The Warriors Return to Roaracle for Pivotal Game 5

By Connor Buestad | connorbuestad@gmail.com

To be honest, Warriors Faithful should have known better. No doubt, this is a bruised and battered basketball fan base in Oakland that has weathered many losing season storms, so I see the logic in walking on pins and needles through this playoff run. But at this juncture, I believe it is time to collectively (albeit apprehensively) hand over our keys to Steph Curry, sit quietly in the passenger seat, and let blind faith steer us through Memphis and home to the Western Conference Finals.  

Friendly reminder: The Warriors didn’t lose more than two games in a row all season long. Hell, they didn’t lose more than two games at home for the entire regular season. So that’s why it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when the Dubs were able to dig themselves out of a 2-1 series hole in Game 4 and avoid losing three straight to Memphis.

The last time Golden State had suffered two consecutive losses was back in early April when they sputtered versus the Spurs and the Pelicans. In the following game at home against Damian Lillard’s Blazers, Curry promptly quieted any whispers that the Dubs had lost their edge, to the tune of 45 points over Portland. It was one of the Warriors many statement games this season, not to mention a fruitful stop on Steph’s MVP campaign trail.

This is the first full series that Curry has officially worn the MVP Belt, and after a uncharacteristically cold shooting night at “The Grindhouse” in Game 3, people like Charles Barkley began to toss around the possible “live by the three, die by the three” narrative. Fortunately, said narrative doesn’t appear to have any legs, as Chef Curry successfully sharpened his sword prior to Game 4 and finished with a resounding 33 points to even the series at two-a-piece.

Not only did the Dubs collectively re-discover their three-point rhythm in Game 4 (They shot roughly 20% from beyond the arc in games 2 and 3 as compared to almost 40% in Game 4), but they also rolled out an unorthodox defensive strategy that paid immediate dividends. Kerr, gambling on Tony Allen’s bum hamstring, made sure to keep Andrew Bogut entrenched in the paint to help out on Marc Gasol and Z-Bo. Left open, Allen was still unable to produce offensively in Game 4.

Now that the Warriors have re-gained home court advantage, we are looking at a three game series, the winner likely getting the very-beatable LA Clippers in the Western Finals. Game 6 will be back in Memphis on Friday, while the if-necessary Game 7 will be held in Oakland this Sunday. Vegas has appointed the Dubs a 9 ½ point favorite tonight, and coming off a 17-point road win on Monday in which they tallied 14 three-pointers, you can’t help but believe they will ride the Roaracle crowd to a 3-2 series advantage going back to Tennessee.

And if for whatever reason you lose faith on Wednesday night (perhaps Z-Bo gets hot or Mike Conley goes on a tear), just remember that Draymond Green’s mom stream-of-consciousness in-game twitter feed is about all the positive chatter you will need to get yourself through the end of this heavyweight series and beyond.

Keep enjoying the ride, Dubs fans. Let Roracle rip...