Is Warriors era at an end—along with others

End of an era. Such a short phrase. Such a poignant phrase.

End of an era. Three words implying change has arrived, perhaps for the better but almost always for the worst.

End of an era. Within days, hours really, Pete Carroll is dispatched by the Seahawks, Nick Saban retires at Alabama and Bill Belichick leaves the New England Patriots.

End of an era. The Golden State Warriors tumble from greatness into such pathetic efficiency, they virtually are out of games by the second quarter and the cheers that once filled their home, Chase Center, turn into boos. 

Nothing is forever. A cliché, a reminder. There’s always someone new, some new team, another young kid as we grow old. That’s sports. That’s life. That’s coaches stepping away or being shoved away. That’s people who fail to understand we’re not going to stay on top, if we ever were fortunate to get there.

In the last months, the New England Patriots, a dynasty, had disintegrated and could barely score, dropping their final game of the season 17-3.

The last few days the Warriors, a dynasty, have disintegrated. Sunday night, they allowed 46 points in the first quarter.   

Unbelievable is both an overused and misapplied word in sport, where to be accurate, nothing—rallies, blown leads, games in snowstorms—truly nothing on a field or a court of ice is unbelievable, improbable yes.

Some of these fresh-faced partisans, who only discovered the Warriors the last decade, perhaps thought they’d never lose. Then again few of us thought they’d ever lose in the way they’ve lost recently, blown out.

Their coach said the Warriors have lost confidence. Too many new players in the lineup, possibly, and no Draymond Green, whose leadership and emotion—but not his violence—is to return shortly.

Maybe this is a false hope. Maybe, with Steph Curry wearing down and Klay Thompson inconsistent, what the Warriors used to be they’ll never be again. That also could be true for the New England Patriots, with whoever is their coach.  

So much upheaval in so short a time, and so many questions about how we can adapt. Would we have imagined the Warriors could toss away an 18-point lead? Or that Bill Belichick, Nick Saban and Pete Carroll would say goodbye in such rapid fashion?

They’re no longer coaching, although stories persist that Belichick will be back somewhere soon. The Warriors continue to play, if in different circumstances.

The other night, with the Warriors farther behind than one never would have thought, there was a TV closeup of Curry whose facial expression seemed to be a blend of bewilderment and dismay.

He’s probably thinking, how could he keep at least one sporting era from ending with all those others.

What’s to become of aging Warriors?

This is the way it works in sports. A team starts to win, and fans, the ones with perhaps less experience, believe that’s the way it always will be. They get spoiled. They get obnoxious even.  They get deceived.

But history is hovering. Nothing lasts forever, especially success.

Not very long ago the New England Patriots seemed unbeatable. Tom Brady was fantastic. Bill Belichick was a genius. 

And now? The Pats are awful. Critics are asking whether Belichick should be fired.

What some others are asking is what’s to become of the Golden State Warriors? Do they hang in for another season, shake off the inevitable scourge of time? Or do they decline almost before our very eyes — Draymond Green or no Draymond Green? 

Yes, Draymond soon is to be allowed back among the shooting and fouling of an NBA game. And presumably, the Warriors will never again be burdened by a dreaded six-game losing streak.

Still, this is the season of 2023-24, and the once-young guys who won four  NBA titles are older. You can’t go home again, and even going home appeared to be of little advantage during the recent stretch.

Pro sports in North America are designed to change the balance. Through the draft, the lesser teams are with wise choices and good fortune able to build themselves into better teams.

Which certainly is what the Warriors did, and oh yeah bringing in a free agent named Kevin Durant proved advantageous.

Who would have imagined Steph Curry would be the best long-range shooter in our lifetime? Or that Klay Thompson would pair up with Steph as one of the Splash Brothers? Or that Draymond, for all his faults, would be the guy who helped the pieces fit and no less played powerful defense?

Steve Kerr, the Warriors coach during their dominant years, was a player—and a fine one — on those Michael Jordan championship squads in the 1990s. Been there, and done that, so he understands the process and limitations.

Was it a year ago Kerr warned Warriors fans, that the team’s window to win was about to close? Last season the Dubs didn’t even get to the conference championship round.

The thinking — hoping? — of those in charge of the Warriors is that Chris Paul, 38, will be a more-than-capable addition to Curry, 35, Thompson, 33 and Green, 33. It’s possible if not probable.   

It’s all relative, certainly. Take it from someone (blush) who covered the Warriors in the ‘70s when they won 17 games and 22 games. The bad old days.

Those are gone forever. The issue, clouded a bit because of Draymond Green’s volatility and Klay Thomson’s shooting struggles, is whether the chance to win one last championship still remains.

Steph Curry now linked with Charlie Sifford

The great Jim Murray wrote of the barrier-breaking Charlie Sifford. “He stands as a social pioneer not because he could play politics, but because he could play golf.”

Steph Curry, as we know, can play basketball. And golf. 

And with his contributions to society and politics, if only in the most positive of ways. That Curry was given the Charlie Sifford Award by Southern Company for “Advancing Diversity in Golf,” surely would have pleased Sifford as much as it delighted Curry.

Yes, Steph still is on court, when needed. He was needed in a preseason game at Chase Center Wednesday night, hitting the game-winning 3-pointer as time expired to give the Warriors a 116-115 win over Sacramento.

The beauty of sport is that skill and talent—and hard work—transcend ethnic backgrounds. Or is supposed to. But it wasn’t that way in golf, historically a game as white as the dimpled balls placed on the tee.

Sifford grew up in a still segregated Charlotte, N.C., learning golf as a caddy. He had a short backswing but fortunately not a short fuse, patiently accepting the insults, death threats and sometimes the terrible materials hurled at him.

Sifford, who died at 92 in 2015, survived long enough to win two PGA Tour events and to be chosen for the World Golf Hall of Fame. As does Jackie Robinson, he has a place in the heart of every African American athlete. No Charlie Sifford, perhaps no Tiger Woods.

Curry, who like Sifford grew up in North Carolina, was particularly moved to be the Sifford Award winner, “to be recognized in this sport I am so passionate about.” 

His success in golf—he not only won this year’s American Century event at Lake Tahoe but also had a hole-in-one the previous round—is hardly a surprise.

Basketball players, along with hockey players, have the hand-eye coordination demanded. Michael Jordan was so good he tried to go on tour, although as he discovered there’s a gap between a low-handicap amateur and a pro.

Individuals who after a high profile celebrity event which might get them stories on the internet, usually along with advice to keep their day job. Curry certainly will, so that, although his day job is at night, in the company of Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.

