In five games, the Warriors have held double-digit leads in the fourth quarter three times.
asserted
Warriors → hold → quarter
Well, let’s just say it’s not 1.000.
asserted
it → let → ?
Golden State went up by 24 midway early in the second half Wednesday night against the Timberwolves, still led by 11 with 2:16 to play and still barely hung on to win, 119-114.
And yet, in Steve Kerr’s eyes?
asserted
State → go → eyes
It’s all positive.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
“We didn’t do a good job closing, but … I kind of liked what happened,” Kerr said.
asserted
Kerr → close → job
“Because we need to learn from it.”
asserted
we → need → it
Golden State also led 106-94 with 3:41 left this past Friday against the Grizzlies.
asserted
State → lead → Grizzlies
In that one, the Warriors’ offense went comatose and they allowed Memphis to mount a 17-0 run to steal a win.
asserted
Memphis → go → win
So, you could say they’re making progress, at least.
uncertain
they → say → progress
The Grizzlies loss dropped them to 0-3, their worst start since 2007-08.
asserted
loss → drop → 2007
They risked returning home 2-4, off a 1-2 road trip, as they watched Minnesota cut their 24-point lead down to four.
asserted
Minnesota → risk → four
“There’s a slight bit of relief,” Steph Curry said of improving to 2-3 on the season after their poor start, “but there’s still an understanding that the Memphis game in the second half, tonight mostly in the fourth quarter, we know we can play better.”
asserted
we → ’ → quarter
The Timberwolves, missing Anthony Edwards, weren’t able to pull off the same stunner that Memphis did.
asserted
Memphis → miss → that
But they put up enough of a fight to set off alarm bells in the Warriors locker room.
asserted
they → put → room
The closest they got came after a sloppy offensive possession that ended in a missed 3 from Curry, allowing Jonathan Kuminga to set up Ayo Dosunmu for a 3 on the other end.
asserted
Kuminga → get → end
Dosunmu’s triple cut the Warriors’ lead to 116-112 with 45 seconds left.
asserted
triple → cut → seconds
But the game began to turn long before that.
asserted
game → begin → that
Curry got to the line for two of his eventual 16 free throws to put Golden State up 73-50 a little less than 3 minutes into the third quarter.
asserted
Curry → get → quarter
Then Draymond Green threw the ball away, Yaxel Lendeborg got his pocket picked twice in three possessions and Curry stepped out of bounds.
Four turnovers in a span of barely more than 2 minutes of gametime.
asserted
Curry → throw → gametime
Kerr had seen enough after TJ Shannon turned the last one into 3 points on the other end, making it 73-53.
asserted
it → see → end
“We smelled blood in the water,” Kerr said.
asserted
Kerr → smell → water
“We thought we needed to make great plays, spectacular plays, in order to extend it to 30, instead of just making solid plays.”
asserted
we → think → plays
The margin never reached 30.
asserted
margin → reach → 30
Minnesota scored 64 of the final 110 points.
asserted
Minnesota → score → points
“We let them off the hook when we were up 73-50 with all those turnovers.
asserted
we → let → turnovers
The whole game changed right then at that point,” Kerr said.
asserted
Kerr → change → point
“That’s when it got wild and crazy.
asserted
it → ’ → ?
The Warriors have traditionally thrived in chaos.
asserted
Warriors → thrive → chaos
That’s not their plan anymore.
asserted
That → ’ → ?
The game turned into a track meet.
asserted
game → turn → meet
It was a different formula than the Memphis game, when Zach Edey and Grizzlies gobbled up offensive rebounds that negated good defensive possessions, and the Warriors couldn’t buy a bucket, despite getting the shots they wanted.
asserted
they → gobble → shots
In this case, the Warriors allowed Minnesota to impose its preferred style of play.
asserted
Minnesota → allow → play
It didn’t help that the Timberwolves drained 10 second-half 3s to just one by the Warriors.
asserted
Timberwolves → help → Warriors
“I think a lot of it is just getting organized offensively where you’re using the other team’s desperation and pressure against them,” Curry said.
asserted
Curry → think → them
“It seems like we kind of get playing on our heels a little bit.
asserted
we → seem → heels
Then you’re just kind of hoping and wishing shots go in.”
asserted
shots → hop → ?
There are two ways to look at it: On the one hand, the Warriors are the single-most veteran team in the NBA, and that makeup should have no problem closing out games.
asserted
makeup → be → games
On the other, Golden State is also implementing a new way of doing things offensively and integrating a few players into new roles.
asserted
State → implement → roles
Game 82 should look different from Game 5.
asserted
Game → look → Game
“We know we gave that game away to Memphis,” Curry said.
asserted
Curry → know → Memphis
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
