DENVER — As several members of the Golden State Warriors began to emerge from the visiting locker room at Ball Arena Sunday night, Klay Thompson sat silently in a folding chair with his head bowed. Tampered with his wristband. He was still wearing his game shorts.
Thompson has dealt with adversity, missing two seasons due to injury. But the NBA has a way of humiliating even the most determined players. And in the aftermath of the Warriors’ dismal 79th game of the season, Thompson was left to focus on foul shots and missed chances. He was not alone.
The Warriors are a hard team to spot, and their 112-110 loss to the Nuggets on Sunday was another mixed attempt in a season full of them. They were sexy and connected, then sloppy and disjointed. They led by as much as 15 points in the second quarter, and then let all that good feeling evaporate.
“We stopped playing,” said coach Steve Kerr. “We lost focus on both ends, gave up a lot of offensive rebounds, missed penalties. Offensively, we had several stray possessions in a row, wide layups, a bunch of shot turnovers — just bad shots.”
Teams have vastly different agendas at this late point in the season. Who are the nuggets? On the cusp of the upper seed grab In the Western Conference, you have the luxury of prioritizing health. Nikola Jokic, the most valuable player in the league, He missed his third straight game with tightness in the calf.
“There’s a real injury out there, and we’re just being smart about it,” Denver coach Michael Malone said before Sunday’s game. “The kind of injury he’s had, the worst case scenario is he plays and creates a much bigger problem where he’s going to be out for an extended period of time. And I think we all realize we’re only going to go so far when Nicola is a big part of what we do.”
On the other hand, the Warriors are desperate to avoid the play-by-play class as the reigning champions. With the top six seeds in each conference included, the Warriors (41-38) are tied for fifth with the Clippers in the West after Sunday’s loss. Kerr likes to add play — “it keeps things really interesting along the way,” he said — but that doesn’t mean he wants to be a part of it.
The Warriors have three games left. After facing the host Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, they will go on the road to face the Sacramento Kings on Friday and the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
“We need to win,” Golden State’s Stephen Curry said, adding, “He just realizes that there’s a sense of urgency in these last three games, and not just the wins but the atmosphere they create in the playoff series, because that’s what matters — finishing strong, finishing with Sense of purpose. You want to feel good about yourself when you’re running the clock on the playoffs.”
The real challenge is that the Warriors have played two of their last three games on the road, as they have been horrible this season. The discrepancy between their record at home (32-8) and their record on the road (9-30) is a mystery with no clear explanation.
“We have to trust ourselves that we can figure it out,” Carey said.
No solutions have been shown against the Nuggets, although they have been looking good to the Warriors, at least for a while. They put together one of their familiar masterclasses in ball movement in the first quarter.
There was Draymond Green making a pass to Donte DiVincenzo to throw the ball up and down. There Thompson was drawing a bunch of defenders on the drive before throwing a pass to Anthony Lamb for an open dunk. The ball is pressed from teammate to teammate. Green caught five assists in the first quarter, assisted on 11 of 13 field goals by the Warriors, and committed just one turnover.
But maintaining that kind of effort has been a problem for the Warriors this season, especially on the road. They missed all of their three-point shots in the second quarter and committed five turnovers.
“It was kind of a road-going sensation for us all year,” Carey said. “There’s a stretch of four or five minutes and the wheels just fall off. And you’re not only giving the team momentum, you’re giving them faith that they’re supposed to win that game. And that’s a dangerous situation to be in with the amount of talent that’s in this league, no matter who you’re playing.” .
Curry and Thompson combined to shoot 17 of 56 from the field, and Golden State went 15 turnovers. Add it in, Curry said, and the game the Warriors won was “no business.”
The basketball gods agreed. After Thompson’s three-point shot with 4.5 seconds left fizzled off the back rim, he bounced back his errors. But his desperation flared up when the bell was Crushed by Jamal Murraywho had a great all-round game for the Nuggets with 26 points and 8 assists.
“The season has been like this all year,” Kerr said. “It was a stop and start. Just when you think we have some momentum, we give it back to you.”
With the visiting locker room still emptying, Thompson finally got up from his chair and packed up for the trip home. The team bus was parked outside.
“We just have to keep pushing,” Kerr said.