Off the course and the court, Curry launched Underrated Golf in 2021, a purpose-driven endeavor with the “overarching commitment to provide equity access and opportunity to student-athletes from every community.”

At 37, Curry, his golf mostly confined until early summer next year, is astonished by the opportunity of one more NBA championship, adding to the four he has won since the season of 2015.

Not that his finances can’t be put to use at the same time, Curry is going to join the ownership group of the San Francisco team of the TGL, the virtual golf league developed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy

Curry and Klay Thompson will join billionaire businessman Marc Lasry, a former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks as investors. There will be six teams that will hold a competition on a virtual course in a custom-built arena in Florida. The league describes itself as “fusing advanced tech and live action.”

Charlie Sifford never would have believed it.

Hollywood reminders of Lakers success

We’ll leave the reasons for the Warriors’ loss, or if you choose the Lakers’ victory — the missed shots, the throttling defense, all those basketball explanations — and for a moment concentrate on the mental aspects of the result and how difficult it will be for the Dubs partisans to live in a sporting world where once again the power and glory belongs to Southern California.

There were more than a few examples during the telecast of the game Friday night, the one that if it didn’t signify the end of what had been labeled the Warriors dynasty, certainly was a jolting reminder that change had occurred.

You know the final score of the deciding Game 6 of the 2023 NBA Western Conference semifinal, alas a rout, Lakers 122 Warriors 101, L.A. wire-to-wire.

At Crypto.com Arena, where we were informed, seats were going for $30,000 — even if the announcer meant the private boxes, that’s not cheap — and the crowd included Elon Musk, Bad Bunny, Kim Kardashian, and from out of the past the serious fan, Jack Nicholson.

Yeah, Hollywood, celebrities as far as you could see and probably more than you can stand. But because the Warriors for the first time in years were unable to do the job, that’s the way it’s going to be.

That’s also the way it was when Magic, Kareem, or Kobe were out there, and the Lakers owned the Warriors and everything else west of the Sierra. Such a refreshing — and rewarding — interlude when Steph and Klay splashed, and Draymond got in an opponent’s face and got a technical or two. Or three.

Nothing is forever. The reminders kept coming. Now they’re here and indelible.

Maybe we were too caught up with history to pay close attention. Didn’t the Sacramento Kings win the first two games of their playoff over the Warriors? Yes, the Dubs pulled out the first round because Steph Curry scored 50. He was amazing. He was great. However, even greatness ages.

The Warriors’ front office, notably general manager Bob Myers, knows the progression and drafted people such as Jordan Poole, who was touted as the next Steph Curry. It is to dream. And miscalculate.  

Darvin Ham of the Lakers is a rookie head coach, a last-minute appointee as it were, but he’s been an assistant long enough to have helped develop Giannis Antetokounmpo into an MVP with Milwaukee. And he — and his staff — figured out how to defend Curry, who with Klay Thompson and Poole lost in the wilderness, and that was enough to stop the Warriors.

When an organization has an aging championship team it is confronted with a difficult decision whether to rely on the athletes which have been so good for so long or slowly remodel, rebuild, adding pieces to the mix.

The Lakers began the season in a hole, losing, but then they reshuffled and made trades. Their core was the always reliable, and obviously remarkable LeBron James and the frequently unpredictable Anthony Davis which was an advantage against the Warriors. Friday, James had 30 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists. 

“Our leader,” confirmed Ham.  

Davis had 17 points, 20 rebounds, and two assists. Some non-leader.

Curry, naturally was the high scorer for the Warriors, with 32. 

“He never lets you relax,” LeBron said.

The presumption is the Warriors’ front office, already over budget but needing to upgrade, won’t be relaxing or standing still. But what moves are possible, and if LeBron and Davis hang around, will it make a difference?

In the autumn of 2001, Warriors coach Steve Kerr, teammate of Michael Jordan on those super Chicago Bulls teams of the 1990s, pointed out the window doesn’t remain open very long.

After four titles in six years, the Warriors have to wonder if theirs has closed.

Dickens should be writing Warriors’ tale

This should be authored by Charles Dickens. He wrote “Bleak House,” didn’t he? Or maybe “The Brothers Grimm, Sigh!” 

No laughter for the Warriors these days. Not much hope either.

Say the Warriors do somehow stop the Lakers in Game 5 of the NBA Western Conference Semifinals Wednesday night at Chase Center up there near Oracle Park, another location of sporting depression. 

That would do nothing but delay the ending of a fall-short season which will leave people wondering what happened to Klay Thompson’s once beautiful jump shot and why Jordan Poole decided to retire without telling anyone.

The Warriors, the defending champions, have lost four of their last six games, including the final two against the Sacramento Kings in the series they did win. Meanwhile, the Lakers, given up for dead (the last two letters of that word are Anthony Davis’ initials), haven’t lost a playoff game at home.

L.A. had a losing record in February and needed to win a play-in game even to get to the post-season. If you can make sense of all that maybe you can explain why in the final minute of the Warriors’ 104-101 defeat Monday night, Steph Curry could miss not one but two of those long bombs he invariably makes.

Steph did have a triple-double Monday collecting 31 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds. So if he’s not on the court then the Warriors are not in the game. But when you’re up by seven after three quarters, you’re not supposed to lose.    

The fine LA. Times columnist Bill Plaschke was one of the guest scribes Tuesday on ESPN’s “Around the Horn,” as he is not infrequently, and when asked what happened to the Warriors gave a provincial legitimate answer: “Give credit to the Lakers.”

The Warriors appeared to be the better team coming in, as well as the week, leading up to the playoffs they barely made. However, L.A. took charge in game one and despite a Warriors bounce-back in game two, they have outplayed the Rub-a-Dubs most of the way.

You expected LeBron James to play and score as he did and feared the suddenly intense Davis might do the same. But when a guy named Lonnie Walker, who had been benched, gets 17 points, you are likely to have a problem, and the Warriors did. 

Only 13 times in NBA history has a team won a seven-game series after trailing 3-1. In 2016 the Warriors beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals and then a few weeks later lost this same way to Cleveland and LeBron in the NBA Finals.

Steve Kerr also coached those Warriors teams.

 “You definitely draw on those experiences,” Kerr said. “Game to game everything changes, so just focus on the next one. The next game and then the momentum shifts in your favor.”

Kerr and the Warriors need a shift now, or the story for the Warriors will be bleak, grim and very unreadable.

Warriors-Lakers: California here they come

This is as good as it gets for the not-so-late great state of California. Who cares if ESPN is fixated on listing events at Eastern Daylight Time?

