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    Golden State Falls to Lakers, Ending Title Hopes and Starting Uncertain Future

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    Golden State isn’t used to getting eliminated this early in the playoffs. Now, it will face questions about how to sustain its run since 2015 as a top contender.LOS ANGELES — Whoops, shouts, music and a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” were so loud inside the Lakers locker room that they could be heard out in the hallways. Outside Golden State’s locker room, there was silence, as those inside assessed what had gone so wrong this season.To the victor goes the noise. To the defeated goes an unusually early and sullen vacation.The reigning champion Golden State’s freewheeling, 3-point-centric style of play changed the N.B.A. and made Stephen Curry a household name. But on Friday night, the team couldn’t muster up one last overwhelming flurry of deep shots, bowing out to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games in the Western Conference semifinals.It marked the first time a West team had defeated Golden State in the playoffs during its dynastic run, which began in 2015 with the first of four championships led by Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. But this season was among the most difficult of the last decade, marred by long absences for key players, a confounding inability to win on the road, struggling young players, and the fallout from Green punching a teammate, Jordan Poole, before the season even started.LeBron James led the Lakers with 30 points in Game 6.Ashley Landis/Associated Press“This is not a championship team,” Golden State Coach Steve Kerr said after Game 6, which the Lakers won, 122-101. “If we were, we’d be moving on. So you can look at the year in total and see all the ups and downs, and there was all kinds of stuff that went on and adversity that hit. But our group stayed together and competed till the end and made a pretty good run.”But “pretty good” has long been below the standards of Golden State, given the stature of Curry, who is widely considered the best shooter in N.B.A. history. And now his team may have to contend with coming back down to earth. It’s the basketball equivalent of confronting mortality.“You’re disappointed and kind of shell shocked that it’s over,” Curry said. “You’ve poured so much into every season, but going off last year you’re trying to defend and give ourselves the chance to keep advancing. It’s a tough way for the season to end.”The series against the Lakers marked one of the most highly anticipated playoff matchups in years, pitting Curry against the Lakers star LeBron James for the first time since the 2018 N.B.A. finals, when James was on the Cleveland Cavaliers. But this series ultimately didn’t match the hype, with blowouts in four of the five games after a thrilling Lakers win in Game 1. Curry and Thompson struggled on Friday, combining to shoot an abysmal 14 for 47 from the field. Thompson, who made just three baskets in each of the last three games, said this was “probably the worst shooting series I’ve had in a long time.”Golden State now faces an uncertain summer; Curry called it “unfamiliar territory.” With one of the most expensive rosters in the league, and a new collective bargaining agreement aimed at curbing heavy spenders, Golden State is likely to try to bring down costs. It could be a stark transition for the team, given that it went from a rudderless middle-of-the-road franchise to one of the most financially valuable ones with Curry at the helm over the past decade.Draymond Green, center, has been a force on defense for Golden State, but he could opt out of his contract this summer.Ashley Landis/Associated Press“For us, it’s an opportunity to kind of take stock of where we’re at, keep the confidence that we can come back and be back at this stage next year,” Curry said.It might help if they get off to a better start. This season, Green punched the fourth-year guard Poole in the face during training camp. TMZ published a video of the punch, exposing the internal discord of a franchise known for continuity and harmony.“Every season is made up of events. Some are great, some are not,” Green said after Friday’s game. “I think for this team, more of the events that aren’t so great were so public, and, you know, that’s not something that you normally do. And so the world knows, you know, the tough times that this team has had.”Now Green’s career is at a turning point. A four-time All-Star, he has a player option for next year and is expected to test free agency. Green had one of his better seasons this year, but he turns 34 next March, and Golden State may balk at offering him a maximum contract. Green has shown a penchant for impulsive behavior, like punching Poole or racking up technical fouls, for which he ranked second in the league during the regular season. The resolution of his contract is the key domino in a summer of retooling.“I want to be a Warrior for the rest of my life,” Green said Friday. “I want to ride out with the same dudes I rode in with.”This season was a slog for Golden State. “It felt like we were swimming upstream from the beginning,” Kerr said.Golden State started the season 3-7. It finished at 44-38 for the West’s sixth seed and had one of the worst road records in the league, at 11-30. Andrew Wiggins, a key contributor to last season’s title run, missed more than half the regular season because of an injury and an undisclosed personal issue. Thompson, a five-time All-Star, struggled to find his shot in the first third of the season and he has noticeably slowed on defense after two major injuries in recent years.If Thompson, 33, has doubts about his future in Golden State, or any skepticism that this team can win again, he didn’t show it on Friday night. His contract expires after next season.“I can tell you, we gave it everything we had,” he said. “But I believe that we have greatness in our future still.”Curry went cold from 3-point range over the last three games of the series with the Lakers.Harry How/Getty ImagesGolden State will also have to decide what to do with the young players it has tried to develop while chasing a championship — a path criticized for placing too much of a load on the 35-year-old Curry. Poole, 23, struggled mightily in the playoffs, a problem given that Golden State signed him to a four-year contract extension in October worth up to $140 million. Other young players, like Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, both 20, were in and out of the lineup all season.In addition, the contract of Bob Myers, the team’s general manager for the last decade, ends this year. Carrying the dynasty into its next stage may fall to a different architect.If there was one bright spot for Golden State this season, it was its most magnetic figure: Curry. He played some of the best basketball of his career — which meant some of the basketball that anyone has ever played. In the first round of the playoffs, Golden State faced the third-seeded Kings in Sacramento for a decisive Game 7. Curry scored 50 points — the most ever in a Game 7 — and hit seven 3-pointers. It was a reminder of the magic that had made his teams so great.But Curry said Friday that reaching the conference semifinals was not “a moral victory.”“There’s a lot of pride in what we accomplished,” he said, “but there’s also an understanding that this is not good enough.” More

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      Golden State’s Stephen Curry Scores 50 in Game 7 Win Over Sacramento Kings

