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Didn’t Zaza injure him? Thigh bruise?
**NBA FINALS THREAD - RAPTORS DEFY GRAVITY**
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by HIM,
- Start date
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This whole finals is payback for that scumbag scrub Zaza injuring Kawhi.
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So was Kellerman actually right when he said he'd rather have Iggy shooting a game winner over steph? 
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I don't see what's wrong with saying Steph's Warriors most important player, and them needing KD rn. They're the weakest version of themselves and would need Klay, or Steph all the same if one or few of them were missing(Likely Dray too)
HOU$TON
formerly convertibleburt
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Warriors about to run KD outta town
Preferably out east
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If it’s not major then he quit on them. People can take their pickY'all keep thinking it's just a calf strain
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I’m not feeling bad about the Warriors being injured. Not one bit. NT didn’t feel sorry for Lebron during 2015 when Kevin and Kyrie were out.
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In LA? I’m fine with that
MVP
Supporter
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Warriors supporters currently in the first 3 stages of grief simultaneously: DENIAL (no way the dynasty is going out like this); ANGER (why ain't the GOATPG going on his revenge tour); BARGAINING (well surely KD is going to play G5 and if all the things we haven't seen happen take place in this series suddenly happen we have a chance cause iTs ThE wArRiOrS).
All that's left is DEPRESSION (which should set in by halftime on Monday) and finally ACCEPTANCE (which should happen about midway 4th quarter).
We see it, but just know this thread WILL NOT be a safe space for you on Monday night. Y'all might all wanna be out 'hooping'.
All that's left is DEPRESSION (which should set in by halftime on Monday) and finally ACCEPTANCE (which should happen about midway 4th quarter).
We see it, but just know this thread WILL NOT be a safe space for you on Monday night. Y'all might all wanna be out 'hooping'.
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OAKLAND – David West was gone before it got ugly, off into the sunset outside Oracle Arena with his infant son cradled in his hands and his wife, Lesley, not far away.
The game itself had been bad enough on Friday at Oracle Arena – Toronto 105, West’s old Golden State squad 92, and a 3-1 NBA Finals deficit that has this Warriors dynasty on the verge of total darkness. But the surreal scene he left behind – all those Raptors fans chanting their glee into the night while overtaking this historic building where one of the NBA’s all-time teams had accomplished so much in these past five years – was something he did not want or need to see.
“That was a tough one, man,” he told The Athletic on his way out. “I just thought they needed to be a little bit tighter. They’re under-manned, probably not as healthy as they need to be. But that was tough.”
No Kevin Durant, with that calf strain continuing to keep him out at this timewhen they need him most and the uncomfortableness surrounding that situation reaching its peak. Too much Kawhi Leonard. An exhausted Steph Curry. Warriors like Klay Thompson (hamstring), Kevon Looney (costal cartilage) and DeMarcus Cousins (quad) pushing their bodies to the limits, only to see their home floor become a house party for the wrong set of loyalists.
“You’ve just got to find it somewhere else,” West continued. “They need somebody else to step up, have a career game, or a career three games now. They need it. But it was weird seeing them play like that. I don’t know. They just didn’t have – I thought Steph gave what he had in (Game) 3. Klay came out and gave what he had, but Toronto is loaded.”
He paused briefly for emphasis.
“Loaded.”
There was a time not so long ago when the Warriors could say the same.
When West decided to retire last August, it was due in large part to good, old-fashioned fatigue. He joked that smaller players like the Lakers’ Josh Hart had offered humbling signs that he was done. He talked about the rigors of his personal routine and how it was so much harder to do the necessary gym work in his late 30s.
But in those final two seasons, that wondrous time when his choice to sign with the Warriors paid off in the form of two titles, there was more to it than that. As is the case for all champions, the success comes with the cost of a longer grind.
The same humans share the same oxygen in the same rooms from October through June, fighting those demons of division from beginning to end. Beyond all the Xs and Os, there are core aspects of a team’s character that must survive in order to achieve the ultimate goal: Trust, selflessness, sacrifice, and the like.
When the Warriors defended their crown a year ago, back when those elements were still clearly intact, it was West himself who shed such an honest light on this truth.
“We’re so tight, people don’t even know what we went through,” West had said during his infamous 2018 Finals celebration interview. “They trying to find out. …Y’all got no clue. No clue. That tells you about this team that nothing came out.”
Yet with Game 5 looming so large on Monday, and with some internal optimism that Durant could be cleared to play and perhaps save the day, it’s fair to wonder: Can this Warriors team make the same unity claim? If the mood after Game 4 was any indication, it’s extremely hard to tell.
