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Three things we learned from Warriors’ odd overtime loss to Trail Blazers

By

Jacob Hutchinson

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© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

From any standpoint, tonight’s game was hard to watch. The shooting on both sides was dismal and there was a palpable funk surrounding two of the Western Conference’s best teams. Eventually, that funk sunk the Warriors in the weirdest of fashions.

A game-tying 3-pointer came from Kevin Durant with 19 seconds left in regulation. Then, on an abysmal shooting night for himself, Klay Thompson locked up Damian Lillard with ease and it seemed like the Warriors might be overcoming the hole they dug themselves into. In overtime, Draymond Green hit a corner three that gave the Warriors a 109-107 lead with under a minute left. The Warriors stopped the Trail Blazers on defense and it seemed like the game was over:

Then, of all things, Stephen Curry turned the ball over and Damian Lillard hit this game-winning 3-pointer and Kevin Durant missed a short mid-range jumper that would have won the game had it gone down. The shot fell short, giving Portland a 110-109 win despite shooting 36.2 percent from the field.

Here are three things we learned from tonight’s game:

“Eyes are the only witness” 

With four minutes left in the third quarter, the Trail Blazers led the Warriors 70-61 despite shooting 25-of-70 (35.7 percent) from the field and 6-of-22 (28.6 percent) from 3-point range. Then, the Warriors, went on a 10-point run starting with a bank shot from Draymond Green.

With the Warriors now trailing the Trail Blazers 70-63, Klay Thompson (4-of-14 and 1-of-6 from deep at this point) pulled up and hit a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer after struggling mightily, as he has for much of this season. He drained the shot and was fouled, leaving a smile on his and his teammates’ faces and the potential for a 4-point play.

Then, Thompson missed his and-one free throw but got his own rebound. He drove and was fouled yet again, missing yet another free throw before hitting the second. It left the Warriors 2-of-11 from the free throw line, but it felt like Thompson was turning a corner. Then, he missed his next two shots, but the often quiet Thompson was playing with a palpable energy that he rarely displays so clearly.

Green scored a tip-in and Thompson assisted Jerebko to give the Warriors a lead again for the first time since there were four minutes left in the second quarter. But the Trail Blazers took back a 75-71 lead to close out the third quarter and it took a full minute for either team to score to start the fourth.

When that first shot did drop, it came in the form of a 32-foot Stephen Curry 3-pointer. It was one of the few comprehensible moments in a game that was odd from start to finish and featured a shockingly poor free throw display from the Warriors, who went 6-of-15 from the line tonight.

Below are the free throw shooting percentages for Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and their free throw totals from tonight:

Stephen Curry: Career – 90.5 percent, Tonight – 1-of-3, missed technical

Klay Thompson: Career – 85 percent, Tonight – 1-of-4, missed technical and and-one

Kevin Durant: Career – 88.4 percent, Tonight – 2-of-4, with both misses coming on back-to-back shots

Andre Iguodala: Career – 71.2 percent, Tonight – 2-of-2

That free throw display and this Three Stooges-like sequence below sum up the flow of tonight’s game:

Like Oregon natives Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker sang for Sleater-Kinney on the song “A New Wave,” it was something that you had to see to believe, although watching tonight’s display provided no help in understanding it. As Brownstein sang, “Eyes are the only witness.”

Shot creation dissipation

The last possession of the first quarter has typified the struggles of the Warriors’ offense of late. There was not one point in the possession when any Warriors player (with a lineup featuring Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston and Jonas Jerebko – all veterans) penetrated the paint with the ball. Here’s the possession:

It started with Durant holding the ball about five feet above the 3-point line, followed by a halfhearted screen setup by Green, who quickly abandoned it and moved to the top of the 3-point line. After a full 10 seconds, Durant moved it to Green where he held the ball before swinging it back to Jerebko on the right wing. Jerebko looking for a slow-cutting Iguodala before moving it back to Green, who attempted a drive before dumping the ball back to Durant, now isolated at the top of the 3-point arc with no options to pass the ball and well guarded by Evan Turner.

With five seconds left on the shot clock, Livingston comes open(ish) between the left 3-point wing and the key. He tries to make a drive attempt, but has no path to get past Zach Collins in the paint. He dishes the ball to Jonas Jerebko, who’s about four feet behind the 3-point arc on the right side, and throws up an airball with Meyers Leonard in his face.

The Warriors were held to 38.5 percent shooting in the first half and 46 points. It’s the 10th time this season the Warriors have scored 46 or less points in the first half.

Oy vey, Klay and CJ

When you imagine a matchup between Klay Thompson and CJ McCollum, you might imagine that two of the elite shooting guards in the NBA would raise each other’s game. That was far from what transpired tonight.

Here’s the stat line for both players:

Klay Thompson: 15 points (6-of-19 from field, 2-of-9 from 3-point, 1-of-4 from FT line), 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover

CJ McCollum: 24 points (7-of-22 from field, 3-of-9 from 3-point, 7-of-7 from FT line) 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers

Yet, even on torrid nights for the two stars, Thompson locked up Lillard to end regulation and McCollum hit a pair clutch 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter and overtime and a lead-taking mid-range jumper in overtime. Despite the struggles, both still provided massive value in clutch situations.

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