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      Curry’s 50 points were the most ever in a Game 7, helping Golden State survive a contentious first-round series with Sacramento.SACRAMENTO — The Golden State Warriors prepared for the finale of their first-round playoff series with the Sacramento Kings by gathering for an off-day film session on Saturday on an upper floor of Chase Center, their home arena in San Francisco, with a panoramic view of the bay.Coach Steve Kerr likes to stage his film sessions there when the space is available. Otherwise, he said, the team is stuck “in the dungeon down below,” outside its locker room. He was grateful for the open space, especially ahead of Sunday’s Game 7. It was a therapeutic experience.“I do think there has to be a sense of perspective,” Kerr said, “even if it’s just a nice view and some sunshine and a chance to breathe and relax between games. That can make a difference.”Something else can make a difference, too: Stephen Curry. No one seemed more Zen on Sunday than Curry, who led the Warriors to a series-clinching, 120-100 victory by skewering the Kings in every conceivable way on his way to 50 points — an N.B.A. record for a Game 7. He sank parabolic 3-pointers. He drove for layups. He toyed with defenders. And he sent scores of Kings fans streaming into the streets of Sacramento before the game had ended.“Sublime,” Kerr said.“Total domination,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said.“A joy to watch,” guard Klay Thompson said.Curry, Thompson and Green have spent years demolishing opponents as one of the N.B.A.’s most celebrated cores. The Kings, on the other hand, were making their first postseason appearance since 2006. They had youth and energy. The Warriors have championship DNA.“It was a great time to put it all together,” Curry said. “There’s still nerves and anxiousness and anticipation before a big night. But when we get out there, our experience takes over.”Curry had 20 points in the first half on Sunday.Kyle Terada/Usa Today Sports Via Reuters ConCurry, who arrived at the Golden 1 Center in an all-black ensemble, as if dressed for a wake, shot 20 of 38 from the field and 7 of 18 from 3-point range. He also had eight rebounds and six assists.“What an incredible all-time performance,” Thompson said.Golden State, the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference, will face the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in a conference semifinal, starting in San Francisco on Tuesday. The Lakers eliminated the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in their first-round series on Friday.“To do this for a decade, it’s incredible,” Kerr said of his core players. “The energy that it takes to fight off challengers year after year, and have to prepare and win games, and do it over and over — there’s a reason these guys are Hall of Famers and champions.”The Warriors and Kings franchises have long been based less than 100 miles apart, but for much of the past decade they have produced very different brands of basketball — opposite brands of basketball, in fact.As the Warriors busied themselves by winning championships (four), playing in N.B.A. finals (six) and re-engineering the way basketball is played thanks to the Splash Brothers (Curry and Thompson), the Kings spent the past decade-plus scuffling through a desert of futility that had them bordering on irrelevance.Their overhaul began last season when they acquired Sabonis, an All-Star center, in a deal with Indiana. It continued over the off-season when they signed the reserve guard Malik Monk in free agency, traded with Atlanta for Kevin Huerter and hired Mike Brown, one of Kerr’s assistants, as their coach.Sure enough, led by De’Aaron Fox, their All-Star point guard, the Kings went 48-34 during the regular season, christening each victory by shooting a beam of purple light from the roof of their arena. “Light the Beam!” became a rallying cry, helping to bury — if not completely erase — the dysfunction of years past.On Saturday night, ahead of Game 7, Brown dined at a Sacramento-area restaurant with his partner’s son. A small parade of young boys approached their table to ask Brown some incisive questions about the team’s players. They asked about Sabonis’s right thumb, which he had fractured during the regular season. They asked about Fox’s broken left index finger. They asked if the first-year forward Keegan Murray would be ready to shoot in Game 7.“And one of the kids was a Warriors fan, so they started ribbing him,” Brown said. “And he was like: ‘No, I’m not! No, I’m not!’ But he had a Golden State Warriors hat on.”More than anything, Brown said, he could sense their excitement — a type of postseason anticipation that Sacramento had not experienced in years.Sacramento guard De’Aaron Fox impressed in the first playoff appearance of his career, even though the Kings lost the series. Golden State struggled to defend him because of his speed and sharpshooting.Kyle Terada/Usa Today Sports Via Reuters ConAs for the Warriors, their roster seemed to constantly be in a state of flux during the regular season. Curry injured a shoulder and sprained an ankle. Andrew Wiggins, their starting small forward, left the team in mid-February citing personal reasons and missed the final 25 games of the regular season.Kerr, meanwhile, struggled to strike a balance between securing a playoff berth (no sure thing) and developing young players like Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga and James Wiseman, who was eventually traded midseason. Ultimately, Kerr kept leaning on the usual suspects — Curry, Thompson and Green, a defensive stalwart — as the postseason came into sharper focus.The Warriors welcomed Wiggins’s return for the start of the playoffs, then lost their first two games, which presented a new obstacle: Curry, Thompson and Green found themselves trailing in a playoff series, 2-0, for the first time in their careers. Perhaps they needed a fresh challenge.On Sunday, Sacramento led, 58-56, at halftime, which is when Golden State — a team known for years for eviscerating teams in the third quarter — went about its usual business. Curry sank a 3-pointer. He sliced through a mix of defenders to scoop in a layup. He drained a floater.“You can tell when he’s locked in or laser-focused,” Green said.By the time Kevon Looney, the team’s starting center, scored off an offensive rebound, Golden State led by 9.The prevailing mood of the Kings fans inside the arena was not necessarily panic, but there was certainly angst. Curry had already been in this sort of situation on so many occasions, and none of it — not the hostile environment, not the pressure of a Game 7 — appeared to bother him. In fact, he was feeding off it.“This is one of the best players in the history of the game,” Kerr said, adding: “The resilience and the work that goes into that, the focus, it’s incredible to watch.As Golden State’s lead swelled in the fourth quarter, the crowd’s angst turned to resignation.Looney capped a terrific series with a double-double, 11 points and 21 rebounds.“The guy is a flat-out winner and a machine,” Kerr said.The stage, though, belonged to Curry, which was no surprise. Another one awaits against the Lakers. After Sunday’s game, Curry was asked if anyone could stop him.“Hopefully, we never find out,” he said. More

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      Their Reputations Precede Them. And That’s the Problem.