Let's catch the last train to the Coast where oranges and redwoods grow and where the former Minneapolis Lakers and Philadelphia Warriors relocated with enviable success. 

Who imagined a few months ago when the Lakers were losing and the Warriors couldn’t win on the road that now in the lusty month of May they would be playing each other here in the NBA Western Conference semifinals, a playoff round as enticing as it should be entertaining.

LeBron and Steph, AD and Looney — and Klay, Draymond, and Wigs. Yes, basketball is the ultimate team sport, but it’s the individuals who make the shots and the difference.

To reprise that so-very-accurate Michael Jordan response when told there is no “I” in team, ”Yeah, but there is in win.”

There’s also an old journalistic idea that nothing is as dead as yesterday’s news. OK, but even moving forward past Sunday’s news, the Dubs stunningly overwhelmed the Kings, 120-100 at Sacramento, and Steph Curry set a Game 7 record with 50 points. In this case, yesterday’s news is going to live a long time.  

What we re-learned from both the Warriors and Lakers, who beat the Memphis Grizzlies, is that reputations as winners are well deserved.

LeBron James of the Lakers has scored more points than anyone in NBA history. Steph Curry is arguably the greatest shooter in NBA history. Two offensive stars ​​— yet in the end the results may depend on defense and rebounding. Or lack of it, which seemingly was why the Kings, after taking the first two games, lost four of the last five. They couldn’t stop Curry.

LA vs SF, initials representing the two cities founded by Spanish explorers. A rivalry of geography. And of pride.

For years and decades, NBA basketball out west belonged to the Lakers, to Wilt Chamberlain (although he did come out from Philly with the Warriors), Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and certainly Magic Johnson. Sixteen NBA titles, one fewer than the Celtics, to three for the Warriors, including one in 1975.  

Until Steve Kerr became the head coach of the Warriors, Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, and Draymond Green were on the roster. Then the Warriors added four more titles. It’s a quick turn-around for the Dubs, who must shift attention and style to face the Lakers, starting Tuesday night at Chase Center. 

“We’re excited to have the opportunity,” Kerr said about going against the Lakers. “I think the Lakers changed their team dramatically at the trade deadline. They made some brilliant moves and became an entirely different team.”

“Darvin (Lakers coach Darvin Ham) has done an incredible job guiding that team. They’re excellent defensively. They’ve got one of the all-time greats in LeBron. But a lot of talent across the roster. So it’s going to take a big effort to beat them, and we know how good they are.”

Just as the Lakers know how good the Warriors are.

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.

Draymond: Man of thoughts, words — and actions

On that podcast hosted by the man-about-town, defensive wizard and too-often controversial Draymond Green, he forthrightly pointed out that most of us — meaning virtually everyone but the players — don’t understand the game of pro basketball.

No argument here. Only a note of appreciation for the fact Mr. Green not only understands but is able to put that understanding into effect.

A couple of days earlier, Friday to be specific, Draymond was paying a price as much for his reputation as for his (shall I say aggressive?) method of play, stomping on the chest of Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis.

And so in Game 3 of the first round, with Draymond viewing, the Warriors won. Then Sunday, with Draymond subbing — he played one second less than 31 minutes and chipped in with 12 points and 10 rebounds — the Warriors won again, but barely, 126-125.

The first two games were at Sacramento and the last two were at Chase Center in San Francisco. With three games remaining, at max, two on the Kings’ home floor, the Warriors’ dynasty — if four championships in six years are to be judged a dynasty in sports — crumbles but holds.

The Kings supposedly have the edge. What the Warriors have is the experience, the been-there-done-that feeling. They also have Steph Curry, who scored many of his 32 points Sunday when it seemed everything was going wrong offensively, and the bad boy-good thinker, Draymond Green.

Green is not quite the individual portrayed or at least imagined. On the court, it’s true that he goes hard and reckless, fiercely perhaps, but in interviews, he’s calm and reflective. Although he’s always determined to get the proper result, victory.

Coaches and athletes talk about winning cultures, about the old Yankees and newer Lakers. The Warriors over the last decade have established a winning culture. They’re one of the teams always mentioned on ESPN, one of the teams that have earned a place in history.  

Who knows what will happen in the final three (or two) games of this Warriors-Kings playoff series. But it has already been memorable. First Draymond gets suspended. Then in Game 4, which they also managed to win, in the final seconds the Dubs receive a technical foul for calling a timeout they didn’t have — like Michigan’s Chris Webber in the 1992 NCAA final.

Steph did that, but Kerr said he should be blamed for what might have been a costly bit of miscommunication but turned out to be trivial.

Curry reminded everybody of the objective.

“We talk a lot around here about doing whatever it takes to win, and everybody being flexible on what their role is,” Curry said. “It’s just being ready, no matter what the situation calls for, the versatility of our team.”    

Off the bench or in the starting lineup.

Win would get swagger back for Warriors

The Warriors say they are alright, and probably they are. A win Monday night over the Kings in Sacramento, and they’ve gained home-court advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

They would also regain the swagger and belief a defending champion is supposed to put on display. 

But what if they lose, as they did on Saturday night? What if the Kings are the new Warriors, the way the Warriors a few years ago became the new Lakers? What if this is the season of change? What if this dynasty, like all dynasties, will end?

After all, the Kings had a better regular season record than the Warriors, the reason Sacramento has a possible four playoff games at Golden 1 Center, which for the Dubs is so close, roughly 90 miles away from Chase Center in San Francisco, but at the same time so far away.

Yes, it was loud Saturday night in Sacramento, but it’s always loud when a team that hasn’t been in the postseason in forever (well, 16 years) qualifies and is at home. That’s expected, but it’s also expected that a franchise that has multiple championships should not be affected.

Have you ever heard of Malik Monk? Before Saturday, that is. He’s averaging 11.7 points a game. He scored 32 and was 14 of 14 on free throws, taking advantage of a team that prides itself on defense but fouls all too frequently.

All that considered, the Warriors only lost, 126-123. And in a locker room more resigned than stunned, the reaction was almost a shrug. These things happen in the NBA, so let’s figure out why.   

"That first game is kind of a feeling-out process,” said the Warriors’ Steph Curry, “and we controlled the game for a good 32, 33 minutes. They went on a run at the end of the third, start of the fourth, and they got into it.”

Which wouldn’t have mattered if the Kings weren’t getting the ball into the basket, but they were. De’Aaron Fox getting 38 points formed a considerable 1-2 punch when adding Monk’s 32. 

