Few people expected the Kings to have the season they had. Former Warriors assistant Mike Brown won Coach of the Year and standout seasons from De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, rookie Keegan Murray and other set the Kings up with the Warriors in the first round.
We all know how that went.
Stephen Curry had a biblical performance, scoring a Game 7 NBA record 50 points in Sacramento to push the Warriors into the Western Conference Semis.
Golden State flamed out against the Los Angeles Lakers, but that performance remains iconic.
Kevin Huerter, who had the misfortune of being at the receiving end, discussed it on the Old Man and the Three podcast on Thursday. He was asked whether that Curry performance broke the Kings’ spirit.
He said Curry’s effort alone didn’t break them:
In the fourth quarter, I think what broke our spirit, like as they continued to make shots — tough shots — we weren’t making the ones that we were used to making and we were turning the ball over.
And so it was like we wanted it so bad, especially in that fourth quarter trying to make a run, and not shooting well and it was like, ‘Alright, at some point, we’re going to see one go down, we’re going to get a turnover and go on a mini run.’ It just never happened.
And then Steph on the flip side was giving us 50. So I wouldn’t say our spirit broke until we knew, I think when [Kings coach] Mike [Brown] took us out at the end of the game and they just put in our subs and that was it.
The Warriors, despite their loss to the Lakers, always possess that avalanche potential. It’s why reports suggest the team plans to keep the core together for at least another year.
Some of that could change, of course. The indications that Bob Myers might not return to his post could affect things significantly.
Listen to the full interview with Marc J. Spears discussing the Myers situation above. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Catch Tolbert & Copes weekdays from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. on KNBR 104.5 / 680 and streaming live on KNBR.com.