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      When an athlete breaks the rules of the game, he or she may be judged on much more than that single act. Call it the Draymond Green Effect.Most times in basketball, a foul is just a foul. But sometimes, it can feel like so much more: a Rorschach test unearthing a person’s biases about the game, a window into a player’s thinking, a referendum on his entire career.Was that a malicious kick or an involuntary swing? When does an outstretched arm morph into a punch? Can an on-court act be judged on its own or must the actor be considered, too?A sequence of hard fouls across three different first-round N.B.A. playoff series — and the subsequent responses to them — has reinforced the extent to which the reputations of players, and the swirling narratives associated with them, seem to color the way the athletes, referees, league officials and fans process the action unfolding on the court.After each instance, the players’ reputations were called into action in some way — as corroborating evidence, as a shield, as a liability.It started on Monday of last week, when Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors stomped his size 15 sneaker into the sternum of the Sacramento Kings big man Domantas Sabonis after Sabonis had grabbed Green while lying on the court. Afterward, the league suspended Green for one game, invoking not only the on-court incident but his entire body of work.“The suspension was based in part on Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts,” the N.B.A.’s statement read, evoking the veritable highlight reel of pugnacious gamesmanship in his career, but not referencing any specific previous infraction.After he was called for fouling Royce O’Neale of the Nets in a first-round playoff game, James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers gave the universal signal for “Who, me?”Frank Franklin Ii/Associated PressA few nights later, James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers was ejected for hitting Nets forward Royce O’Neale below the waist on a drive to the basket. In the locker room after the game, Harden pointed toward his own reputation as part of his defense, mentioning that he had never before been thrown out of a game.“I’m not labeled as a dirty player,” Harden said, alluding to the public’s perception of him. He should not be judged harshly, he implied, because he is, so to speak, not that guy. (Harden, of course, has often been labeled by critics as something else: a player willing to flop to draw a whistle and earn free throws.)Then, two nights after that, Dillon Brooks of the Memphis Grizzlies was ejected for hitting LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers around the groin area while trying to defend him. The next day, Brooks, too, nodded toward his reputation, speculating that it must have preceded him on the play and informed the referees’ quick-fire decision to toss him.“The media making me a villain, the fans making me a villain and then that just creates a whole different persona on me,” Brooks said. “So now you think I intended to hit LeBron James in the nuts.”In sports, reputations are quickly formed and particularly hard to shed. Athletes conduct their professional lives in high definition. Their every move is broken down ad nauseam, scrutinized in slow motion, refracted through the eyes of analysts and commentators.Heightening this dynamic is the fact that history looms large in the sports world, seeming to always be front of mind. Record books and bygone statistics are invoked every day. Fans keep big wins and heartbreaking losses etched onto their hearts.“The past,” William Faulkner wrote, “is never dead. It’s not even past.”On top of everything else, the impulse to create two-dimensional characterizations about a person’s behavior, to reduce their action to moral terms, is widespread in the sports world, where fans and news media members often apply a storybook framework to the action, experts say.“We create these schema, these cognitive shortcuts, to read the world, and we’re quick to label individuals as friend or foe,” said Arthur Raney, a professor of communication at Florida State who has researched how emotions shape the sports viewing experience. “We do that with folks on the street, and we do that with entertainment and sports and politics and everything else.”Raney added, “And once those frames, those schema, are set, they then serve as a lens for our expectations of the future.”There will always be tension, then, around questions of whether an athlete’s reputation is fully justified.Ndamukong Suh, a defensive tackle in the N.F.L. with a long history of major penalties, cautioned people not to pass judgment too quickly. Here, he attended the league’s boot camp for aspiring broadcasters.Kyusung Gong/Associated PressNdamukong Suh, a longtime defensive tackle in the N.F.L., developed a reputation as a dirty player after a seemingly countless log of bad hits, fines and suspensions. Suh has pushed back against this characterization at various points in his career — though it is questionable whether anyone might be convinced otherwise.“Before you pass judgment on somebody, always take the time to get to know them, meet them, have coffee with them, whatever it may be and then be able to go from there,” Suh said in 2019.Many might similarly scoff at the claims of innocence of Brooks, who led the N.B.A. with 18 technical fouls in the regular season and made headlines earlier in the playoffs for taunting James (“I don’t care. He’s old.”) — essentially casting himself as a villain without anyone’s help.Still, when humans are involved in adjudicating behavior in sports, there will always be unanswerable questions about how those decisions are made. Did a player’s bad reputation lead officials to call more penalties or fouls on borderline plays? How many more fines and suspensions does a player earn after developing a reputation as someone who deserves them?“Generally, officials at the highest level do not hold grudges, but in a preconscious, mythic way are influenced by narratives,” said Stephen Mosher, a retired professor of sports management at Ithaca College.Reputations can be suffocating. Dennis Rodman’s reputation as an erratic and unsportsmanlike competitor — developed with the Detroit Pistons and honed with the San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls — overshadows his status as one of the greatest defensive players in N.B.A. history. Metta Sandiford-Artest, years after his involvement in the fan-player brawl known as the Malice at the Palace in 2004, when he was still known as Ron Artest, developed a reputation as a mellow veteran, but only after changing his name and publicly reckoning with his mental health.And reputations can feel problematic when they seem in any part derived from race. Raney said the potential for this was higher in sports that were “racialized” — that is, closely associated with one race. He mentioned the tennis star Serena Williams, who is Black, as an example of an athlete who may have developed an undue reputation at times because of the color of her skin in the context of her sport. A recent study in European soccer revealed the dramatic differences in the way television commentators spoke about white players (praising their smarts and work ethic) versus nonwhite players (highlighting physical traits like strength and speed) and how far-reaching the impact of these perceptions could be.“I’d look directly at the story tellers, announcers, color people, for why these perceptions carry such weight,” Mosher said.Sports leagues invite speculation about the role reputations play in competition because of the apparently subjective nature of officiating.Joel Embiid of the 76ers was neither ejected nor suspended for this very personal foul against the Nets’ Nic Claxton.Wendell Cruz/USA Today Sports Via Reuters ConEarlier in the game from which Harden was ejected, 76ers center Joel Embiid blatantly tried to kick the Nets’ Nic Claxton between the legs. Embiid, who has largely maintained a reputation as a clean player, was not ejected or suspended. Harden and Brooks were not suspended after their ejections, either. (The N.B.A., like other sports leagues, takes into account a player’s disciplinary history when doling out punishments.)In explaining the disparity of outcomes between Embiid and Harden, the N.B.A. has asserted that the motive mattered far less than the outcome, and that each incident, even if it felt similar to another, needed to be evaluated on its own terms. No two shots to the groin are alike, essentially.“You have to be responsible for your actions outside the realm of intent,” Monty McCutchen, the N.B.A.’s head of referee development, said in an interview on ESPN.But many people’s minds went to a similar place. What would have happened if someone else — say, Draymond Green? — had kicked out the same way Embiid had. More

