How did the Warriors get here?

How did we get here? 

More specifically, how did they get here? The Warriors, that is, to Game 7 of the first round of the playoffs. This wasn’t supposed to happen, not after they finally won a road game at Sacramento and seemingly proved they had restored their excellence and our faith. 

A game at home, Chase Center, where they almost always win, and it would be on to the next round. But as we were reminded, almost leaves room for doubt, and defeat, a 118-99, defeat. And so Sunday in Sacramento there would be a final game for the Warriors’ postseason. And maybe for the season.

The Kings were favored, and why not. They had a better regular season record, earning the home-court advantage. They are younger and seemingly stronger. Father time is an unbeatable opponent. Steph Curry is 35. It all catches up with you.  

Sports are predictable. And unpredictable. The belief here was once the Warriors got a victory on the road, at Sacramento, they would be fine, that that experience and championships — and cheering at Chase — would make the difference. That wasn’t the situation in Game 6.

They were out of it before the second quarter began, a disappointment as well as a shock.

Was it surprising, with the Warriors down more than a dozen points and a loss inevitable, that the crowd at Chase was determinedly heading for the exits, apparently unconcerned there might not be another home game until next fall? The fans were not accustomed to what they had seen.  

It was Dick Motta, coaching in the 1970s, who popularized the phrase, “It ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings,’ and certainly as the Warriors’ Klay Thompson pointed out the Dubs very much understand what they need to do, shoot, rebound and most of all play alert defense. But knowing and doing are not the same.

And if knowing is a factor the advantage would go to Mike Brown, in his first year as Kings coach, who spent the previous six seasons as assistant and interim head coach with the Warriors. He and his staff decided to go with a smaller lineup in Game 6, a maneuver that allowed Sacramento to get more open shots and also to harass the Warrior offense, Golden State shooting only 37 percent.      

NBA playoffs have a history of teams alternating wins and losses. The Warriors, aware of what some might say is desperation, assumingly would perform better — as they did in the three straight wins over the Kings earlier in the series. Dubs coach Steve Kerr said his team needed once more to be the aggressor.

He also said, perhaps as much for the fans as the players, “We’ve won Game 7s before. We know what to do.”

If they win, the Warriors get the Lakers, If they don’t they get months to remember and reflect.