LOS ANGELES — Whoops, shouts, music and a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” had been so loud contained in the Lakers locker room that they could possibly be heard out within the hallways. Outside Golden State’s locker room, there was silence, as these inside assessed what had gone so mistaken this season.
To the victor goes the noise. To the defeated goes an unusually early and sullen trip.
The reigning champion Golden State’s freewheeling, 3-point-centric type of play modified the N.B.A. and made Stephen Curry a family identify. But on Friday night time, the staff couldn’t muster up one final overwhelming flurry of deep photographs, bowing out to the Los Angeles Lakers in six video games within the Western Conference semifinals.
It marked the primary time a West staff had defeated Golden State within the playoffs throughout its dynastic run, which started in 2015 with the primary of 4 championships led by Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. But this season was among the many most tough of the final decade, marred by lengthy absences for key gamers, a confounding incapability to win on the highway, struggling younger gamers, and the fallout from Green punching a teammate, Jordan Poole, earlier than the season even began.
“This is not a championship team,” Golden State Coach Steve Kerr mentioned after Game 6, which the Lakers received, 122-101. “If we were, we’d be moving on. So you can look at the year in total and see all the ups and downs, and there was all kinds of stuff that went on and adversity that hit. But our group stayed together and competed till the end and made a pretty good run.”
But “pretty good” has lengthy been under the requirements of Golden State, given the stature of Curry, who’s extensively thought-about the most effective shooter in N.B.A. historical past. And now his staff might have to deal with coming again down to earth. It’s the basketball equal of confronting mortality.
“You’re disappointed and kind of shell shocked that it’s over,” Curry mentioned. “You’ve poured so much into every season, but going off last year you’re trying to defend and give ourselves the chance to keep advancing. It’s a tough way for the season to end.”
The collection towards the Lakers marked some of the extremely anticipated playoff matchups in years, pitting Curry towards the Lakers star LeBron James for the primary time for the reason that 2018 N.B.A. finals, when James was on the Cleveland Cavaliers. But this collection in the end didn’t match the hype, with blowouts in 4 of the 5 video games after an exciting Lakers win in Game 1. Curry and Thompson struggled on Friday, combining to shoot an abysmal 14 for 47 from the sphere. Thompson, who made simply three baskets in every of the final three video games, mentioned this was “probably the worst shooting series I’ve had in a long time.”
Golden State now faces an unsure summer time; Curry referred to as it “unfamiliar territory.” With some of the costly rosters within the league, and a brand new collective bargaining settlement aimed toward curbing heavy spenders, Golden State is probably going to strive to convey down prices. It could possibly be a stark transition for the staff, on condition that it went from a rudderless middle-of-the-road franchise to some of the financially precious ones with Curry on the helm over the previous decade.
“For us, it’s an opportunity to kind of take stock of where we’re at, keep the confidence that we can come back and be back at this stage next year,” Curry mentioned.
It would possibly assist in the event that they get off to a greater begin. This season, Green punched the fourth-year guard Poole within the face throughout coaching camp. TMZ printed a video of the punch, exposing the interior discord of a franchise identified for continuity and concord.
“Every season is made up of events. Some are great, some are not,” Green mentioned after Friday’s recreation. “I think for this team, more of the events that aren’t so great were so public, and, you know, that’s not something that you normally do. And so the world knows, you know, the tough times that this team has had.”
Now Green’s profession is at a turning level. A four-time All-Star, he has a participant possibility for subsequent 12 months and is predicted to take a look at free company. Green had one in all his higher seasons this 12 months, however he turns 34 subsequent March, and Golden State might balk at providing him a most contract. Green has proven a penchant for impulsive habits, like punching Poole or racking up technical fouls, for which he ranked second within the league through the common season. The decision of his contract is the important thing domino in a summer time of retooling.
“I want to be a Warrior for the rest of my life,” Green mentioned Friday. “I want to ride out with the same dudes I rode in with.”
This season was a slog for Golden State. “It felt like we were swimming upstream from the beginning,” Kerr mentioned.
Golden State began the season 3-7. It completed at 44-38 for the West’s sixth seed and had one of many worst highway data within the league, at 11-30. Andrew Wiggins, a key contributor to final season’s title run, missed greater than half the common season due to an damage and an undisclosed private problem. Thompson, a five-time All-Star, struggled to discover his shot within the first third of the season and he has noticeably slowed on protection after two main accidents in recent times.
If Thompson, 33, has doubts about his future in Golden State, or any skepticism that this staff can win once more, he didn’t present it on Friday night time. His contract expires after subsequent season.
“I can tell you, we gave it everything we had,” he mentioned. “But I believe that we have greatness in our future still.”
Golden State may also have to determine what to do with the younger gamers it has tried to develop whereas chasing a championship — a path criticized for putting an excessive amount of of a load on the 35-year-old Curry. Poole, 23, struggled mightily within the playoffs, an issue on condition that Golden State signed him to a four-year contract extension in October value up to $140 million. Other younger gamers, like Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, each 20, had been in and out of the lineup all season.
In addition, the contract of Bob Myers, the staff’s normal supervisor for the final decade, ends this 12 months. Carrying the dynasty into its subsequent stage might fall to a special architect.
If there was one vivid spot for Golden State this season, it was its most magnetic determine: Curry. He performed a few of the greatest basketball of his profession — which meant a few of the greatest basketball that anybody has ever performed. In the primary spherical of the playoffs, Golden State confronted the third-seeded Kings in Sacramento for a decisive Game 7. Curry scored 50 factors — essentially the most ever in a Game 7 — and hit seven 3-pointers. It was a reminder of the magic that had made his groups so nice.
But Curry mentioned Friday that reaching the convention semifinals was not “a moral victory.”
“There’s a lot of pride in what we accomplished,” he mentioned, “but there’s also an understanding that this is not good enough.”
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