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      A Decade After Sacramento Showed Up for the Kings, the Kings Return the Favor

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      The surprising Kings are pushing Golden State in their first-round N.B.A. playoff matchup. Sacramento fans have waited a long time for a team that matched their fervor.The long-term fate of the Sacramento Kings was still unclear. In 2013, Mayor Kevin Johnson of Sacramento and N.B.A. Commissioner David Stern persuaded a new owner to buy the team, a last-minute change that kept it from moving to Seattle.But the Kings’ home was still a dumpy suburban stadium that no longer fit the modern N.B.A. Without a new arena, leaving would always be in the cards.A year later I flew to Sacramento as the City Council convened for a tense vote on whether the city should pay roughly half the cost, $255 million, for construction of a new downtown arena now known as the Golden 1 Center.Kings fans showed up in force, as they always do, despite the team having just skidded to its eighth consecutive losing season. They held aloft placards imploring the Council to say yes. Angry critics were also on hand, dead set against spending taxpayer funds on a sports team’s arena.The Council voted to allocate the money. The Kings stayed put, with the new owner, Vivek Ranadive, promising fans that the team was in it for the long haul. “This is your team, and it is here to stay!” he said.Nine years later, and after a league-record 16 seasons without being in the playoffs, Sacramento’s team is finally making waves in the N.B.A. postseason. Who knew it would take this long?And who could have guessed that the young and suddenly transformed Kings would be going toe to toe against dynastic Golden State, which now calls its home San Francisco, a city that has always viewed Sacramento as a cow town.The Kings of 2023 brim with fast-break speed and precision that conjure memories of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson a decade ago, at the start of a run that brought Golden State four N.B.A. championships and six N.B.A. finals appearances.Of course, the Kings look like the Warriors’ doppelgängers: They have been molded by Mike Brown, who was Steve Kerr’s consigliere for years at Golden State, poached by Sacramento last May.After calling a timeout when there wasn’t one left in Game 4 on Sunday, Stephen Curry was consoled by Golden State Coach Steve Kerr.Darren Yamashita/USA Today Sports, via Reuters ConIn playing the Warriors to a 2-2 series standoff so far, Sacramento has been so competitive and irritating that it pushed Draymond Green into giving a retaliatory stomp to Domantas Sabonis’s chest in a Game 2 loss from which Green was ejected (and for which he was suspended from Game 3, which the Warriors won).Game 4 — a 126-125 Warriors victory on Sunday that the Kings could have won on their final possession — was so tight that Kerr left Curry in for 43 of the game’s 48 minutes, including the entire fourth quarter. When was the last time Curry was so pressed in the first round?Kings fans have showed up with a fervor that matched that of Sabonis, Malik Monk and De’Aaron Fox. They rushed to defend home court, purchasing nearly every available seat at Golden 1 Center, then set out to invade on the road. At Chase Center, in San Francisco, the Warriors barred Kings fans from bringing in the clanging cowbells that hark back to Sacramento’s agrarian roots and became a sanctified symbol of the Kings’ success in the early 2000s.As the series heads back to Sacramento, think about how long Kings fans have waited to show up in the playoffs. Much has been made of the franchise’s streak of 16 seasons without a playoff appearance. But it has been 19 since the Kings came out on top in a playoff series and 21 seasons, since early in the George Bush the Younger administration, when the team was a genuine playoff threat.Ask Kings die-hards about the loss to the Lakers in seven games in the 2002 Western Conference finals, and you will soon see the bugging of eyes and curses aimed at Robert Horry, who is to Sacramento what Bucky Dent is to Boston. The fans possess two qualities in spades: remarkable loyalty and plenty of pent-up frustration.The crazy cool part of this Kings season is how stunningly surprising it has been.In the long, hard seasons after Ranadive saved the team, Sacramento kept journeying into the dark corners of the N.B.A. wilderness.The team churned through coaches and was run by a revolving door of upper management, which seemingly had no clue. (The decision to draft Marvin Bagley III over Luka Doncic with the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2018 characterized the head-scratching moves.)Critics frothed against Ranadive, claiming he was a meddling owner in over his head. The N.B.A.’s best practice says you hire basketball executives and let them choose the coach. The Kings did it the other way around.Among all the hoopla about the upstarts from California’s capital city, remember this: It was just last year when the Kings won only 30 games while losing 52, yet another season of frustration, and one that prompted the city’s largest newspaper to run an article with a headline that blared:“Basketball Hell: How Vivek Ranadive Turned Sacramento Kings Into N.B.A.’s Biggest Losers.”Now, the series heads back to the Kings’ home arena for what promises to be a madhouse Game 5 on Wednesday night, the vision conjured at that City Council meeting all those years ago finally fulfilled.Now, the only hell connected to the Kings is the one they are giving the Warriors. More

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      Golden State Warriors Win at Home, Which Is Part of Their Problem

