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Warriors’ Season in Review: Top-10 most memorable moments from 2018-19

By

Brad Almquist

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© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The 82-game regular season is over, and the Warriors’ real season is set to begin. The team’s quest for a third straight championship and fourth in five years begins Saturday evening against the No. 8-seeded Los Angeles Clippers.

During this historic five-year run, it’s easy to lose track of all the feats these Warriors have achieved with each passing season. The 2018-19 season provided many of them, as well as some not-so-pleasant moments.

Let’s revisit the 10 most memorable moments from Golden State’s regular season.

Curry, Thompson, Durant each score 50+ points in 19-game span

The season started with a bang. The Warriors won 10 of their first 11, and their trio of world-class scorers each recorded a 50-point game in a 19-game span.

The first: Stephen Curry went for 51 points in a 144-122 win over the Washington Wizards in his fifth game of the season. Curry made 11 of 16 threes and all 10 free-throw attempts in 32 minutes.

Five days later, Klay Thompson one-upped Curry in record-breaking fashion. Thompson poured in an NBA-record 14 made, breaking Curry’s previous record of 13, in Golden State’s 149-124 win at Chicago. (More on this in a bit.)

Exactly one month later, Kevin Durant took his turn. After dropping 44 and 49 points in the previous two games, Durant went for 51 in a 131-128 overtime loss at Toronto. Durant hit two contested threes on back-to-back possessions to send the game into overtime. Durant has scaled back his shot attempts recently, but performances like the one in late November reminded us of the all-time great scorer he is.

Thompson sets single-game three-point record

The easily combustible Thompson broke out of a 5-36 shooting slump from three-point range with one of his best career performances against Chicago. Some mind-boggling stats from Thompson’s record-breaking night — he made 14 of 24 from three-point range in just 27 minutes. He made his 14th three with 4:53 in the third quarter. He finished with 52 points. Multiplied over a 48-minute game, that’s 92 points for Thompson.

Durant and Green feud

The most dramatic storyline of the season sprouted from a spat between Durant and Draymond Green in mid-November. Durant was unhappy that Green did not pass him the ball with the game against the Los Angeles Clippers tied and the clock ticking down to three seconds. Green dribbled to the other end and coughed up the ball to force overtime.

During the ensuing timeout, Green was visibly angry with Durant, and two jawed back and forth. Some things were said that Durant clearly did not like, and he was clearly still bothered postgame.

In the aftermath, the Warriors suspended Green for a game without pay, costing him $120,000.

The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson dubbed the Green-Durant fued as the potential beginning of the end of the current run with Durant. Thompson wrote, “A random November​ game at Staples​ Center, against a Clippers team​​ that history wouldn’t otherwise remember, was the opening salvo in the destruction of a dynasty.”

Thompson said Green and Warriors teammates were frustrated that Durant had dangled his impending free agency over the team. But Thompson also speculated Green’s piercing words would be too harsh to ignore, no matter how much time passed.

With time, Durant and Green seemingly put the rift behind them.

Warriors set first-quarter NBA record with 51 points against Nuggets

Right when it seemed the Denver Nuggets were being talked up as a Western-Conference competitor, the Warriors showed them who was still the top dog.

On Jan. 16, the Warriors beat the Nuggets, 142-111. The first quarter featured some of the best basketball you’ll ever see. Golden State set an NBA record with 51 points in the first quarter. The team shot 19-for-25 from the field and 10-of-14 from three-point range in the opening 12 minutes. Golden State’s 51 points are the second-most in any quarter in franchise history.

And this was just days before DeMarcus Cousins integrated into the lineup.

Durant’s blowup on the media

It’s a foregone conclusion that Durant will opt out of the final year of his current deal after the 2019 season and enter free agency. That prospect, as noted in the argument with Green, has hovered over the Warriors from multiple perspectives, including the media’s.

All of the speculation was based around the same question: how much longer will this current dynasty last?

Throughout the season, multiple reports indicated that Durant will not re-join the Warriors. The New York Knicks have repeatedly been the favorite to land Durant, with NBA reporters going so far as saying Durant-to-the-Knicks is a done deal.

