Betaball by Erik Malinowski

Author:Erik Malinowski
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books

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KINGSLAYERS

The 2015 playoffs

For the first time since 1977, the Warriors had made the playoffs three years in a row, and they seemed poised to not only fulfill Lacob’s goal of making the Western Conference Finals but even potentially win the whole enchilada for the first time in four decades. They’d finished the regular season with the 10th-best record in NBA history and recorded the highest year-on-year improvement (plus-16) of any 50-win team in league history, but such accomplishments would feel hollow if they didn’t get within reach of a championship.

First up were the upstart New Orleans Pelicans, led by former No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis, a mammoth University of Kentucky star who, despite being just 21, had ravaged opposing NBA power forwards and centers for three years. He’d led the league in blocks two years in a row while averaging 24 points and 10 rebounds. Complementing him was a trio of capable guards in Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon, and Jrue Holiday. Evans had beaten out Stephen Curry for Rookie of the Year honors back in 2010 and was the team’s second-leading scorer at 16 a night, while Gordon (13.4 points per game) and Holiday (14.8) were legit threats from the perimeter. And with Ryan Anderson, a 6-foot-10 backup power forward who could stretch the floor and knock down threes like a wing, the Pelicans had the deep-threat scorers to rain down enough shots to make any game tighter than it deserved to be. New Orleans even handed Golden State its 15th and final loss of the regular season, a 103–100 nail-biter on April 7 wherein only two Warriors scored in double digits and Davis dominated with 29 points, 10 boards, four blocks, and no turnovers.

Nonetheless, Golden State swept New Orleans out of the playoffs in a week’s time. After two pedestrian wins at Oracle, the Warriors were down by 20 heading into the fourth quarter of Game 3 in the Crescent City. They not only forced overtime but won, 123–119, as Curry finished with 40 points and nine assists; was the game’s high scorer in the third quarter, fourth quarter, and overtime; and dropped two threes in the final 12 seconds of regulation to force the extra frame. It was the first time in franchise history that Golden State won a game after being down by at least 20 points entering the fourth; its previous record in such instances was 0-358.

Sure, the Pelicans were not the staunchest competition, but it was the kind of game that gave the Warriors an air of inevitability. They were truly never out of a game, not when they were down 17 points with six minutes to play, not ever. And behind 39 points and nine assists from Curry in Game 4, the Warriors closed out the series with a 109–98 win to partake in seven full days of rest before meeting their next opponent.

• • •

The Memphis Grizzlies would be a far tougher test for Golden State in the second round. They were constructed more in the mold of a traditional NBA squad.

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