Kurtenbach: For the Warriors, NBA Finals Game 2 is a must-win
Golden State Warriors NBA Finals: The Warriors have more playoff
experience than any team in the league, so Steph Curry, Klay Thompson,
and Draymond Green know what happens if they lose Game 2 to the Celtics
on Sunday.
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 2: Golden State Warriors’ Klay
Thompson (11) reacts after a referee’s call against the Golden State
Warriors in the third quarter of Game 1 of their NBA Finals against the
Boston Celtics at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Thursday, June 2, 2022.(Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 2: Golden State Warriors’ Klay
Thompson (11) reacts after a referee’s call against the Golden State
Warriors in the third quarter of Game 1 of their NBA Finals against the
Boston Celtics at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Thursday, June 2, 2022.(Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
By DIETER KURTENBACH | dkurtenbach@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News
Group
PUBLISHED: June 5, 2022 at 4:30 a.m. | UPDATED: June 5, 2022 at 4:30 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/06/05/kurtenbach-for-the-warriors-nba-finals-game-2-is-a-must-win/

SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors had a refrain after their NBA Finals Game 1
loss on Thursday.

“It’s the first one to four.”

Steve Kerr said it. Draymond Green and Klay Thompson repeated it. In the
moment, it provided comfort to a Warriors team that choked away a
12-point fourth-quarter lead on its home floor.

The Warriors might be behind, but they’re right.

But heading into a second game against the Boston Celtics, this Warriors
squad now has next to no margin for error.

Yes, if you want to be pedantic, the only true “must-win” games are
elimination contests, but history and the Warriors’ own words demand we
call Game 2 (Sunday, 5 p.m., Chase Center) what it really is:

A must-win game for Golden State.

If the Warriors don’t win Game 2, the truth is that their chances of
winning those requisite four games in this series drop significantly, if
they are not altogether eliminated.

No team in the history of the NBA Finals has ever come back to win the
title after losing the first two games of the series at home.

In fact, in the entire history of the seven-game NBA playoff series,
such a turnaround has only been accomplished four times. And then, it
only happened in the first and second rounds.

Fail to protect home court in the first two games of the series, and
you’re looking at the prospect of needing to win four of the next five
games, with only two of those contests coming in San Francisco, a
fortress for the Dubs this postseason before Thursday.

Even for the Warriors, with all of their enviable playoff experience, to
accomplish such a turnaround seems terribly far-fetched.

The Warriors have experience coming out of their ears, but they haven’t
danced with a predicament like this often.

In fact, Thursday’s Game 1 was only the third opening contest the
Warriors have lost in 24 playoff series under head coach Steve Kerr.

One came in the NBA Finals (2019), and one came at home (2016 Western
Conference Finals).

Both times the Warriors won Game 2. The Warriors can take solace in that.

But Golden State will need to come back from 1-0 a third time on Sunday
if they want to raise a fourth championship banner.

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“They have seen it all,” Kerr said of his team’s veterans. “They have
won championships. They have lost championships. They have had their
heart broken. They have had parades. This is all part of it.”

For the younger players, Warriors star Steph Curry sees lessons in this
team’s peculiar playoff path, which has seen them fail to close out
three times in three series.

“I look at how we responded from Game 5 to Game 6 in the Memphis series.
Game 4 to 5 in the Dallas series. Even moments throughout the regular
season where things are starting to get away from us a little bit at
times and kind of have your come-to-Jesus moment, like we need to play
right. We usually responded pretty well,” Curry said Saturday. “It’s the
first time for a lot of things with this particular group. We are here
in the Finals for a reason, because we figured it out along the way. If
we’re going to get back in this series, we’ve got to figure it out again.”

Is this is a “come-to-Jesus” moment for the Dubs?

“Absolutely,” he said.

Getting Jesus involved? The devout Curry wouldn’t do that unless it was
a must-win game, right?

The Warriors are also taking some solace in how Game 1 was lost.

The Warriors’ 12-point lead was no fluke. The loss was characterized by
multiple Warriors as Golden State letting its foot off the pedal and
Boston taking advantage of the Dubs’ lull.

And amid that characterization, another word was dropped a few times:

Desperation.

“We have to come out with a sense of desperation in the first quarter
and really cement ourselves in terms of what we are trying to do,” Curry
said. “Play with the same joy, the same aggressiveness that we always
do, but have to sustain it over 48 [minutes].

“It’s crazy saying that. That’s what it should be like in the Finals
with two great teams going at it.”

“We played about 40 great minutes, which will not get it done at this
point in the season,” Thompson said Saturday. “It was a harsh reminder,
but something we all needed to go through, including myself. It’s about
how we respond tomorrow, which I am very excited for.

“We are going to play with desperation tomorrow, and I think that’s when
we are at our best.”

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that desperation is something you
bring to a must-win game.

Otherwise, what a waste, right?

Yes, Game 1 could serve as a wake-up call for the Dubs at the start of
what could be a classic Finals series or a precursor of a Celtic coronation.

It’s on the Warriors to determine which way it will go, and you can bet
that the Celtics won’t be complacent with one win to start the series.

And with outcomes so different, Game 2 is absolutely, 100 percent a
must-win game for the Warriors.

Don’t let anyone else tell you something different.