For the first time since 2014, the Warriors have exited the postseason before reaching the finals. Here are some players to blame.
"It was fun while it lasted" was all any true Golden State Warriors fan could say after the team's disappointing Game 6 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Not a vicious tirade about the futile existence of Jordan Poole, not a profanity-laden attack on the poor officiating, just the quiet, unobtrusive thought of: It is what it is. It was what it was.
And what it was, was a 4-2 series loss to a team more athletic, more consistent, and more gelled than they were, a series that culminated in a hard-to-watch Game 6 which the Warriors never got a handle on.
Steph Curry's heart bled all over that court in Crypto.com Arena. Golden State's role players gave until they couldn't give anymore, not under these must-win circumstances, anyway. The Warriors' series against the Lakers was like a pressure cooker that ticked faster and faster, steam rising, nerves tightening, the tiniest shred of hope still kindling Golden State's flame until… it was all over.
There was no dramatic explosion at the end of this series, no flashing siren for top-down changes like what happened in the Suns' dreadful beating by the Nuggets. Instead, just the faint "poof" of a distant dream and two remaining thoughts: It was fun while it lasted. And: If we had been perfect, we could have beat them.
These Warriors players, however, were far from perfect. Here are three people to blame, if you must.
Warriors to blame for early playoff exit: Klay Thompson
Henceforth, Klay Thompson will never be known as Game 6 Klay. Game 6 Klay no longer exists. It's just Klay, now.
Thompson ended Friday's game with eight measly points. He went 3-of-19 from the field and 2-of-12 from the 3-point line; those are pretty lousy numbers, but if you had been tracking his performance all series, you would know they aren't a crazy anomaly.
The Lakers set out to bottle up Klay from the start, and their defensive strategy coupled with Thompson's streaky form turned the Splash Brother into just a Brother.
Following his nearly record-setting Game 2 showcase with 30 points and eight 3s, Thompson went 10-for-36 from 3 throughout the next three games.
He hit glass, rim, anything but net on a handful of open looks on Friday, and it goes without saying that if he had made some of those shots, the vibe would have been much different. Thompson was -33 on the court in Game 6, his worst all series, and his defensive game suffered alongside his offensive one.
Whereas Steph Curry has been able to diversify his offensive production over the years, drawing fouls in the paint and getting to the free-throw line when his 3-point shot is off, Thompson's shot selection more often makes fans — and Steve Kerr — cringe.
ESPN's J.J. Redick gave a thoughtful explanation as to why Thompson just hasn't looked like himself this series, one reason being that Thompson may have been hurt the most by the Warriors decision to go to primarily pick-and-roll offense with Curry on the floor.
Regardless, Thompson never found his flow state in this series. Injuries inevitably change players, and it's downright unrealistic to expect him to be as good as he once was. But maybe he could have just been…. a little less worse?
Warriors to blame for early playoff exit: Jordan Poole
Jordan Poole's 2022-2023 NBA season started with a punch, so it's only fitting that it ends with one: his performance this postseason delivered a sucker punch to the gut.
After signing a four-year, $123 million contract last October, Poole has turned from championship-caliber superhero to venomously-hated villain in the span of a single season. Golden State fans clamored for him to be traded to China during his Game 6 showing, and they had every reason to feel that way. Through the first half, he had zero points and four fouls.
And that wasn't an isolated incident, either. Throughout the playoffs, Poole only made 34.1 percent of his shots and averaged 10.3 points per game. As a result, Steve Kerr reduced his minutes and relied more on Moses Moody and Donte DiVicenzo to keep the Warriors' offensive pulse alive.
Since Poole isn't a very good defender, the Warriors needed him to consistently sink shots. He couldn't do that against the Sacramento Kings or the Lakers, and some NBA analysts no longer see him as a piece of the Warriors' core.
During the regular season, Poole averaged 20.4 points, both dazzling and giving his teammates a panic attack with his explosive, fast and loose offensive plays. The expectation after extending Poole last year was that he would become a more dependable rotational piece, a crutch to lean on if Curry or Thompson need a rest.
But this playoff series revealed the real Jordan Poole, and he's not pretty:
Chaotic and disruptive, but not in the good way.
Moving on from Poole when his stock is lowest, however, may not pay dividends in the future. It's just a thought — for now.
Warriors to blame for early playoff exit: Their terrible, God-awful road record
We're not sure who to blame for this. The whole team? The deflated spirit? The broken soul?
In any case, the Warriors' atrocious road record this season buried them six-feet-under, and the team wasn't going to win Game 6 barring a miracle.
Golden State went 11-30 on the road this past season, by far the worst road record of any playoff contender much less the reigning NBA champions.
The Ringer's Zach Kram tried to explain the vast discrepancy in the Warriors' home vs. away wins using statistical data, and he couldn't conclude anything other than the team's defense was worse on the road, and that was an unsolved mystery.
I still haven't been able to discern any convincing reason why the Warriors defense is so much worse on the road, beyond a sense that they're suffering from a historically weird run of luck.
Kram also said that there should be no carryover between the regular season and playoffs, which means that the Warriors' road losses in the season doesn't necessarily translate to road losses in the postseason.
Then again, the Warriors' road record is so baffling that maybe it did. Golden State couldn't steal a single win at Crypto.com arena. The team managed to win Game 7 against the Kings in Sacramento thanks to Curry and just needed another holy savior on Friday night. The clouds never parted, and the miracle never came.
After the series against the Lakers, some may theorize about the decline of the Warriors' everlasting trio, that maybe their championship DNA is fading and their stars are getting too old for this. Draymond's hair is graying. Curry and Thompson both struggled to consistently make the resounding on-court impact they made years ago.
For the first time in the trio's plethora of playoff series, the Warriors couldn't muster a victory at a road venue. This is also the first time the trio has started every game in a series and lost. There's always a first time for everything, and these "firsts" in particular may indicate the start of something dreadful.
We don't even want to say it aloud, so we'll whisper it: The end of a dynasty.
