A week ago, I sat down at my Jock Blog office and said: “Jock Blog like you’ve never jock blogged before. Tell the people the truth, jock blogger.”
The result was my Jock Blog of March 14, headlined: “Start Thinking About That 2 Seed, Warriors Fans.”
Yo! Can I get a do-over?
Since the 4th quarter of the March 14 game vs. Philly — or, more accurately, since KNBR.com published that Jock Blog — the Warriors have turned the corner.
Those “dog days” ESPN’s Bruce Bowen told us about? As Florence and the Machine might sing: They’re over.
From the moment Draymond Green led a Rottweiler-like clampdown of Philly in a 28-14 4th quarter that allowed the Dubs to squeak out a 106-104 win, everything’s coming up roses. To wit:
— The Warriors blew out Orlando and Milwaukee, finishing a 3-0 homestand.
— Steph Curry hit six 3-pointers vs. Milwaukee, seemingly breaking a slump.
— The Warriors went to OKC and throttled the Thunder, who had won five straight. They did so without Kevin Durant. They did so by Steph and Klay Thompson combining for 14 treys.
— They followed that up with a blowout of Harrison Barnes, Seth Curry and the Dallas Mavericks on a road back-to-back, their 5th straight win.
— Perhaps most important, the San Antonio Spurs, the Gregg Popovich-led robots of victory, lost *at home* to Portland, then lost at Memphis. In the case of which team would blink first, it was not the Durant-less Warriors. Surprise, surprise.
— Perhaps even more important, video surfaced Tuesday night of a healthy-looking Kevin Durant raining home jumpers in the Warriors’ shoot around in Dallas.
Presto, change-o. The Warriors, the 2 seed a week ago, are now the 1 seed. With a bullet.
And an asterisk.
The Dubs’ two-game lead in the loss column, while healthy, does have one last gamut of agony in the final 11 games. This Sunday at Oracle, they host Memphis. Clear that hurdle? Tuesday, they’re at Houston. Then, Wednesday, at San Antonio. Then Houston comes to Oracle.
So, next week will be the week. But the Warriors have a cushion. The Warriors have Steph Curry playing like Steph Curry. The Warriors have the positive energy of Durant’s impending return. The Warriors, damn near sentenced to the 2 seed by a sour Jock Blog, can start thinking about that 1 seed. The Jock Blog says it is so, and so it shall be.