Down 3-1, Warriors offer a reminder: ‘We made history before’

THE ANGELS — warriors of the golden state Coach Steve Kerr would not call Game 4 on Monday against the los angeles lakers a must-win. He said that as long as the Warriors weren’t on the verge of elimination, nothing was absolute.

But Golden State ahead kevon looney he acknowledged how big a hole is to come back from a 3-1 series deficit. He and the Warriors know this from personal experience.

However, the Warriors fell to the Lakers. 104-101 in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals, putting them right where Kerr was talking: on the brink of elimination.

“It feels like what it is,” Kerr said. “You go home and take care of business. You get a win. And the momentum comes back in your favor. That’s it. Someone has to win four times. That’s why you play.”

Golden State is 1-14 all time in the series after being down 3-1. His only return was in the 2016 Western Conference finals against the oklahoma city thunder. They blew their own 3-1 lead in the next round against the cleveland cavaliers in the NBA Finals.

“We made history before. The goal is to win one at home. We know that we are capable of taking care of the home field. It’s about being present and not looking ahead,” the Warriors guard. klay thompson saying.

“It’s fun to reflect on the past and learn from it and take that same competitive energy that brought us back to the past.”

But the team Thompson reflected on was a different team than it is now. That team was a superteam that won 73 regular season games.

This season, the Warriors have battled disconnection, both on and off the field, all season long and don’t have regular-season success to fall back on.

The Warriors said most of the confidence that they can keep their season alive comes from Game 4 being within their grasp. The Warriors were up by 12 points midway through the third quarter. They defended well and reduced the fouls. They didn’t play much in transition, but said they got good control of the ball.

golden state guard Stephen Curry he recorded the third postseason triple-double of his career with 31 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds.

But the loss followed the same recipe of so many other Warriors road losses, wasting everything good in the final minutes and failing to close.

“We had a good look that didn’t go in, but we fought until the last second to give ourselves a chance to steal a win,” Curry said. “In the fourth quarter, we only scored 17 points. That’s a tough way to end. I have to watch the movie to see exactly where they made adjustments defensively, but we looked very good. We were confident.”

The atmosphere in the Warriors’ locker room after Game 4 sent a different message than his words of pure optimism. jordan poole he spoke to reporters with his back to them. There was no music playing. There were murmurs of wondering how they let the game get away.

Still, the Warriors will return to San Francisco’s Chase Center for Game 5 on Wednesday trying not to think too far ahead and just extend their season by one game.

As different as they are now from when they returned in 2016, they tell themselves the same thing they did back then: “Play one game at a time and enjoy the process of pursuing greatness,” Thompson said.