What made the Warriors feel upbeat on a night of noise and defeat was the return of the missing Andrew Wiggins. He had been gone since February because of the mysterious family situation. He played 28 minutes, scored 17 points, and had a career playoff high of four blocked shots.

“We told him how happy we are to have him back,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who gave Wiggins a half hug as the player left the court.

Curry had 30 but couldn’t hit a jump shot with seconds left to play.

“All in all," said Kerr, “to come out here with a 10-point lead in the second half, have a chance to win late, I like where we are. I think we’re in a pretty good place.”

If not as good a place had they won.

Djokovic absence at Indian Wells; no shot in the arm

Novak Djokovic did it honorably this time. No headlines or deadlines. No warnings or need for deportation.

Just crushed hopes and disappointment for fans and sponsors — and no less important for a group so tied to the sport, The Tennis Channel. 

Djokovic, tops in the world, is not going to play in the BNP Paribas tournament, which begins this week at Indian Wells in the California desert.

No major announcement. No minor one either. Only a paragraph that Djokovic has withdrawn and would be replaced by Nikoloz Basilashvili.

As if Basilashvili, while excellent, was a not quite satisfactory substitute for the world’s No. 1.  As if anyone else would be.

Djokovic is not afraid of Daniil Medvedev, who defeated him a few days ago in the final in Dubai. Or anyone else in the draw.

He’s afraid of receiving a vaccination for COVID-19, which understandably remains a requirement for foreigners, such as Djokovic, a Serbian, to enter the United States.

A year ago Australia had the restriction, and after arriving there for the Australian Open and languishing in a holding area finally was sent out of the country.  This year he was allowed back and — you decide whether it was poetic justice or great forehands, won the event for a 10th time — his 22nd Grand Slam.

Tennis and golf are dependent on individuals. It’s the stars who fill the seats and boost the TV ratings; the people with their names on the marquee for the fame they earned. 

Djokovic has won Indian Wells as almost everything else he’s played everywhere on the globe. It’s a game without borders. He was a welcome entrant along with aces such as Roger Federer, now retired, and Rafael Nadal, now injured.

Before the pandemic. 

The argument is if a person chooses not to be vaccinated, well it’s his or her life and the only person affected is the one who refuses.

Except a tennis player, like other athletes, is both a possible carrier of the disease and of course a symbol.

Questioned about a stand that too many appears as dangerous as it is perplexing — did Rafa or Roger refuse? — Djokovic a year ago spoke to the BBC.

“I was never against vaccinations,” he had insisted, saying he had been vaccinated as a child. “But I’ve always supported the freedom to choose what you put in your body.”

As others have the freedom to choose whether they want to pay attention to Djokovic.

The difficulty is if you care about tennis, about any sport for that matter, because they’re so interconnected, in relationship, in judgment, it’s hard not to care.  

Our lives are engulfed in Television — yes ESPN, Fox, NBC Tennis Channel, The Golf Channel, seems linked.  The moment Steph Curry leaves a court in Boston, there’s Novak Djokovic stepping onto a court somewhere except anywhere in the U.S., including Indian Wells.

Which is too bad for the tournament and the sport.

Sporting changes: Clocks and no cuts

Major League Baseball has changed, apparently for the better. No wasting of time. You’re on a clock

At some tournaments, the PGA Tour is going to change. No cuts meaning everyone plays the full 72 holes. Whether that will be for the better is still uncertain.

And who knows what the next moves might be in NFL and NBA rules? 

Still, three strikes and you’re out and first down and ten. Or were those altered by some committee to keep us guessing?

Adaptation, we’re told, is the only way to survive. Baseball adapted, with time restrictions and — unfortunately — a runner on second to start extra innings.

The issue is our impatience. If something doesn’t appear to be happening, we’ll switch channels. Or walk out of the ballpark. Or off the course.

The wonderful part of sports is the unknown.  There’s no script, only possibilities.  You invest your time and hope for the best, like rolling the dice or turning over the cards.

Sometimes you hit the jackpot. A buzzer-beater by Steph Curry, other times the Warriors are down by 15 going into the fourth quarter. And they keep throwing the ball out of bounds instead of into the basket.

We need every game to be exciting, rewarding and quick; need every match to be for a championship, even a contrived one; need the stars on the ice or fairway or floor, or court. 

What we don’t need are all these injuries. Curry’s out, although almost ready to return. LeBron’s out. Rafael Nadal’s out, missing California (Indian Wells) and Florida. The Dodgers’ Gavin Lux is out for the season, and we’re a month away from the season even starting.

Golf’s problem, if you want to call it that, and the players don’t, is that the only injuries are to egos and bank accounts. Or is that not unique to that competition?  

In the early 1960s a few people with a lot of money wanted to get into pro football and, unable to be accepted by the NFL, formed their own group, the American Football League. They waved bankrolls and promises around, stealing (figuratively) NFL vets and draft picks and forcing a merger. Yes, there was this game that came to be known as the Bowl.

This generation’s AFL is the LIV. The difference is it's golf, not football (LIV is the Roman numeral for 54, the length of tournaments, rather than the PGA Tour’s 72.) The similarity is that some individuals are determined through millions and millions of Saudi Arabian dollars to bring about a merger.

What they have brought about is a decision by the PGA Tour to emulate the LIV and not reduce a tournament field through a halfway cut as has been done seemingly forever. 

Maybe not as momentous a switch as bringing a clock to baseball, until now a timeless game, but nevertheless a change.

Did someone say “Good old days”?

Does Steph already rank with Willie and Joe?

Go ahead and toss up the names, the way Steph Curry might a long jumper: the Bay Area’s most compelling athletes.

The list is arbitrary, of course, people who touch the headlines but no less importantly touch the heart.

You start with Willie Mays, naturally, one of a kind, and if you didn’t have the great fortune to see him play in person, surely you’ve caught the films, of him catching a fly ball or hitting a home run.

After that? Surely Joe Montana, who starting with one poignant pass play helped turn a franchise of mediocrity into one of destiny.

No, the selections are as much dependent on priority as history: Reggie Jackson, Willie McCovey, Catfish Hunter, Jerry Rice, Rick Barry, Patrick Marleau — the choice is yours. Except for the guy who had that game of games on Friday night, the guy who virtually alone kept the Warriors alive for yet another championship, Curry.

That was some achievement, that stunning 107-97 Warriors win over the Celtics and an angry, aggressive, foul-mouthed crowd in Boston. The Warriors hit the boards. The Warriors played defense. The Warriors hit the jackpot.

There is a reluctance to make this personal, but I have been covering their games since the 1960s, for the Chronicle, the Examiner, the Oakland Tribune; covered 17- and 22-win seasons; covered their championships in ’75 and in ’15. ’17 and ’18. But I can’t remember a more impressive and emotional victory as the one on Friday.