Back on Feb. 6, after the Warriors blew out the San Antonio Spurs by 39 points, Durant bashed the media for their speculative stories on his impending free agency. Some context: he had not spoken to reporters in nine days, which, for a normally affable, media-friendly athlete, was abnormal. The Athletic’s Ethan Strauss wrote a piece on Durant’s silence, which likely had something to do with his eventual departure for New York.

Durant told the room full of reporters to “grow up.”

“I come in here, I don’t cause no problems,” Durant said. “I play the right way, or I try to play the right way. I try to be the best player I can be every possession. What’s the problem? What am I doing to y’all?”

Cousins’ first Warriors basket is a thunderous dunk

Nearly one year after he tore his Achilles with the New Orleans Pelicans, Cousins returned to the floor, as a member of the Warriors. It took Cousins just 84 seconds into his 2019 debut to flush a monstrous dunk off a pick-and-roll with Durant. Cousins mugged as he jogged back down the court, much to his teammates’ satisfaction.

With time, Cousins steadily integrated more and more into the Warriors’ rotation. Steve Kerr and his coaching staff were cautious with Cousins’ minutes, progressively upping his workload. And now, with the playoffs two days away, Cousins is fully back and playing as well as he has all season. He recorded a season-high 28 points to go with 13 rebounds last Tuesday.

On the year, Cousins is averaging 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds on 48 percent shooting, the second-highest clip of his career.

Bogut’s return

Since leaving the Warriors after the 2015-16 season, Bogut bounced around three NBA teams before returning to Australia, where he dominated. He was named the NBL’s Most Valuable Player Award this season.

Needing center help, the Warriors phoned Bogut, who accepted a roster spot. After efforts to obtain a VISA were slightly delayed, the beloved Warriors center rejoined the dynasty he helped jumpstart.

Bogut made his 2019 NBA debut in a 111-105 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. He started in place of Cousins and contributed seven points and seven rebounds. He has since asserted himself as a solid rotational piece.

In Bogut’s first Warriors home game of the season, Oracle Arena showered him with a proper “welcome back” when he checked into the game for the first time.

Warriors vs. Officials

Throughout the past month, the Warriors’ most bothersome opponent has been the referees.

Green, Curry, and Durant were fined for their criticisms of the officiating following the team’s 131-130 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 29. The final minute of the game was filled with questionable calls, all against the Warriors, including a Durant foul as time nearly expired. The foul put Minnesota’s Karl Anthony-Towns on the line, and he drilled two free throws for the win.

In the aftermath, Green was fined $35,000 for his cryptic tweets, Curry was fined $25,000 for taunting the refs and making comments, and Durant was fined $15,000 for his comments.

Fast forward about one week, and Durant was ejected in the third quarter of Golden State’s 116-102 win over the Nuggets. The second technical was assessed just seconds after the first. With Durant’s technicals tally at 15 on the year, if he gets one more, he will have to sit the following game.

Curry moves up Warriors’ all-time scoring leaderboard

In a matter of two days, Curry moved up two spots into third on the Warriors’ all-time scoring list.

On Apr. 5, Curry passed Warriors legend Chris Mullin at fourth-all time on the franchise’s scoring list. Curry didn’t even realize it until the video board displayed a graphic of the accomplishment.

One game later, he passed Paul Arizin (16,266) for third place on the Warriors’ all-time scoring list. The bucket, his 27th point of the night, was fitting — Curry pulled up from well beyond the three-point line, a few seconds into the shot clock, and drilled the shot over two Cleveland Cavaliers defenders.

Curry will likely pass Rick Barry sometime in the coming weeks. Barry is 132 points ahead of Curry for second all-time in Warriors history. Curry will likely have to wait at least one more full season to reach Wilt Chamberlain’s top mark of 17,783 points.

‘We Believe’ jerseys

The 2018-19 season was largely a farewell to Oracle Arena. The Warriors will move to the resplendent Chase Center in San Francisco in the 2019-20 season, ending the team’s 53-year run in the NBA’s oldest arena.

In classy fashion, the Warriors paid homage to the Oakland fans by wearing the “We Believe” jerseys from the 2000s in their final regular-season game ever in the arena. As you’d expect, the crowd was hyped.

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