San Francisco – It is not only the endurance that endurance is compromised. Or the arms become heavy and the declining force. Or the legs losing their spring. Fatigue does its greatest damage to the will. He erodes the resolution, divides decisions, the doubt of the summons.
Fatigue is the best explanation for what we recently saw of the Golden State Warriors. This improper impotence, this fragility which suddenly appeared, starts again from a team flowing over smoke. The more this series has disappeared – and it now goes to match 7 after Houston’s Rockets equalized the series with a 115-107 victory on Friday at the Chase Center – the less the warriors showed. Everyone continues to expect this increase in this Golden State brand, but it came from Houston while the Warriors pulverized.
This is something more than being tired. It is an overly physical connotation. This fatigue is more spiritual, a weariness of the soul, a exhaustion of the mind. The Warriors, when they launched 3 -point despair in vain and turned into a mess in defense, lacked combat, as well as answers. They released the rope late in match 6, making the fourth quarter weakly to a team of rockets teeming with energy, strength and confidence. It was after the Warriors operated at the start of match 5 to keep their energy for a home closing match.
Now, Golden State steals two time zones in Houston, trying to do what they could not at home: win. Sunday will be funeral for their season or a bending of their legendary medal. But they must find the antidote, because it is not resting.
“It has always been difficult to win,” said Steph Curry, star of Warriors. “Like, don’t twist … winning is difficult. Holding it is difficult. There are different challenges to understand a team that tries to withdraw from your pace or your models or anything. You play against a very good team. If you want to gain at the highest level, you have to kiss the hard. Whether it’s the physical challenges to do it at this stage of your career, or whether you play a good team. “”
It is logical that they are plagued by fatigue. Curry is 37 years old. Jimmy Butler is a few months old from 36 years old. Draymond Green has just turned 35. All have all the history of struggle, years of grinding at – and – the superior epic moments fueled by a legendary resolution.
In addition to that, Curry was faced with harassed injuries all year round, including an injured right thumb, and faces the kitchen sink of a physically physical defense. Butler fell from the sky on his coccyx in match 3, and he returned to an assignment to defend rockets of 6 feet 11 inch Alperen şengün in the post and to block Steven Adams, another center of 6 feet 11 inches. Ditto for Green, which is the 6 -inch 6 -inch center of the Warriors and the defensive anchor.
Game 7 of the Warriors at the time of Steph Curry
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result of match 6 | Result of match 7 | Curry g7 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2014 |
Wcqf |
W, 100-99, at home |
L, 126-121, on the road |
33 |
|
|
2016 |
Wcf |
W, 108-101, on the road |
W, 96-88, at home |
36 |
|
|
2016 |
Nbaf |
L, 115-101, on the road |
L, 93-89, at home |
17 |
|
|
2018 |
Wcsf |
W, 115-86, at home |
W, 101-92, on the road |
27 |
|
|
2023 |
Wcqf |
L, 118-99, at home |
W, 120-100, on the road |
50 |
It was always a possible result when they acquired Butler on the deadline for trade, passing through Andrew Wiggins, 30. It worked as a charm, changing the Warriors season. Golden State was back. But how long they could hold was a reasonable question, especially in the West. Gary Payton II is 32 years old, but his style of play makes him feel more like the age of the three great warriors. One of the rare athletes who can match Houston’s explosiveness, Payton joined the starting alignment of match 6 to deal with Fred Vanvleet and take advantage of his rolling. But Payton did not have it on Friday.
The Warriors have lost all of the momentum. Their attack is thirsty, their touched defense. Their remaining hope is a mythological performance of one of their legendary characters.
Curry, which has an average of 32.6 points in five 7 games, must achieve another special performance, similar to its 50-point masterpiece in Sacramento in 2023. Or Butler, whose folk tenacity wanted Miami above Boston in 2023 to go to the NBA final. Or Green, whose career arc mainly started in a match 7 against the clippers in 2014, must somehow invoke generational defensive performance, finding enough fire somewhere without burning warriors in the process.