So many factors, so many people. Indeed, basketball is a team game — hit the open man — but in no other team sport is the individual as important. He — or she — can shoot, dribble, rebound, pass and play defense. It’s what he does with the ball and what he does when the other team has the ball.

And what he does for his teammates.

Curry has had bigger scoring nights than the one Friday when he finished with 43 — there was a 50-pointer earlier this season — but perhaps not one as significant.

He was on a bad foot. He was on a franchise trailing two games to one. But Curry got on a tear. Once more.

“The heart on that man is incredible,” said teammate Klay Thompson. “You know, the things he does we kind of take for granted from time to time, but to go out there and put us on his back, I mean, we’ve got to help him out on Monday. Wow.”

Yes, wow. Monday, Game 5 of the best-of-seven NBA finals will be at Chase Center, where the fans who could get no closer than a TV screen — at a watch party or a tavern or their own home — will be able to express their joy and appreciation.

What is sport but another form of entertainment, if dictated by results and a scoreboard? The Warriors have captured the imagination of the region, mainly because of their success but also for their style.

Curry always has been likable. At 6-foot-3, a relatively small man in a supposed big man’s game, he can swish 25-foot baskets with disarming ease, which only contributes to his appeal.

This has been pointed out through the years, about stars such as Montana and Jim Plunkett and Buster Posey.

Curry is unique. He’s been called the best shooter ever. He’s a treasure. And not least, he comes across as a pleasant, well-meaning person. In a crazy world, Steph seems a symbol of sanity.

And he’s not bad with 3-point shots either.

Warriors up against Celtics, profanities

Steph Curry was trying to persuade us, if not himself. The Warriors, he said with a quiet affirmation, have been here before.

Not really. They haven’t been down 2-1 in an NBA final with the next game — in this case, Friday night — at TD Garden in Boston, where banners hang and obscenities fly.

They haven’t faced a lineup as muscular and physical as that of the Celtics, who don’t take the air out of the basketball but with their height and weight have been able to take the Warriors out of their game.

Michael Wilbon, on “Pardon the Interruption” Thursday, said don’t put too much into one result. The playoffs historically are inconsistent, coaches installing changes virtually as soon as they watch the videos.

But what are the Warriors to do about Jason Tatum? Or Jaylen Brown? Or Marcus Smart, who roughed them up Wednesday night, transforming what had been athletic ballet for the Dubs, soaring and scoring, into a pulling match?

What the Warriors are to do with their own tough guy, Draymond Green — who, alas wasn’t tough at all, calling himself “soft” — is wait.

“Everybody has bad games,” said Warriors guard Klay Thompson, who scoring 25 points (second to Curry’s 31) had a very good one.

“Draymond is a reason we’re here. We wouldn’t be the Warriors without Draymond. He brought us to heights we’d never seen before.”

Klay means to the finals a sixth time in eight years and to a championship three times in five years.

Thompson himself is a huge part of the equation. The question is how can the Warriors find their offensive magic against the defense-minded Celtics?

There is no question the Boston fans use language that, to borrow a line, would make a sailor blush. “All those F-bombs,” said Thompson.

But of course. You want to know about the people who go to sporting events in Boston, check into some of the things they yelled at Ted Williams at Fenway Park. Oh my.

The playoff games in Boston don’t start until a few minutes after 9 p.m. eastern time. What are you going to do until then, walk the Freedom Trail? It’s not that everyone is a lush, but there’s a reason the Patriots didn’t play Monday Night Football games at old Schaefer Stadium.

The game the Warriors play Friday night will include Curry, Steph promised on Thursday. “It would be tough without him,” agreed Thompson. Late in Game 3, Boston’s 6-foot-9, 240-pound Al Horford landed on Curry’s frequently injured ankle.

But he was able to walk gingerly off the floor and return to the game. Been there, done that, in effect was what Curry, iced and taped, said on Thursday.

“Plenty of times before,” reminded Curry. “It wasn’t as bad as It seemed when it first happened.”

Steph pointed out the Warriors couldn’t get their points mainly because Boston got too many. So much of the Warriors offense is predicated on how they play — or in Game 3, didn’t play — defense.

At their best, they’re grabbing rebounds and sweeping down court. For that to occur once more, even against the rugged Celtics, is not an impossibility. Even in Boston.

“We’ve been in hostile environments before,” said Curry. “We can’t get too emotional. We’ve clawed our way back, did it the last game.”

Indeed, from an 18-point deficit in the first half, the Warriors worked themselves into a lead in the third quarter.

Encouraging. Enervating. Especially against the Celtics, who rebound so aggressively and keep trying to knock you down while, in NBA lingo, you keep trying to knock down the shots.

“I think it’s just playing better, playing harder, playing as a unit,” Thompson said about the key. “I don’t think we need to make incredible adjustments. I just think we need to come out with that force, that Warriors brand of ball that has been so successful this past decade.”

If he doesn’t think so, why should anyone else?

Warriors’ Big Three bring nostalgia and talent

The head coach, Steve Kerr, called it a good lineup. Let’s do him better. It’s a great lineup, a lineup that features three of basketball’s best the past few years, a lineup that unfortunately hasn’t been together much this season

A lineup that was on court Saturday night in a reminder and rejuvenation, when the Warriors pounded the Denver Nuggets, 123-107, winning game one of the playoffs.

A lineup that surely will be used Monday night when the Warriors, again playing at Chase Center, hope to hold on to their home court advantage.

A lineup bringing together nostalgia and talent.

Jordan Poole, the almost new guy, was — well, is brilliant too strong a word? — dominant with 30 points. And Kevon Looney, hardly a stranger, was the defender and rebounder he’s required to be.

Still, what was joyful, as well as successful, was having three of the old favorites return and work together as they did in the not-so-distant vintage years.

There they were, Steph Curry (you knew he would be playing despite being out the last few weeks with that ankle injury); Klay Thompson (after all he went through missing two straight seasons, he wasn’t going to miss this chance; and Draymond Green (whose absence for several weeks because of an injury was noticeable).

Our athletic heroes come and go with alarming speed. Buster Posey was a rookie yesterday, or so it seems, and now he has retired. Serena Williams is done. There’s always a new kid on the block. So appreciate what we have until we no longer have it.

Who knows how far the Warriors will go this season? The Suns finished with a far better record. Curry, echoing the thoughts of those who feel disrespected and unappreciated, complained before the post-season began.