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      Golden State beat Sacramento to earn its first win of the playoffs, but in doing so reinforced a troubling trend from the regular season.SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry got up from the floor quickly after being fouled, looked toward the fans in the crowd — clad in yellow T-shirts with the words “gold blooded” written on them — and must have thought they were not as excited as they should have been.He waved his arms and yelled — then screamed twice more for good measure — and the white-knuckled Warriors crowd responded with a roar, accepting his direction unquestioningly, an orchestra following its conductor.Curry’s Golden State Warriors had entered Thursday night’s game, the third of their first-round playoff series against the Sacramento Kings, in an uncomfortable spot. They were facing their first 2-0 playoff deficit since Steve Kerr began coaching them in 2014. They were without Draymond Green, their defensive anchor and do-it-all forward, whom the N.B.A. had suspended for stepping on the chest of Kings forward-center Domantas Sabonis in Game 2 on Monday.But as they have all season, the Warriors figured it out on their home floor, holding the league’s highest-scoring offense under 100 points for only the fifth time this season in the 114-97 victory. The Kings still lead the series, 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday. But it, too, is at Golden State, and for that reason alone the Warriors were feeling the series was far from over.“We always play great at home,” Klay Thompson said. “We got to get one on the road; we understand. But we know what we’re capable of in this building. We won a championship here. We’re capable of anything.”Pick any of Curry’s baskets on Thursday night — the six 3-pointers, the various layups and jumpers that made up his game-high 36 points — and notice that shortly after each score he seemed to hold the crowd in his hands: posing, dancing, directing.It was a luxury Curry did not enjoy in the first two games of this series in Sacramento, when the Warriors had the look of a team in trouble. After the victory, Curry had pointed to the Warriors’ shortcomings on the road in the first answer of his news conference.“We’ve shown that despite our self-inflicted wounds with turnovers and giving up offensive rebounds, that we are capable of beating that team any night,” he said. “It’s just nice to have something to show for it now.”Whatever momentum the Warriors created may propel them to another win in Game 4. It remains puzzling, though, how that momentum seems to disappear as soon as they step off their home floor.The Warriors were 33-8 at San Francisco’s Chase Center in the regular season, a home record bettered this season only by the Denver Nuggets (34-7) and the Memphis Grizzlies (35-6), the top two teams in the Western Conference. On the road, however, Golden State was a dreadful 11-30.Struggles on the road are typically reserved for young and inexperienced teams. The fact that the Warriors’ championship-tested core — Thompson, Curry, Green and Kerr — has performed so poorly on the road might have been the season’s most curious contradiction.Golden State’s Kevon Looney, front, exploded for 20 rebounds in Game 3, more than he had in the first two games combined.Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesThe statistics offer a clue: The Warriors simply don’t play good enough defense on the road, where they allowed more than 10 points a game (122.4) more than they did at home (111.7). No other team has more than a 6.9 differential. (Offensively, the Warriors don’t seem to miss a beat away from home, where their scoring averages on the road (119.7) and at home (118.2) are only fractionally different.)The issue is not a secret inside the Warriors’ locker room.“If you’re poor defensively, it’s really hard to win on the road,” Kerr said in November. “You need to be able to string together stops to get momentum and keep the home crowd out of it. If you’re trading baskets, the other team’s feeling good, it’s just really hard to win that way.”He returned to the point in March, saying of his team’s middling record, “We know that the answer to all this is in our defense.”On Thursday night, there were three prevailing chants inside of the Chase Center: “boos” for Sabonis; roars of “Looon” for forward Kevon Looney; and chants of “M-V-P!” each time Curry approached the free-throw line. Kerr said the design of the arena, which opened in 2019, makes for a more “intimate crowd.”“The roof is not sky high like a lot of the new arenas,” Kerr said, adding: “You can feel the crowd. They are right on top of you.”Eventually, though, the Warriors, the No. 6 seed in the West, are going to have to win a game on the road to progress in this postseason, including out of the first round. “Until someone wins a road game, everyone’s just holding serve,” Kerr said.Trading home wins is math just as unforgiving as the Warriors’ record. Kerr and his players will know they need to find a way to change it. Fast.Scott Cacciola More

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      Draymond Green’s Suspension Could Sink Golden State. Again.

