being in attendance. To create any semblance of a tone, the organization at the beginning of the season lowered its championship banners to display behind one of the baskets. Various advertisements have been strategically placed for the television cameras, and a video board of fans mimicked the concept used in last season’s Orlando bubble.
Other than a sparse crowd of select friends and family, Chase Center’s bowl has been covered by a blue tarp with a Warriors logo.
“We are going to enjoy the atmosphere,” guard Stephen Curry said. “I think I’ve talked about it before, it’s definitely noticeable if you have even just a thousand fans in the seats. It makes a huge difference in the atmosphere and whatnot.
“We’ve had a whole season now where we haven’t had any fans, so you’re kind of sick of looking at the blue tarp and want to see some bodies in there.”
The last time Chase Center hosted fans was on March 10, 2020, a Warriors
131-107 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. A night later, the NBA season was postponed when Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus.
In its second season since its grand opening, Chase Center hasn’t been the home of much celebration. Curry suffered a broken left hand in just the second home game of the regular season last year and Golden State stumbled to a 15-50 record before not being invited to the bubble.
Now the Warriors (29-30) are on the cusp of their first playoff berth since 2019. With 13 games remaining — including a six-game
homestand to conclude the regular season — each one matters when it comes to playoff seeding.
“Fans bring an extra set of passion and emotion to the game,” guard Kelly Oubre Jr. said. “So I’m super excited to get back out there and perform in front of them, also hear their chants, their cheers. It’s going to be super exciting.” BAZEMORE OUT >> Bazemore has been entered into the league’s health and safety protocol for coronavirusrelated contact tracing and missed Friday’s game, a team spokesman told the Bay Area News Group.
With Bazemore joins
guard Damion Lee in the protocol. If Bazemore is sidelined for the leaguemandated seven days, he will also miss Sunday’s game against the Kings and Tuesday night’s game against the Mavericks.
This is a tough blow to Golden State, which has won five of its last seven games with Bazemore in the starting lineup. During that span, Bazemore averaged 11.4 points on 46.8% shooting (50% from 3-point range), 4.4 rebounds, two assists and 1.7 steals in 27.6 minutes per game. Kerr moved Bazemore into the starting lineup because of his defense- and pass-first approach.