“Nobody is picking us to come out of the west," he said. "At least I don't think, except our families.” Which is understandable. The Dubs had too many people hurt.

Now the injured are back. Now it’s a page from the past. Except the Warriors are older, and there are numerous younger guys, ready to move in. It’s the nature of sport. And life.

Steph, Klay and Draymond are still around, however, giving their all and giving us an opportunity. Five years from now, we’ll reminisce, and then realize what we had — if we haven’t realized it already.

“It’s very special,” Thompson said of working his way back and reuniting with the other two — and returning to the playoffs.

“I thought about all the days in the gym.” Thompson said of his long rehabilitation, “in the doctor’s office, on the surgery table, and just be flying up and down the court, be knocking shots down and playing solid defense.

“It was a surreal moment for me, and to do it in front of the crowd we had, I give Dub nation amazing credit. They were so loud as we ran through the tunnel. Just something I won’t take for granted, just being able to play basketball. It was very surreal to me.”

For the rest of us, it was actual and wonderful. We hear and read negative things about athletes, so to hear Thompson and his teammates relish what they have is reassuring.

That the Big Three have teamed to win championships is not to be underestimated. That’s the essence of their popularity. But there’s more.

They’ve won hearts as well as games. One is just as important as the other. Watch and enjoy.

Steph brings out the best in sports

This was sport at its best, a record, respect, appreciation, sharing. It was perfect timing in an imperfect world.

This was as good as it gets on the night Steph Curry got a place in history, along with an outpouring of praise from those who perhaps best understand what he has accomplished: others who play basketball at the highest level.

Tweets from so many, including LeBron James.

Curry literally was moved to tears as he considered what he had achieved, even though breaking the NBA record for career 3-point baskets had reached the point of inevitability.

He knew he was going to do it. We knew he was going to do it. He did it Tuesday night on arguably the game’s grandest stage, Madison Square Garden in New York City.

If you can make it there, the lyrics tell us, you can make it anywhere.

What Curry made at the 7:33 mark of the first quarter of the Warriors 105-96 win over the Knicks was the 3-pointer that would surpass Ray Allen’s mark of 2,973.

Before the game ended, among his total 22 points, Curry would make three more 3s, adding to a number that will grow as long as Steph keeps playing and shooting — and the contract for the 33-year-old lasts another three and a half seasons.

“I hope to push the record a long way,” said Curry.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr, an excellent long-range gunner long ago, admiring the post-game celebrations, again reminded how much Steph had affected basketball.

“There were 82 3-pointers taken (Tuesday),” Kerr said. “So, on a night when he broke the record, the sum of both teams’ 3-point attempts was kind of a testament to Steph’s impact on the league.

“It’s a different game now, obviously. But Steph made it a different game.”

After Reggie Miller, who was broadcasting the game for TBS, and Allen, who was in the building, made their contributions, Reggie holding the record until Allen grabbed it.

The two were thrilled to be part of an evening that in a way was as much theirs as Steph’s.

“Reggie came up to Boston to cheer me on,” said Allen, who was with the Celtics. “As Steph got closer to the record, I told myself I had to find a way to be there.”

So he was, along with Curry’s parents — his father, Dell, played in the NBA — a few coaches and friends, and a Garden crowd of 19,000, some of which paid prices inflated by the importance of the event.

“When I came in the league,” said Curry, as a matter of fact and not pretension, ”I watched things like this happening. Now 11 years later, I’m the one.”

Indeed, the one who has brought attention to the Bay Area as well as himself. In an activity too full of bitterness and criticism, egotism unfettered, Curry seems universally loved.

He plays basketball beautifully and joyfully. As well as successfully.

“He’s great at the one skill every player wants to be great at,” Tim Legler, a very competent shooter himself, said on ESPN. “Steph has redefined shooting. The things he does to get open are incredibly difficult. He makes it look easy.”

Although Kerr thought he had prepared himself for the basket that would make Steph the record holder, he was awed by the reaction after it took place.

“The moment was spectacular,” Kerr said. “The aftermath was more emotional than I expected it to be. It was just an outpouring of love and appreciation for Steph from seemingly everyone in the building. Beautiful, beautiful.“

As are the gifts that ESPN reported Curry gave long-time teammates Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala for their support — Rolex watches.

Time pieces from a man whose play is timeless.

Steph lets his shots do the talking

Steph Curry was missing. Not with his shots. From the scene.

This was on Wednesday night, and as we all know — especially the guys at ESPN, who control our sports perceptions — only two people count in the NBA: Steph and that LeBron James guy.

LeBron, after helping the Lakers beat the Celtics, stood at a microphone and said, “I just like the way we competed tonight on both sides of the ball. A lot of intensity.”

Nothing to be etched in stone, but at least more than we heard from Curry.

Which was nothing.

Maybe Steph was trying to allow his teammates to get the attention after a 104-94 win over the troubled Portland Trail Blazers. Or maybe he was just weary from answering questions about the record he’s about to break.

You know the one, the lifetime total for 3-point baskets. For another few hours — or if Curry is off when the Warriors begin their road trip at Philly on Saturday, another few days — that record is 2,973, held by Ray Allen, who retired after the 2012-13 season.

Should we be excited about Steph’s quest? Indeed. He now is only nine threes short of tying Allen.

But unless the NBA is going to shut down tomorrow, Curry’s record is going to grow and grow. And grow. 

He has miles to go and many shots to make. The man is 33, and assuming he plays two seasons after this one — hey, LeBron will be 37 in a couple of weeks and he’s still rolling — Steph ought to put the record not only out of reach but beyond our imagination. He might hit another 200 of those long-range shots.

Not that teammate Draymond Green believes Curry will retain the record, once he sets it.

“Most people, especially in the analytical department, didn't think Steph Curry shot enough threes,” Green told NBC Bay Area Sports. 

“To this day, they still don't think Steph Curry shoots enough threes. That just goes to show you where the game is going and why his record will be broken probably within five to six years of him playing the game."

Who knows? What everyone does know is Curry helped remake the sport. Kids who wanted to dunk now just as often want to score from beyond the arc, which in the NBA is painted at 23 feet 9 inches.

"It totally changed the way the game is played,” said Green, “just by the way Steph Curry and Klay Thompson have been playing the game all this time.”

What Curry should be celebrated for is his accuracy and consistency. Along with his showmanship. Dribbling two basketballs in practice and connecting on those 35-foot baskets in pre-game warmups are fan favorites.

The eternal saying is that basketball is a team game, and while that’s true — hit the open man, switch while caught behind a screen on defense — it’s the individuals who make the game the joy it is.