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      The Golden State forward’s antics are a constant threat to his team’s championship hopes.This is the bargain the Golden State Warriors have made.They live with the threats Draymond Green sometimes poses to their championship aspirations because of the benefits they enjoy when he is at his best.His energy and determination can frustrate an opponent into big mistakes, and they can lift and embolden his teammates. But he also regularly barrels toward the line between playing hard and playing dirty, and the Warriors tolerate it because he can help them win titles. With his history of rough fouls and taunts, he doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt when his behavior is in a gray area, and that can cost the Warriors dearly.Now it has, again.On Thursday night, Golden State will face the Sacramento Kings in Game 3 of a first-round N.B.A. playoff series the Kings lead, 2-0. The Warriors will have to try to save themselves from falling into a nearly insurmountable 3-0 deficit without Green, whom the league suspended for Game 3 after he stepped on the chest of Kings center Domantas Sabonis in Game 2 on Monday. Green was assessed a flagrant-2 foul and ejected with 7 minutes 3 seconds left in the fourth quarter.The N.B.A. made it clear that the suspension was more about Green’s “history of unsportsmanlike acts” than what he did to Sabonis, who precipitated the events by grabbing Green’s ankle while lying on the ground. In an interview with ESPN, Joe Dumars, an N.B.A. executive vice president responsible for player discipline, said the way Green taunted the Sacramento crowd afterward also factored into the decision. As the officials reviewed the play, Green yelled to a crowd that was yelling at him, while clapping and gesturing for the fans to keep going.The N.B.A. said Green’s taunting of the Kings fans factored into the decision to suspend him for Game 3.Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle, via Associated PressThe suspension might not seem fair, but it’s not an outcome that should surprise Golden State or Green.When the Warriors were in the middle of their second annual unstoppable romp to the N.B.A. finals seven years ago, Green might have cost them a championship.The league has a points system that triggers automatic suspensions related to flagrant fouls. Players are assessed two points for a flagrant-2 foul, and one point for a flagrant-1. If they exceed three points during the postseason, they are suspended for one game.In 2016, Green was assessed a flagrant-1 foul for striking a Cavaliers player — LeBron James — in the groin. Green already had three points for flagrant fouls, so he was suspended for Game 5.“We thrive off of Draymond’s competitiveness and his edge and it’s been very important for us this year,” Warriors Coach Steve Kerr said at the time. “And maybe that same quality has led him to this point — just his competitiveness and his passion. And that’s all part of it.”Green watched the game from a suite at the baseball stadium next door in Oakland, Calif. His team had a 3-1 series lead at the time, but lost the finals to Cleveland.It was Green’s only playoff suspension until Tuesday, but his conduct has drawn scrutiny many times.Last season, Green was ejected from Game 1 of the Warriors’ second-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies for committing a flagrant-2 foul.“I am never going to change the way I play basketball,” Green said later during that series. “It’s gotten me this far. It’s gotten me three championships, four All-Stars, defensive player of the year. I’m not going to change now.”During Game 2, in Memphis, he took an elbow to the face and had to leave to get stitches. Fans jeered at him, and Green showed his middle fingers to the crowd as he left the game.In last year’s finals against Boston, Green showed how his on-court intensity can help his team and frustrate his opponents.“He’ll do whatever it takes to win,” said Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, who called some of Green’s conduct “illegal.” “He’ll pull you, he’ll grab you, he’ll try to muck the game up because that’s what he does for their team. It’s nothing to be surprised about. Nothing I’m surprised about. He raised his physicality to try to stop us, and we’ve got to raise ours.”Golden State seems willing to live with the risks of having Green on the team as long as he helps bring home championships. He has won four, including last season.John G Mabanglo/EPA, via ShutterstockSaid Stephen Curry, Green’s teammate, during that series: “You feel him in his presence, and the other team feels his presence and his intensity. And that is contagious for all of us.”The Warriors thrive on that energy. Boston fans chanted an expletive at Green, which he admitted rattled him a bit. But after the Warriors won the championship in Game 6 in Boston, Green’s teammates serenaded him with the same chant in the postgame locker room. Their faith in Green had won out again.The problem comes when he goes too far.It has happened in games. It also happened last fall during a practice, when he punched his own teammate, Jordan Poole, in the face. Green took time away from the team and apologized. Poole reacted like someone who just wanted the whole incident to go away.It’s all part of what keeps Green under a disciplinary microscope.This week’s suspension didn’t follow the N.B.A.’s typical method for policing flagrant fouls. Green paid for his reputation.Another player might not have been suspended for what he did. The league might have considered that Sabonis grabbed Green’s leg, instigating the interaction, and felt that being ejected from the game was sufficient punishment. Golden State lost the game, after all. The N.B.A. might have given another player the benefit of the doubt, figured that he really didn’t mean to harm anyone, that he was simply looking for a place to land his foot, as Green insisted after the game.“That’s a possibility, yes,” Dumars said in an interview with ESPN.Instead, the league made a decision that imperiled Golden State’s season.“Each time he’s messed up, my hope is he learns from it and becomes better,” Bob Myers, Golden State’s general manager and president of basketball operations, told reporters on Wednesday.So far, though, the Warriors have accepted that this is who Green is. With their actions, they have accepted that they will sometimes have to suffer the consequences of his behavior because the good with Green has outweighed the bad for them. Perhaps that will start to change, if the bad begins to outweigh the good.This result was a risk the Warriors have lived with for years. More

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      In the Shadow of Superstars, Golden State’s Young Players Try to Bloom

