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SAN FRANCISCO – Too often this season, the Warriors have bowed to their most persistent demons. By now they realize that conquering them is the only way to have a legitimate shot at reaching their regular season goal.
Those demons began to stir late in the third quarter Thursday night. When the Lakers took less than three minutes to cut a 17-point deficit to nine, it sent a wave of post-traumatic anxiety through the crowd (18,064) at Chase Center.
Having watched the Warriors build leads, only to pull away down the stretch (it last happened eight days ago in the Chase), they feared the worst.
Not this time. The Warriors closed the door on the beast. Loud and loud enough to secure a 128-110 victory to move within a half-game of Los Angeles in the Western Conference standings and also tie the season series at 1-1, with two more games left. in Los Angeles.
Golden State’s goal, as coach Steve Kerr stated this week, with the squad lined up, is to climb into the top six in the West. To avoid the play-in tournament. They are now in 10th place, largely because they have cost themselves many victories with terrible finishes.
“He gave a great speech yesterday about all that,” Stephen Curry said of Kerr. “The way I see it, the goal is to have six places because that guarantees you a place in a series. And that’s what you want.
“But the way our season has gone, taking a big goal and breaking it down, this is probably the ultimate test of ‘stay where you are, win every game in front of you, build up that joy and that energy.’ Impulse.”
Curry and his teammates want to keep their focus narrow because they’ve seen what can happen when they get ahead of themselves, particularly after reaching double-digit leads. Being sloppy on defense, neglecting the fundamentals, abandoning the offensive spirit that brought success and that’s enough to see a lead disappear and a game descend into “clutch” status in the final five minutes.
With five minutes left tonight, the Warriors had a 15-point lead, which in six games this season has not been enough to secure the victory. With four minutes left, Kerr emptied the bench.
All because when the Lakers threatened, the Warriors responded with vengeance. They took an 11-point lead (67-56) into halftime, took it to 17 (86-69) with 4:47 left in the third quarter, saw Los Angeles cut it to nine (89-80) with 2: 02 remaining. and then hit the jets.
Golden State took defense seriously and closed the quarter on a 9-2 run during which the Lakers made only two free throws.
With a 98-82 lead after three quarters, Andrew Wiggins took it upon himself to banish any thoughts of a Los Angeles comeback. After he opened the fourth quarter by scoring Golden State’s first nine points, the Lakers never got closer than 13 before being eliminated.
Watching Wiggins take control was a sign no less encouraging than achieving the kind of finish that too often eluded the Warriors.
“It just seems more comfortable,” Kerr said. “He is attacking the rim more. And the way we are playing and the lineup we start the game with gives him more space to attack. He looks great for a while.
“The way our team has evolved and the lineups we are playing feed into everything he does well. He’s playing at a high level, playing unselfishly, making simple plays. I love how Wiggs is playing right now.”
Wiggins, who finished with 20 points (on 8-of-14 shooting from the field), was among five Warriors to score in double figures, led by Curry, who tried to set the tone by scoring 16 of his game-high 32 points. 10 minutes of the first quarter.
The victory put the Warriors (28-26) two games above .500 for the first time since Nov. 11. Given where they are and how far they want to go, it didn’t matter that they crushed a Lakers team without a superstar. LeBron James and key rotation players Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood.
What matters is that the Warriors finished it. That they showed fangs late in the game not often seen this season, that they have won nine of their last 11 games and are giving themselves reason to believe they can make it through the play-in tournament.
“This is a good window we’ve had,” Curry said. “But literally every game is important for us (to win). I think I’m just trying to enjoy what happens in each game, what it takes to win that particular game. It is an ambitious goal, but we know we can achieve it.”
Maybe they can, but only if they can keep their demons from messing things up in the final 28 games.
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