The movie industry figured out a century ago that stars sold tickets. You didn’t need Shakespeare if Marilyn Monroe or Humphrey Bogart were on the marquee. In the NBA, what matters is who’s on the court — LeBron or Kevin Durant or, yes, Steph Curry.

As much as we love to watch them, others love to play with them — in effect sharing their success as well as adding to it. The other Warriors are well aware of the chase, at Chase Center and other locations, of a record.

“The vibe is still good,” said the Warriors’ Otto Porter Jr. “We are trying to figure out how to win playing Warriors basketball. We are trying to get good looks cutting off him. Steph is playmaking whether he is on or off the ball.”

Mostly when he shoots, he is on target.

Steph’s ‘greatest show in basketball’

JJ Redick knew how to shoot a basketball. He made 2,000 3-pointers in his NBA career. But Redick doesn’t know how Steph Curry shoots it.

“He’s tapped into a higher level of consciousness,” Redick said of Curry. “Right now, Steph’s the greatest show in basketball.”

Redick was speaking Tuesday night on Scott Van Pelt’s ESPN show. Curry had scored 37, made nine 3-pointers in a Warriors romp over the Nets.

He got 40 on Thursday night when the Warriors, once trailing by 13, outscored Cleveland by a remarkable 36-8 in the fourth quarter to defeat the Cavaliers, 104-89.

The Warriors have been stopped only twice in 15 games.

The question asked of Redick, who in September retired after 14 seasons in the NBA, was how do you stop Curry?

Basically, you don’t.

“He’s gotten stronger,” said Redick. “He can shoot every which way. And he’s not just a shooter. He’s got imagination, daring. He can go right, left, dribble right, left. He can play physical, off the ball.

“He’s like no other player of my generation.”

A generation that for the 37-year-old Redick includes LeBron James, arguably the best in the NBA.

When Michael Jordan was the man of the game and the time, he virtually owned every arena he entered, from New York to L.A.

The people might have been Knicks fans or Lakers fans — or Warriors fans — but most of all they were MJ fans.

Now? “It’s him and LeBron,” Redick, a Duke grad who should know better, said ungrammatically about Curry and James.

We’ve heard it. We’ve seen it. When Curry’s lighting them up, hitting from the corners, from way beyond the arc, the crowd becomes as much of the story as the shots.

Dunks are thrilling, but except for a rare few of us, unattainable. “But we’ve all shot a basketball,” said Van Pelt. We can identify with Curry’s accomplishment.

If really all we can do is marvel at it.

Redick was one of the sport’s top long-distance shooters. Which makes him appreciate Curry’s brilliance.

Curry again had nine 3-pointers on Thursday, the 38th time he’s made nine or more in a game. “You know how many times I had nine?” Redick said as a matter of comparison. “One.”

When he played, beginning at Duke, Redick was feisty, combative — and unpopular, the focus of booing and derision.

But what the public thought of Redick is not reflected in what he thinks of other players. There is no jealousy, just honesty.

“He plays with joy,” said Redick. “It’s infectious to everyone in the arena except the opposing team.”

They used to say that about Magic Johnson who, while others scowled or frowned or gasped, played with a smile, as if he were happy to be there.

Curry is living the good life, off court as well as on. He has a great family. He’s at the forefront in support of various charitable programs.

He’s been on three NBA championship teams, and it’s beginning to look like he may well be part of another.

“You see the way his teammates respond when he’s going well,” said Redick. “I never got to play with him, but I assume it must be a lot of fun.”

It is, for teammates, spectators, and the community.

Redick alluded to a popular tavern game. “Watching him,” said Redick, “is like having a perfect buzz and making the last shot in beer pong.”

He remembered a few seasons back when Klay Thompson was in the Warriors’ lineup, and he or Curry or both were unguarded and making one three after another.

Thompson, injured since the playoffs of 2019, finally is supposed to return in a month or two.

“Back two, three years ago,” Redick reminded, “they had the most open looks on threes in the NBA. The scary thing is when Klay comes back, they’ll have more.

“Shooting begets shooting.”

As only a shooter would know.

Now Warriors face the L.A. team without celeb fans

So big an emotional swing in so short a time.

The prelude to the Warriors’ opener was all about the other team, understandable perhaps because the other team is Hollywood’s team, the Lakers.

Everyone was calling them the “new-look” Lakers.

As they used to say in the old movies, “Hello, sweetheart. Give me a rewrite.”

Or if you’re the Lakers, “Give me some baskets at crunch time.”

Only one game. But in the great scheme of California things, including rivalries and Bay Area paranoia, a very big game.

A game in the right direction. A game the Warriors won, 121-114. A game that allowed Warriors coach Steve Kerr to observe, “We could be a good team.”

More on that possibility will be available when the Warriors play their first home game of the 2021-22 season on Thursday night at Chase Center.

It’s against the other L.A. team, the one with less hype, no championships and without Jack Nicholson, Adele or other celebrity fans — the Clippers. 

Will the Lakers, Russell Westbrook joining LeBron James and Anthony Davis, develop into the great team that some have predicted? And will the Warriors surprise us pessimists? Indeed, one game is of little indication.

Yet the simple fact that the Dubs outscored the Lakers in the fourth quarter — remember those depressing days when Kobe or Magic or Shaq would own the closing minutes? — had to be uplifting.

After the Dodgers ousted the Giants in the playoffs (never mind what they’re doing against the Braves) and the Rams moved ahead of the 49ers in the standings, the Lakers were going to make it a SoCal sweep. NorCal was nowhere.

Then, even playing poorly, somehow the Warriors defeated the Lakers in Los Angeles.

That was without Klay Thompson, who we’re told, after two years of recovery and rehab from those injuries to his knee and Achilles tendon, will play in November.

The litany is that basketball is the ultimate team game. Yet, winning and losing depends on an individual, on LeBron for the Lakers or Steph Curry for the Warriors.

They so often get the big basket or rebound. Or steal.

Curry, however, was not at his best on Tuesday. “I played like trash tonight,” he told TNT. OK, but it was the kind of trash that produced Steph’s first triple double in five seasons, 21 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.

“He really only cares about the win,” said Kerr. “Steph always comes back with a good game.”

Said Draymond Green, still the rock on defense, about the win even with Curry’s off-night, "It's a huge lift. We relied on him so much, and we're still going to rely on him a lot.

“When he can have a night like he did tonight, not get it going, we still come out with a win, that's great. 

The Warriors struggled early because Kerr chose to go with his so-called small lineup, which proved disadvantageous against the taller Lakers (the 7-foot Davis, the 6-9 James), if not disastrous.