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      Moses Moody would be wrapped in his blankets, protected from the morning chill, when his alarm went off at 5 a.m. Nothing about the situation appealed to him. What teenager wants to drag himself out of bed before dawn?But as a seventh-grader in Little Rock, Ark., Moody was beginning to sense his promise as a basketball player. And he knew, even then, that if he wanted to go places, he would need to work at his game — and then work at it some more.His father, Kareem Moody, had made a deal with him: He would help Moses train each morning before school, but only if Moses got up on his own. It was both a test and an early lesson in self-reliance: How badly did he want to improve?“So, if I wanted to work out, I had to wake him up, go get dressed, and then go wake him up again,” Moses Moody recalled in an interview. “And then he’d know I was for real.”Their early mornings at LA Fitness soon became routine. Moses also had the keys to the gym at Absolute Athlete, a nearby training facility. He was always looking for the next workout, the next pickup game, the next challenge.“You want to have challenges, and you have to have obstacles,” Moody said. “Because if you’re bad at something, that just means you have more room to grow.”As a second-year guard with Golden State, Moody, 20, has a new challenge: cracking the rotation and playing consistent minutes. He can commiserate with two other former first-round draft picks — James Wiseman, 21, and Jonathan Kuminga, 20 — who are trying to become contributors on a team without much time to waste.For Golden State, in Boston on Thursday for a rematch of last season’s N.B.A. finals against the Celtics, there is tension between defending its championship and developing its young players. Ideally, it would be able to do both. But it is a complicated puzzle, especially for a team with outsize expectations.Kuminga, a second-year forward, has spoken of upholding the “legacy” established by his teammates Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. Wiseman, a third-year center whose career has been slowed by injuries, has cited his sporadic minutes as chances for him to “grow and learn.” And Moody has straddled a fine line between patience and impatience.“It’s hard to keep the right head space,” he said. “But I also don’t want to hide those emotions from myself, saying that I’m OK with staying on the bench. I don’t want to be OK with it because I’m not OK with it. I want to play. I always want to play.”Moody is just three years removed from high school, and his playing time in the N.B.A. has been limited as Golden State leans on its veterans for a championship push.Kelsey McClellan for The New York TimesMoody, Kuminga and Wiseman have all spent time in the G League, where each has gotten ample minutes to score and, in most cases, create as the best player on the court. (Moody said his five games with Santa Cruz last season were “sufficient.”) Coach Steve Kerr has also tried to augment their development via “the golden hour” — a period of extra work before the start of practice.“But there’s no substitute for game reps,” Kerr said.In late November, when Golden State visited the New Orleans Pelicans, Kerr rested a bunch of his banged-up starters. As a result, Moody and Kuminga were among the young players who supplied big minutes. Golden State lost by 45.Afterward, Kerr had dinner with Curry and Green. He asked them a question that happened to be on his mind that night: When did they feel confident that they could win games — really win games — as N.B.A. players?“Draymond said it was his third year, and Steph said it was his fourth year,” Kerr recalled. “And you’re talking about two guys who had a lot of college experience, who played deep into the N.C.A.A. tournament and played games that mattered.”Kerr crunched the numbers. Curry spent three seasons at Davidson, while Green played four seasons at Michigan State. So, from the time they left high school, it took both about seven years before they understood the ins and outs of the N.B.A., seven years before they were experienced enough to win when it mattered.Moody, who spent one college season at Arkansas, is three years removed from high school. Wiseman appeared in just three games at the University of Memphis before Golden State made him the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 N.B.A. draft. And Kuminga, who is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, went straight from high school to the G League Ignite, playing in a handful of games before he went to Golden State as the seventh pick of the 2021 draft — seven spots ahead of Moody.“You would think their growth would be a little more accelerated because you’re already in the N.B.A. and you’re picking things up that you wouldn’t pick up in college,” Kerr said. “But the point is, grown-ups win in the N.B.A. It’s very rare to see kids winning titles.”Golden State Coach Steve Kerr said it’s hard to give the youngest players more minutes since the team is so reliant on its superstars as it makes a playoff push.Kelsey McClellan for The New York TimesThompson recalled his own growing pains. Early in his second season, with a chance to seal a win against the Denver Nuggets, he missed two free throws. The game went to double overtime and Golden State lost. Thompson was so despondent that he left the arena in his uniform.“We all go through those lapses,” he said.But Golden State has less leeway for mistakes now, with its championship window narrowing as its stars age.“We can’t give these young guys the freedom that they need to learn through their mistakes,” Kerr said, adding that there is pressure from being on national TV so often and playing behind such accomplished stars.A handful of blowout losses have presented opportunities for Moody, Kuminga and Wiseman to play longer stretches. In a 30-point loss to the Nets on Dec. 21, Wiseman scored a career-high 30 points in 28 minutes.“I was able to play through my mistakes,” Wiseman said.Moody, meanwhile, figured to have a bigger role this season given some of the team’s free-agency losses last summer. But development is seldom linear, and Moody, who was averaging 5.2 points in 14.8 minutes a game entering Thursday, has occasionally dropped off the back end of the rotation. He wants his defense to become more instinctive. Kerr wants him to take better care of the ball.Moody was averaging 5.2 points in 14.8 minutes a game entering Thursday.Kelley L Cox/USA Today Sports, via Reuters“Stuff doesn’t always go your way,” Moody said, “but you’ve got to grow up. There’s also a sense of comfort knowing I’ve been in similar situations before, and it’s worked out.”As a high school sophomore, Moody led North Little Rock to a state championship, then transferred to Montverde Academy, a basketball powerhouse outside of Orlando, Fla. He wanted to be pushed by teammates like Cade Cunningham, who would become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 N.B.A. draft, and Scottie Barnes, last season’s rookie of the year with the Toronto Raptors.At his predraft workout for Golden State, Moody spotted a celebrity sitting courtside: Stephen Curry. Afterward, Moody made sure to “chop it up” with him, he said. Who knew when he would have that chance again? He figured he should pick up a few pointers.As it turned out, Moody had no reason to worry. He has spent the past two seasons absorbing regular lessons from Curry and the team’s other veterans. Moody described Golden State as an “elite basketball academy.” Green might be the self-appointed dean.“With Dray, you don’t have to listen to him,” Moody said. “But since he’s constantly talking and constantly giving out game, I try to take in as much as I can.”Not so long ago, the team had a reprieve from the pressures of chasing another championship. Golden State entered the 2019-20 season fresh off a fifth straight trip to the N.B.A. finals, then swiftly morphed into the worst team in the league. The season was an injury-induced oddity that landed the team in the draft lottery while accelerating the growth of Jordan Poole, then a rookie guard, who played more than he would have if the team had been at full strength. Poole has since established himself as one of the team’s leading scorers.The team doesn’t have that luxury this season — the luxury of losing. Golden State is fighting for a playoff spot.Moody obviously would prefer to be playing big minutes. But in many ways, he said, he feels fortunate. If he were playing for a lousy team, he might be developing bad habits that he never corrects. With Golden State, there is no margin for error.“You’ve got to be perfect,” Moody said. “So if I can figure out a way to play perfect basketball right now, that’ll set me up for the rest of my career.” More

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      Why Draymond Green May Soon Be the Odd Man Out at Golden State