At the very least, Durant’s absence that began back on May 8 is causing a mixture of confusion and angst among several of his teammates that simply can’t be helpful to their overall cause. Sources say there was a very real hope that Durant would be able to play in Game 4, to push through in much the same way that Thompson, Cousins, Iguodala and Looney have done of late. When that didn’t happen, and when they saw their season compromised more than ever without him after they’d grown hopeful of his return after seeing him on the court, the irritation grew in large part because they simply didn’t understand why he wasn’t there.
Warriors officials aren’t running from the reality that there’s frustration among some players, but they’re also quick to point out that trainer Rick Celebrini – not Durant – is making this call. And until Celebrini gives Durant the go-ahead, his long and painful stretch of absences will extend into this pivotal Warriors summer where his free agency future remains unclear. What’s more, two sources insist that the Warriors have believed for quite some time that Game 5 was the earliest time in which he would likely return.
To hear Looney tell it after Game 4, the Warriors are clinging to the belief that they can pull this 3-1 miracle that would be ironic in so many ways. If the Warriors could somehow do this, they’d have to pull off the very improbable feat that led them to getting Durant in the first place. Cleveland, of course, won the 2016 title after trailing 3-1 and with two of the final three games on the road.
And then there’s the Warriors’ 3-1 history of their own: They took down Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals after trailing 3-1 (with two of the final three games at Oracle). Still, the recent roster uncertainty that has come with this rash of injuries, Looney said, is making this challenge unique and even more daunting.
“It’s never knowing who’s going to play the next game, not knowing who’s going to be out there, what rotations we’re going to do,” Looney told The Athletic. “That’s tough, but the character of our team is that whatever happens, whoever’s out on the court, we’re all accountable to get the job done. We’ve got great leaders in Steph, KD, and Draymond (Green), and there ain’t no excuses. If we’re out there, we’re going to try to win.”
That was the message from Green after Game 4, when he took command of the locker room in the kind of way that left them all hoping they can pull off something special here.
“Draymond gave a great speech,” Looney continued. “He made sure we had our heads up, said ‘Stay confident, know who we are. We didn’t get here by quitting and pouting or giving up. We always believe, and we’ve got a bunch of guys who have been underdogs and who have been counted out before.’ I think we’re going to embrace this challenge more. Everybody probably thinks we’re going to lose now. And being the underdog again, like we haven’t been in a long time, it’s fun. We’ll try to go out there and prove everybody wrong.
“This is a tough challenge. (Warriors coach) Steve (Kerr) always says, ‘There’s a reason we pour champagne on each other when we win a title. It’s hard. It’s not going to be easy. Nothing in the NBA is easy.’ Toronto is a great team. They’re hungry, but we’re capable of winning. We feel like we have the better team. We’ve just got to go out there and show it.”
(Top Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
The game itself had been bad enough on Friday at Oracle Arena – Toronto 105, West’s old Golden State squad 92, and a 3-1 NBA Finals deficit that has this Warriors dynasty on the verge of total darkness. But the surreal scene he left behind – all those Raptors fans chanting their glee into the night while overtaking this historic building where one of the NBA’s all-time teams had accomplished so much in these past five years – was something he did not want or need to see.
“That was a tough one, man,” he told The Athletic on his way out. “I just thought they needed to be a little bit tighter. They’re under-manned, probably not as healthy as they need to be. But that was tough.”
No Kevin Durant, with that calf strain continuing to keep him out at this timewhen they need him most and the uncomfortableness surrounding that situation reaching its peak. Too much Kawhi Leonard. An exhausted Steph Curry. Warriors like Klay Thompson (hamstring), Kevon Looney (costal cartilage) and DeMarcus Cousins (quad) pushing their bodies to the limits, only to see their home floor become a house party for the wrong set of loyalists.
“You’ve just got to find it somewhere else,” West continued. “They need somebody else to step up, have a career game, or a career three games now. They need it. But it was weird seeing them play like that. I don’t know. They just didn’t have – I thought Steph gave what he had in (Game) 3. Klay came out and gave what he had, but Toronto is loaded.”
He paused briefly for emphasis.
“Loaded.”
There was a time not so long ago when the Warriors could say the same.
When West decided to retire last August, it was due in large part to good, old-fashioned fatigue. He joked that smaller players like the Lakers’ Josh Hart had offered humbling signs that he was done. He talked about the rigors of his personal routine and how it was so much harder to do the necessary gym work in his late 30s.
