The Golden State Warriors had a maddening tendency to play down to their level of competition throughout the regular season, losing to bottom-dwelling foes like the Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Hornets and Orlando Magic. It was toughest for the Dubs to avoid that penchant outside the friendly confines of Chase Center, where they went a dismal 11-30—the worst road record of all-time for a defending champion.
With De’Aaron Fox poised to be limited in Wednesday’s Game 5 by a broken index finger on his shooting hand, might the Warriors once again be poised for a letdown on the road? Steve Kerr isn’t worried about that possibility, and not only due to inherently high stakes of playoff basketball. The veteran coach, in fact, believes playing in front of the Sacramento Kings’ rabid crowd at Golden 1 Center will help keep Golden State locked in.
“I think Sacramento’s crowd will make sure we don’t let our guard down,” Kerr said on Tuesday. “They will help us quite a bit in that regard. It’s different in April and May and June than it is in January, December. If we let our guard down, there is something seriously wrong with us. We’ll be ready to go.”
The Warriors lost Games 1 and 2 in Sacramento, a continuation of their historic road woes over the 82-game grind. But a more in-depth look reveals just how close they were to stealing at least one of those games from the higher-seeded Kings.
Andrew Wiggins’ go-ahead open triple with just 10 seconds left clanked off the rim in the playoff opener, while Golden State trailed by just one point with three minutes left in Game 2. Don’t forget that Draymond Green missed the last seven minutes of Game 2 after being ejected for stepping on Domantas Sabonis’ chest, either.
Source: https:/clutchpoints.com
