The Golden State Warriors missed the NBA playoffs by a huge margin! The 94:118 defeat at the Sacramento Kings sealed the series champions’ early exit from the play-in tournament. The team from San Francisco made it to the NBA Finals six times between 2015 and 2022 and won the championship four times. However, the Dubs also missed the postseason three of the last five times. The Warriors’ long-standing dynasty around superstars Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green seems to finally be coming to an end.
{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}
Curry’s “splash brother” Thompson was a symbol of the Kings’ defeat. The 34-year-old was on the floor for almost 32 minutes and threw a total of ten times – including six three-pointers – towards the basket, but did not make a single attempt. The big disappointment was seeing Thompson after the game, he didn’t give any interviews. It was “one of his worst games at an important moment,” one could even read on the official NBA website.
The Athletic called it a “0-out-of-10 flop,” while Sports Illustrated called it a “shocking performance. He seemed aware that the last remnants of his greatness were dissolving before our eyes.”
Klay Thompson (on the ball) had a very bad night for the Golden State Warriors
Thompson? “We want him back”
His contract expires in the summer and the star trio could fall apart, but coach Steve Kerr stood up for his protégé: “We need Klay back. I know he had a tough night, but I also know that I speak for everyone in the organization: We want him back.”
{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}
Kerr added: “Obviously there is a business that needs to be addressed. But what Klay means to this franchise… He’s just as good and that’s why we definitely want him back.”
Curry supports his “splash brother”.
But it wasn’t just Kerr who stood behind Thompson, his teammate Curry also supported his colleague: “He played a good year and we can’t just talk about this one game. Of course he can play better, but he has been given a new role this season, has also come off the bench and then been rotated back into the starting lineup.”
Curry emphasized that the 34-year-old is a true champion and is incredibly fun to play with. “He works incredibly hard for success and I hope he comes back,” emphasized Curry.
“You don’t stay at the top forever”
Thompson’s shooting from the three-point line was feared in the NBA for a long time because the 34-year-old didn’t need much time or space to create a good shot. But his two and a half year injury break between June 2019 and January 2022 due to a cruciate ligament and subsequent Achilles tendon rupture left its mark.
{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}
The Golden State Warriors’ dynasty around superstar Steph Curry in the NBA is over
The Warriors won the NBA title for the last time in that 2021/22 comeback season. In the final series they beat the Boston Celtics and looking back today it seems like the trio’s “last dance”: Thompson hit his shots from the three-point line, Curry directed the Warriors’ offense and always had the decisive answer ready and Green acted as a conductor of the defense . At that time, the historical significance of the title was immediately felt. It also cemented Curry’s legacy in the NBA and reaffirmed the Warriors’ successful play.
Coach Kerr didn’t want to talk about the end of the dynasty after the end: “It’s too early for me to think about it,” explained the 58-year-old. He went on to say that the entire team had invested a lot during the season and everyone involved was correspondingly emotional. “Business consists of ups and downs. We experienced the highest of emotions with the championships and now we get to feel the other side of the coin. That’s life. You don’t stay at the top forever. Now the offseason is coming and we have to think about that a lot,” said Kerr.
NBA superstar Curry doesn’t give up: “I want to win”
His superstar Curry also had the disappointment after the defeat written all over his face, also because the last few months of the season with the close fight for the playoffs were extremely tough: “To ultimately not have reached them is very disappointing for all of us.” In In the last 39 games of the regular season, the Warriors achieved a record of 27:12 and finished the season in tenth place in the Western Conference with 46 wins and 36 defeats. Head coach Kerr was convinced until the end that the team was good enough to play a long series – but now it’s over.
Rebuilding? The end of the golden generation? No, the visibly disillusioned NBA superstar Curry didn’t want to and couldn’t think that far after the painful but deserved elimination. “It’s all so fresh right now and it’s a terrible feeling. I’m just sitting here and thinking about whether I should watch the playoffs,” said the 36-year-old: “It’s unusual on April 16th. I just want to win. Whatever that means, I want to win.”
How much there is left for the Warriors to gain in the next few years is uncertain. Curry (36), Thompson (34) and Green (34) are slowly approaching the final years of their careers and the Dubs are no longer one of the best teams in the Western Conference. And their playoff mode, which is so feared by the competition, no longer seems to be working. The long-standing dynasty now seems to be finally over after being eliminated in the play-ins.
2024-04-17 17:09:03
#shocking #performance #wrong #time