It could be a surprise performance of someone else. Buddy Hield is becoming hot. Or Brandin Podziemski. Moses Moody plays the game of his life. Jonathan Kuminga transforms his camisole by force into a cape. But all of this seems so unlikely. This series seems increasingly overwhelming for the support of support from the Warriors, and more and more heavy for their stars. The pressure of a match 7 is different, especially on the road. They melted in game 6 at home.
Golden State opened the last quarter down two points, after having gathered enough resilience to stay at a distance from a team of Rockets playing like the seeded n ° 2. But the Warriors responded by missing 15 of their first 16 shots – including 10 clans of 3 – with three turnarounds. In defense, a blown assignment led to a game of four points by Fred Vanvleet, dirty by a blurred pay. And unlike the Warriors, who die by the 3, there is no shortage of Rockets. Each big shot they needed to make on Friday was money. Vanvleet, Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason all demoralized the warriors with their 3 in time.
Hield, podziemski, quinten post, green – they demoralize warriors with their premature shortcomings. Golden State was 15 out of 49 for the match, which was only three more than Houston despite 19 additional attempts.
Steph Curry has an average of 32.6 points in five career games 7. Golden State will probably need another huge performance on Sunday to avoid elimination. (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
With Adams and şengün in painting, and Amen Thompson is still hiding, and the defense of the perimeter of Houston Hounding, the warriors were on the back. They are satisfied with the 3, hoping to invent more terrain, instead of working for the progressive challenge and more difficult to decompose the rockets inside.
It’s a hole in the list, that’s for sure. The Warriors do not have enough isolation players who can punish Houston’s assault. When it became difficult in the fourth quarter, they passed the ball on the perimeter, in search of daylight, by launching hopes from afar.
Before being able to regroup, the Warriors were in a tomb of 17 points, lots of fresh dirt covering their legs. A time existed where such a deficit, with 4:40 remaining, was less insurmountable than Friday. A quick race by the Warriors could erase this, shake the opponent, to tear the momentum. But Irony seized the pen as the script in this series takes place.
The Warriors, who have built a shooting dynasty, are thwarted by a defense of the zone because they cannot fire well enough.
The Warriors, who were the pioneers of the small ball as a championship formula, are overwhelmed by a program with two set centers.
The Warriors, with all their experience and their cachet in the playoffs, are exceeded by a team using roughly the same guys who play as if they were here before.
The Rockets, who experienced the fatigue of warriors more than any other franchise, produced the fatigue of warriors who could spell the end of the time.
After the match, Golden State faced the uncertainty of what to do, workshop ideas in the locker room. Butler, Green and Curry withdrew in a private area, probably to develop strategies. Later in the evening, Hield chose Curry’s brain about the advantages and disadvantages of looking into a small range or becoming more traditional, all to counter Adams, the New Zealand mountain on their way.
It is a simpler response for the winner of the Hustle Award. Shakes stronger.
“Get loose bullets,” said Green. “I think they probably had 20 broken game points and detaching themselves from the balls and go out for 3 s.
“… The reality is that the person who wants the ball more will get it. Right now, it seems that they want it more. … Everything is on what we do not do, who fights to find the loose bullets when they are there. “”
But where will they get the juice? The rockets are faster, more advanced. This was essentially an accumulation of three months for the Warriors since he has been exchanging against Butler and which came out of the position of the tournament. The signs of this version were shown.
They won the match 1 in a rock fight, survived match 4 with Scrappiness. But matches 5 and 6 revealed a Warriors team that may not be enough to win.
We will see if they can invoke it. Somewhere.
“I won’t say it’s a lack of effort,” said Butler. “It’s just if you want to do it or not. It is the net result. If you want to bounce back, immerse yourself on a loose ball, take charge. All these little things (are by the way) if you want to do it. It’s really as simple.”
But when fatigue has the will in its claws, simple feels so intimidating.
(Top photo of Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry in the match on Friday 6: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