But in those final two seasons, that wondrous time when his choice to sign with the Warriors paid off in the form of two titles, there was more to it than that. As is the case for all champions, the success comes with the cost of a longer grind.
The same humans share the same oxygen in the same rooms from October through June, fighting those demons of division from beginning to end. Beyond all the Xs and Os, there are core aspects of a team’s character that must survive in order to achieve the ultimate goal: Trust, selflessness, sacrifice, and the like.
When the Warriors defended their crown a year ago, back when those elements were still clearly intact, it was West himself who shed such an honest light on this truth.
“We’re so tight, people don’t even know what we went through,” West had said during his infamous 2018 Finals celebration interview. “They trying to find out. …Y’all got no clue. No clue. That tells you about this team that nothing came out.”
Yet with Game 5 looming so large on Monday, and with some internal optimism that Durant could be cleared to play and perhaps save the day, it’s fair to wonder: Can this Warriors team make the same unity claim? If the mood after Game 4 was any indication, it’s extremely hard to tell.
At the very least, Durant’s absence that began back on May 8 is causing a mixture of confusion and angst among several of his teammates that simply can’t be helpful to their overall cause. Sources say there was a very real hope that Durant would be able to play in Game 4, to push through in much the same way that Thompson, Cousins, Iguodala and Looney have done of late. When that didn’t happen, and when they saw their season compromised more than ever without him after they’d grown hopeful of his return after seeing him on the court, the irritation grew in large part because they simply didn’t understand why he wasn’t there.
Warriors officials aren’t running from the reality that there’s frustration among some players, but they’re also quick to point out that trainer Rick Celebrini – not Durant – is making this call. And until Celebrini gives Durant the go-ahead, his long and painful stretch of absences will extend into this pivotal Warriors summer where his free agency future remains unclear. What’s more, two sources insist that the Warriors have believed for quite some time that Game 5 was the earliest time in which he would likely return.
To hear Looney tell it after Game 4, the Warriors are clinging to the belief that they can pull this 3-1 miracle that would be ironic in so many ways. If the Warriors could somehow do this, they’d have to pull off the very improbable feat that led them to getting Durant in the first place. Cleveland, of course, won the 2016 title after trailing 3-1 and with two of the final three games on the road.
And then there’s the Warriors’ 3-1 history of their own: They took down Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals after trailing 3-1 (with two of the final three games at Oracle). Still, the recent roster uncertainty that has come with this rash of injuries, Looney said, is making this challenge unique and even more daunting.
“It’s never knowing who’s going to play the next game, not knowing who’s going to be out there, what rotations we’re going to do,” Looney told The Athletic. “That’s tough, but the character of our team is that whatever happens, whoever’s out on the court, we’re all accountable to get the job done. We’ve got great leaders in Steph, KD, and Draymond (Green), and there ain’t no excuses. If we’re out there, we’re going to try to win.”
That was the message from Green after Game 4, when he took command of the locker room in the kind of way that left them all hoping they can pull off something special here.
“Draymond gave a great speech,” Looney continued. “He made sure we had our heads up, said ‘Stay confident, know who we are. We didn’t get here by quitting and pouting or giving up. We always believe, and we’ve got a bunch of guys who have been underdogs and who have been counted out before.’ I think we’re going to embrace this challenge more. Everybody probably thinks we’re going to lose now. And being the underdog again, like we haven’t been in a long time, it’s fun. We’ll try to go out there and prove everybody wrong.
“This is a tough challenge. (Warriors coach) Steve (Kerr) always says, ‘There’s a reason we pour champagne on each other when we win a title. It’s hard. It’s not going to be easy. Nothing in the NBA is easy.’ Toronto is a great team. They’re hungry, but we’re capable of winning. We feel like we have the better team. We’ve just got to go out there and show it.”
(Top Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
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Warriors had 5 great years, their time has come, its time for something else.
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Yet
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lawdog1
Supporter
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I don’t know if it’s how the Raptors are playing or fatigue or maybe a combo of both, but Draymond doesn’t seem to flying around on either side of the ball the way he did in previous series. He’s been good in the Finals, but not like he was against the Blazers
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Injuries are part of the game. Unfortunately for GSW the injury bug struck them at the wrong time. I enjoy watching them play and hoped they’d continue winning, but all good things must come to an end.
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5
56250
Guest
Are we all not forgetting something:
offense wins games, defense wins championships.
Raptors defense is the best right now.
offense wins games, defense wins championships.
Raptors defense is the best right now.
MVP
Supporter
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Some of y'all had the nerve to put the gauntlet on Steph
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