Warriors find hope to overcome 3-1 deficit in the way they lost Game 4
The Warriors' role players need to step up like Lonnie Walker IV did for Lakers
LOS ANGELES — The scene at Crypto.com Arena was wrought with emotion following a Warriors’ Game 4 loss.
On the court, LeBron James and Anthony Davis embraced Lonnie Walker IV, a role player who ripped the win away from Golden State with 15 fourth-quarter points to give the Los Angeles Lakers a 3-1 series lead.
The feeling within the Warriors’ locker room was strange, in contrast — as hopeful and even-keeled as it has been through every high and low this season with a tinge of tension hanging overhead. How could they not feel tense with their title defense season now one loss away from ending? At least they have a few players in the locker room who’ve faced (and conquered) 3-1 deficits before.
“I remember saying the same thing I did now,” Klay Thompson said. “Taking one day at a time and enjoying the process of chasing greatness.”
The clear silver lining is the way in which the Warriors lost. It wasn’t Davis or James who beat them down the stretch, but a role player who has barely played this series saving them from defeat. Perhaps the Warriors can glean a little hope from the idea that one role player — like Dennis Shroder in Game 1, D’Angelo Russell in Game 3 — won’t always be able to save the day.
And maybe the tension stems from the realization that the Warriors haven’t had any big performances off the bench of their own. Juxtaposed with Walker’s heroics off the bench was Jordan Poole’s late-fourth-quarter benching and post-game frustrations with media hoping to ask about how he’s handled it. He was brief, alluding to the idea that he might not be in a funk with more “opportunity.”
“We get questions about him a lot and our whole team is all together in the sense of trying to figure out how to win playoff games,” Steph Curry said. “We all have to make adjustments, we all have to play together considering we’re in a 3-1 hole. There’s no sense in isolating him, it’s about collectively deciding what we can do to get better.”
Poole bears the burden of expectation because of his performance in last year’s playoffs, where he averaged 17 points per game and shot 39 percent from 3 as opposed to the 10.5 points per game and 28 percent from 3 he has this year.
So when a worn Curry was throwing up prayer 3-pointers — having played 40 minutes and further worn down by getting switched on to defend James on most Laker possessions — to salvage a critical game with the final seconds winding down, all eyes averted to the guy most expected to help pick up the shooting slack.
But that burden should also fall on Thompson, who threw up two costly missed 3-pointers late.
“That one with five seconds on the shot clock, wish I could have that back, gotten a better look,” Thompson said. “That one on the left wing I feel like I rushed it…I shoulda taken my time. Even with that, we fought back with a chance to win.”
Moses Moody, who wasn’t in the rotation for most of the regular season, closed the game because he could defend James, disrupt plays on defense and rebound. Donte DiVincenzo hit two big 3-pointers in his best performance of these playoffs. Andrew Wiggins collected 17 points, but missed two wide-open 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that could have given Golden State a little breathing room when Walker and the Lakers started to close in late in the fourth.
Jonathan Kuminga was not played for a single second.
The Warriors can still win this series. That might be contingent on avoiding another Walker-esque performance. But it would help, too, if one of their role players could go full Lonnie Walker IV.