“We’re still learning each other,” said Kerr. “Do we want to go big and get the glass, or do we want to play small and spread the court? As the seasons goes, we’ll figure it out.”

What pleased Kerr was the decline in fouls from last season when the Warriors had the highest number in the NBA, many from reach-ins. “Our defense was fine,” said Kerr.

That was the reason the Warriors came back in the second half. Defense was what propelled the Dubs to three titles and five straight appearances in the NBA finals.

Those days are gone. The Warriors are working for a return.

Steph on LeBron’s winner: ‘Great players make great plays’

Maybe it was appropriate. Steph Curry, who so often makes the long shots, being able to take the long view.

He didn’t like the result, getting beat 103-100 by the Lakers in the play-in game Wednesday night — the way he so frequently has won — but he relished the competition.

This was what he remembered, the excitement of the postseason, which he and the Warriors had missed since that fateful NBA final of injuries and defeat two years ago.

So tough this game, so emotional — head coach Steve Kerr used the term “disappointing” — and yet still so reassuring.

A game that reminded him, that reminded us, of the thrill and tension when every basket and every turnover become critical.

Curry, the NBA scoring champion and presumptive third-time MVP, joined the Lakers’ LeBron James to help make the evening nothing short of a Hollywood premier, exactly what league execs could have dreamed.

You had the two biggest stars in the game, Curry, who scored 37, and LeBron James, who as brilliant players are apt to do, hitting the winning basket from maybe 30 feet — a Curry-type-shot — with 58 seconds remaining.

That sent the Lakers into the playoffs at Phoenix and sent the Warriors into another play-in game, against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night at Chase Center.

But neither Curry nor Kerr was that interested in what was coming, They preferred to ruminate about what had taken place — how the Warriors, with the defense they developed over the weeks, built a 13-point lead in the first half and then under pressure from L.A.’s fine defense gave it up on turnovers and fouls.

“This is a bitter pill to swallow,” said Kerr. “This was our game, and we couldn’t get it done.”

They couldn’t even though the Warriors’ Draymond Green slowed Anthony Davis. Even though Andrew Wiggins shoved and battled LeBron.

But as Curry, who knows all about excellence — five trips to the NBA finals — said when asked about LeBron’s game-winner, “Great players make great plays.”

And make the opposing team hurt.

“He proved why he’s the best player in the world,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said of James. 

LeBron was hit in the eye under the rim as he grabbed a rebound and made the decisive basket.

“After the finger in the eye, I was seeing three rims,” said James, sounding like an actor in a an old cowboy film, “and shot at the one in the middle. By grace I was able to knock it down.”

It wasn’t grace, it was talent..

According to ESPN statistics, that was the longest go-ahead shot in the final three minutes of his career.
Said Curry, “It’s a great shot. Broken play . . . thinking he was out of the play. They found him. He got his balance back in time and knocked it down.

“That was a tough one because you really don’t expect it to go in. But everything changed when it goes in.”

Kerr was both distressed and magnanimous. A few months back, when the Warriors had lost Klay Thompson with the torn Achilles and they were trying to build a team, he probably would have been satisfied with taking the Lakers to the final minute.

But with Wiggins playing like the No. 1 overall draft pick he was and with Juan Toscano-Anderson the surprise he has been, a loss, even to the defending NBA champs, was a downer.

“I’m very proud of the way the way we played,” Kerr said.

He ought to be. Proud and disappointed.

After a beer and the TV remote, for Kerr it’s the Lakers

No plans for Steve Kerr, and no worries. Both could come later. His Sunday evening would be simple enough. As he said, “A beer and a TV clicker.”

He would watch basketball on the tube, as would so many others, if with a considerably different approach.

To find out the next opponent for his Warriors.

And now he knows, as we all know — it will be the Lakers, Wednesday in Los Angeles. Maybe yet another surprise in a season of surprises. At least for the Warriors. Most of all for the Warriors.

A couple months ago, the Dubs, getting adjusted, seemed without a chance, But Sunday afternoon they closed the regular season with a sixth straight win, 113-102 over the Memphis Grizzlies at Chase Center, to get the eighth spot in the NBA’s Western Conference.

Yes, Steph Curry was the star, as he almost always needs to be, getting 46 points — the 11th time this year he’s reached 40 or more, and in the process becoming at 33 the second oldest (next to 38-year-old Michael Jordan) to take the season scoring title, which Curry did for a second time.

A lot or praise for Steph, not unexpectedly, from his coach — “He’s never been better,” said Kerr. And from his teammates — “He’s like the Picasso of our time,” said Juan Toscano-Anderson. “You can’t have a knock on him. He’s the best doing it right now.”

If the Warriors aren’t the best, as they were not long ago, they are fascinating and quite competent. Also, enjoyable. Sometimes it’s better to be the underdog and do the unexpected. Sure, everyone thinks about those championship Warriors. But Curry at least thinks about the non-champions, the “We believe” team that in 2007 beat the No. 1 seeded Mavericks in the first round.

When he pulled up his perspiration-soaked jersey at game’s end, as Baron Davis did back in ’07, Curry yelled “Shout out to BD.”

There will be plenty of shouting if somehow the Warriors can beat the Lakers, who after all, despite injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, still are defending NBA champions.

Kerr seemed particularly elated with the Warriors’ progress the past few months. They’ve been blown out a few times, but now, following the loud and decisive on-court orders of Draymond Green, they are playing defense — and as we’ve been instructed by everyone from Kerr to Curry to Draymond his ownself, defense wins.

When the Warriors are rolling, it’s because they’re stopping the other team and picking up easy baskets.

Asked about the Warriors. Kerr pointed out that the entire organization, especially retiring president Rick Welts, deserves credit to hanging in during the pandemic. No Klay Thompson, no fans until only a few days ago because of restrictions, yet here’s the team preparing for the Lakers.

“The whole organization just has to endure this season,” said Kerr. “I’m really proud not only of the team but the whole organization. It’s been tough playing most of the year without fans, obviously taking huge financial losses. It’s been great the last games.”

Curry has been great virtually every game, with an understandable exception for someone who rarely gets a moment to rest — including playing 40 of the possible 48 minutes Sunday. 

“He’s a machine,” Kerr said of Curry. “What he means to the team, the way he conducts himself, that includes the way he takes care of his body, coming in to get treatment, getting on the floor and his skill work. I think he is just in love with the process.”

“When we were in China a few years ago, we met Roger Federer. And that’s what I see in Steph. He loves his life, loves his family, loves his routine. He’s well prepared for every season and every game.”