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      The shadow of Green’s punch looms over the team, even as Golden State shows it still has what it takes to compete for a championship.SAN FRANCISCO — As Golden State posed in front of a banner destined for its arena’s rafters, all looked fine and well for the team. The players were beaming and dancing, flashing their new championship rings toward a photographer.The Tuesday evening scene was a déjà vu of sorts. Golden State has gone through this pomp and circumstance four times in the last eight seasons as part of a ceremony to celebrate winning an N.B.A. title by raising a championship banner. Tribute video. Inspirational music. Cheering fans.“I’ve never had a bad ring night,” Golden State Coach Steve Kerr said. “They’re all awesome.”Just ignore the reality show that aired on TNT hours earlier starring and produced by Golden State’s Draymond Green, who in the show briefly addressed punching his younger teammate Jordan Poole in the face in an incident that threatened to rupture the franchise on the doorstep of the season.Oh, that. Awkward.Golden State began its pursuit of a fifth championship for its current dynasty by dismantling the Los Angeles Lakers, 123-109, on Tuesday, easily dispatching a team with no shortage of its own drama and championship aspirations. Golden State’s Stephen Curry, the most valuable player of last season’s finals, effortlessly dropped 33 points. But his team began the season under the shadow of Green’s swing at Poole at a practice, a video of which was obtained by TMZ.Golden State’s Jordan Poole, right, had 12 points and 7 assists off the bench in Tuesday night’s win against the Lakers.John G Mabanglo/EPA, via ShutterstockAnd in part because of Green, the Golden State dynasty — at least as the world has known it — faces the potential of great upheaval.Golden State has long been defined by the greatness of Curry. But it has also been marked by a rare continuity. This is Kerr’s ninth season as head coach, the third-longest tenure behind that of San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich and Miami’s Erik Spoelstra. Green, Curry and Klay Thompson have played together for more than a decade. Bob Myers, the team president, has been with the franchise since 2011.Green’s value to the team is undoubtable: He can defend all five positions at an elite level, and he is an excellent passer, particularly adept at finding Curry in the right spots. He had 5 assists Tuesday to go with 4 points and 5 rebounds.At 32, he has also been known as a leader on and off the floor. Younger players like Moses Moody, James Wiseman and, at one point, Poole have spoken about the encouragement they received from Green when they were struggling on the court.Without Green, there is no Golden State dynasty.He has spent his whole career in Golden State and has a player option after this year worth roughly $27.5 million. Green is a four-time All-Star who, according to The Athletic, believes he’s deserving of a maximum contract extension. And in many situations, this would be a no-brainer, both as a reward for his past service to Golden State and in recognition of his current abilities.But his role as a leader is in question after what happened with Poole this month. He has a reputation for impulsive behavior like the Poole incident, yelling at coaches and teammates, and racking up silly technicals. One wonders if Myers and Joe Lacob, the team’s owner, may look at Green entering the twilight of his career and wish him the best playing somewhere else.Golden State has long been defined by Stephen Curry’s greatness. He had 33 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists Tuesday.Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesThey have locked in the 23-year-old Poole for years to come, recently signing him to a four-year extension worth up to $140 million, according to ESPN.Poole was diplomatic Tuesday when asked whether the rift with Green had healed.“It was ring night and that’s really what we were focused on,” Poole said. “Finishing the first game. Huge win against a really good team.”Golden State also recently signed forward Andrew Wiggins, 27, to a pricey extension after he proved crucial to the team’s finals win last year and cemented himself as a building block for the team’s future. Not signed to an extension so far: Green.Golden State may be liable for almost $500 million in salaries and luxury tax next year. To put that in perspective, the minimum team salary for this season is about $111 million. Lacob has been willing to spend more than any other team in the N.B.A. to keep the team’s core together, but from a cold business perspective, Green soon may be the odd man out.Golden State has cited the organization’s strong culture as a reason for its success. But professional sports have long been a haven where bad behavior is overlooked for players who contribute to wins, which perhaps explains why Golden State chose to fine but not suspend Green for the punch.That is, however, a short-term solution to keep the peace. And Green, who won the Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2016-17, certainly contributes to wins. On Tuesday, his ball-hawking skills made life difficult for Anthony Davis, the Lakers’ star big man, and offensively, Green flashed his versatility.But the shadow of his punch still looms.Green, in publicly apologizing for the incident on Oct. 8, told reporters that the he regretted the embarrassment his punch caused Poole and his family. Yet he chose to air the video again Tuesday in a self-serving “all-access” show called “The Countdown” on TNT, which also broadcast Golden State’s game. He turned the incident into profit and a glossily produced opportunity for image rehabilitation. He addressed the Poole incident by saying that he hadn’t paid much attention to the social media backlash. He also tried to use the show to reassert himself as a leader of the team.“You can’t change the events that happened, but we can control what happens moving forward and that’s where we are,” Green said straight into the camera during the segment. “And myself as a leader of this team, it’s on me to make sure we’re headed that way.”Golden State’s Andre Iguodala, left, Curry, Green and Klay Thompson have won four championships together.Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesWhatever becomes of Green, Golden State is strongly positioned for the future. Aside from Poole and Wiggins, young talents with like Wiseman, Moody and Jonathan Kuminga are waiting in the wings for more playing time (and their own contract extensions) without the drama that Green brings.That Golden State faces upheaval is not the same thing as Golden State facing an end. This isn’t the first time that the team’s run has seemed seriously threatened. As a result of injuries, Golden State was among the worst teams in the league the two seasons before last year, which left many wondering if they could recapture their greatness. That didn’t escape Curry.“I heard it back in 2019,” Curry told The Mercury News in an interview published Tuesday. “I heard during the pandemic. We hear it a little louder now because we won again. We would have heard it louder had we not won. Nobody has any idea what’s going to happen.”As Tuesday night showed, the team is positioned for another ring chase. Poole and Green showed they can coexist on the court: Poole slipped Green a slick pass in the second quarter for an easy layup. But if Golden State hosts another banner-raising ceremony next fall, it may be the last one featuring Green. More

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      What to Know About the New NBA Season

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      Much of the conversation around the league the past few months hasn’t been about basketball.The N.B.A. will begin a new season Tuesday under a cloud of scandals and drama that has distracted from the basketball and that has challenged the progressive image the league has long cultivated.“I think right now the best thing that can happen is the season start on the court,” said Chris Mullin, a Hall of Fame former player.Last season’s finals teams — Golden State and Boston — are navigating internal crises. Two teams in top media markets — the Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers — are trying to integrate their stars.And a situation in Phoenix has brought the league’s leaders and image under scrutiny. The majority owner of the Suns and the W.N.B.A.’s Mercury, Robert Sarver, was found to have used racial slurs and engaged in sexist behavior over many years, but the league’s punishment — a $10 million fine and one-year suspension — was immediately criticized by players and fans as being too light. Soon, under public pressure, Sarver said he would sell the teams.Though there are still many things for fans to be excited about, such as a new rule to speed up games and the improved health of some injured stars, several issues are lingering as the season gets underway.Here’s what you need to know:How will Draymond Green’s punch affect Golden State?Suns owner Robert Sarver’s misconduct casts a shadow.Celtics Coach Ime Udoka’s suspension is a mystery.The trade rumors of the summer aren’t over yet.A new rule and stars’ returns could up the excitement.How will Draymond Green’s punch affect Golden State?Golden State’s Jordan Poole, left, and Draymond Green, right, played together Friday for the first time since an altercation during practice this month.Jeff Chiu/Associated PressAfter defeating the Celtics in six games to the win the N.B.A. championship in June, Golden State looked poised for a strong campaign in pursuit of a repeat. Then TMZ posted a video of forward Draymond Green punching his teammate Jordan Poole during a practice this month.“I don’t think anyone could watch that and not say that it’s upsetting,” said Mullin, who spent most of his 16-year career with Golden State and is now a broadcaster for the team. “It’s unacceptable behavior.”After Green was fined and agreed to stay away from the team for about a week, Golden State welcomed him back and publicly put on a “Nothing To See Here” face. Green apologized privately and publicly, and Poole said Sunday that they would coexist professionally.What to Know: Robert Sarver Misconduct CaseCard 1 of 7A suspension and a fine. More