© Kyle Terada | 2019 May 8
With all due respect to my man Fitz from our daily “Fitz Files”, I do not think it’s going to take a “miracle” for the Warriors to win one of the next two basketball games vs. the Houston Rockets.
I think it’s just going to take a little help from our friends.
And by “friends”, I mean the already-sentimental sight of the Class of 2015 out there on the hardwood, their first names alone indicating how much they are a part of Bay Area championship royalty.
Steph.
Klay.
Draymond.
Andre.
Shaun.
This is the fifth consecutive post-season this quintet has worn the blue and gold and brought your basketball jones to unprecedented heights. They are the Joe-Ronnie-Roger-Keena-Jerry of Bay basketball, the Buster-Madison-Boch-Panda-Sergio of Bay NBA.
Yes, Kevin Durant is the best player on the planet, as Steve Kerr has told us many times. Yes, he is the two-time Finals MVP. Yes, he was on a postseason scoring binge the likes of which had not been seen since “some guy named Michael”, as Kerr calls the old Chicago Bull from the 1990s.
But Game 6 — and yes, being realistic, maybe Game 7 — is an opportunity for the original ball-movement, Splash-fueled brand of basketball to get together one more time.
Seeing them will be like a high school reunion, of sorts. And I’m talking the good part of the high school reunion; the part where you manically bro hug the dudes you haven’t seen in years. Not the part where you see that guy where you have nothing to say — “So … yeah …. wait, you were in our year?”
Call to mind whatever pop culture movie you want about reunions. “Back to the Future”, with Steve Kerr as Christoper Lloyd’s Dr. Brown. “Hot Tub Time Machine”, which I confess I’ve never seen.
Point is, the Original Five — and can we throw in the return of Andrew (The Angry Aussie) Bogut? — can look at each other tonight in the locker room, and nod silently. They know where to cut and move in the half court. They know each other’s sweet spots. They know to move heaven and earth to get Steph and Klay the ball. And they know if the Rockets drape all five defenders on those two, that Andre and Draymond need to hit those familiar clutch three-point baskets.
Of course, they are older. Of course, Shaun Livingston is playing the worst basketball of his Warriors stint. Of course, Curry has yet to break out of this series-long shooting slump.
But something happened in the fourth quarter of Game 5. Durant went down, the Rockets took the lead, and everything was dead.
Until it wasn’t. Until Curry found an extra gear. Until Draymond Green took a charge, and hit a three. Until Klay hit a critically important three. Somehow, when everyone thought Durant was their only source of oxygen, their lungs filled with purpose and life.
The Warriors won the damn game. It was borderline inspirational.
And now they have a chance to do it again. For old time’s sake.
Can’t wait.