Warriors, ejected in 6, agree: This was not a championship team

LOS ANGELES — As warriors of the golden state Coach Steve Kerr scanned the locker room after Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals, the look of fatigue and disappointment smeared all over his team’s face.

It was done: The Warriors’ quest to defend their title had ended with a 122-101 loss toward los angeles lakers Friday night, and they sat down with all the questions that come next.

“To be fair, I think this team has finally peaked,” Kerr told reporters after the game. “We were barely in the playoff picture for most of this year… This is not a championship team.”

That sentiment didn’t come just because the Warriors were eliminated, snapping their streaks of 28 straight playoff series with at least one road win, and 19 straight series wins against Western Conference teams, both NBA records.

The Warriors’ 11-30 record during the regular season is one reason this team lacked championship DNA. Then there were the repeated injuries to Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins. The disconnect with which the Warriors began the year and from which they never fully recovered.

“From training camp until now, it was just the reality that we lived in,” Curry said. “We were trying to keep things positive and upbeat about what we were trying to achieve this year…but there’s also an understanding that this isn’t good enough.”

But Golden State still believed in themselves when it came time for the playoffs: the second season of the NBA.

“We’ve done a really good job finding something here over the last month,” Kerr said. “We came close to getting what we had, but we didn’t quite get it. We didn’t feel like a champion team all year, but we had the guts and the strength to believe.”

“No competitor believes (you’re finished) until it’s proven that you’re not a champion team,” Curry added. “And that’s getting beaten in a playoff series.”

The Warriors’ locker room heading into Game 6 was the complete antithesis of his state of mind after that. Music was blasting from a pair of portable speakers. The players were dancing around. They were full of life. However, they came out of the game with none of that energy.

The Lakers’ lead increased to 17 points in the first, matching the largest deficit the Warriors have faced in the first quarter of a playoff game under Kerr. They also trailed by 17 in Game 6 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals against the houston rockets. But in that game they won again by 29.

Midway through the first quarter on Friday, something finally clicked for Golden State, and the Warriors went on a 23-10 run. But it was not sustainable. During that stretch, they closed in on the Lakers, but never took the lead. And when they had a chance to make another push, they ran out of energy.

Curry scored 32 points on 11-of-28 shooting, trying his best to extend the series to seven games, but he didn’t get enough help. Donte Di Vincenzo he was their only support system, and the only other double-digit scorer with 16 points. The next top scorers were kevon looney and dramond green with nine each.

klay thompson scored just eight points, while jordan poole I was seven and Andrew Wiggins — who was battling a fractured left costal cartilage — added six. Wiggins was also unable to defend Lebron James with enough force to stop it.

The Warriors had nothing more to give.

While the series was ultimately lost for the Warriors in Game 6, Kerr said it was decided in Games 1 and 4, two close games the Warriors could have had but let them slide.

“No competitor believes [you’re done] until you show that you are not a champion team. And that’s getting beaten in a playoff series.”

Stephen Curry

“I definitely think this team has reached its peak,” Green said, agreeing with his coach. “It wasn’t a championship team… this wasn’t a championship group as it is.”

Green said the Warriors have to go back to the drawing board this summer to restructure and “redefine” how to get back to a championship level.

But the person responsible for building Golden State’s champion roster over the past decade, general manager Bob Myers, has yet to reach a new contract deal.

And like Myers, Green’s status with the team is unclear. He has a player option waiting for him and told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears that he will take his time deciding his future. But he insists that he wants to remain a warrior.

“That doesn’t mean our fundamental changes,” Green said. “That doesn’t mean our core can’t do it again…we’re made up of champions.”