Warriors Rewind: 10 Thoughts on the Warriors Game 3 Loss

When Ian Clark hit the go-ahead bucket with 10 seconds remaining, I was already formulating what I would write in this space after another Warriors come-from-behind victory. I knew I was going to mention Marreese Speights conjuring the other-worldly powers of Mo Buckets and dropping an absurd 14 points in eight first-half minutes. And I was absolutely going to praise Steve Kerr for trusting Ian Clark, the backup’s backup, to play crunch time minutes and for Clark to reward the coach with nine clutch points in the fourth quarter. But before I could finish the thought, the Warriors had let the improbable victory slip out of their hands. The Dubs’ defense made a huge gaffe, allowing James Harden to dribble the ball the length of the court with his dominant hand and sink an open 15-footer against a backpedaling Andre Iguodala. The Rockets bench might not have jumped for joy after the game-winning shot, but the loss was certainly deflating for Warriors fans hoping for a quick finish in Round 1.

Here are 10 thoughts on the Game 3 gut-punch loss:

1. It’s fitting that the game should end on a poor defensive possession and then an unforced turnover. After all, it was the Warriors’ rash of first quarter giveaways (7) and porous defense that put them in an early double-digit deficit to begin with. Draymond Green had one of his worst performances of the season, coughing the ball up seven times and needing nine attempts to score nine points. On the Warriors’ final possession of the game — with a chance to escape Houston with a victory — Dray started moving before he caught the ball, and that drop ended up being the one the Warriors couldn’t overcome.

2. Meanwhile, Golden State’s other All-Star Klay Thompson wasn’t much better, needing 20 shots to claim 17 points. Klay’s shot selection was awful (too many long threes and tightly contested twos) and his stroke looked hurried; his performance was bad enough that there was a slight whiff of the #klayup-era Klay.

3. But that’s not to say that the Warriors were all bad. Mo Speights had a fantastic game off the bench scoring a team-high 22 points in only 18 minutes. And Shaun Livingston was fantastic again, finishing with a line of 16-5-3-3. As for Mo, it’s hard to remember that this confident 3-bomb dropping big man is the same guy that was submarining the second unit’s offense earlier in the season. Speights’ development of the 3-point shot has completely reinvented his career.

4. The Dubs probably didn’t deserve to win this game, not with the poor defense and the turnover-prone offense, but it’s hard to say the Rockets did either. Houston was more “less bad” than they were “good.” They got fantastic performances from Harden (35-8-9) and Dwight Howard (13 points, 13 rebounds), sure, but they were held to 39.1%; they committed 16 turnovers; and they nearly gave the game away on a terrible Trevor Ariza inbounds pass that Livingston stole and led to the Clark basket. And they got lucky in that their lack of a timeout probably gave Harden a better opportunity to score against a scattered Warriors’ defense.

5. After Harden hit the game-winner, the Rockets bench had the look of a bunch of dudes who just realized their summer plans got delayed.

6. I’m fine with the no-call on Harden’s push-off on Igoudala. By the book, it was an offensive foul, but the NBA has been consistent about not calling those in the final seconds.

7. That was way too many open corner threes, especially early in the first half. It’s one thing if the game plan is designed to cede those jumpers to the likes of Josh Smith or Donatas Montiejunas, it’s another when guys are getting lost on switches or just slow to rotate.

8. After getting severely outplayed in the first two games by Andrew Bogut, Dwight Howard finally found his mojo in Houston. Howard repeatedly got deep position on Bogut and ran unimpeded numerous times to the rim off simple screen-and-rolls. The Warriors will need to be better of sticking closer to Howard in Game 4 to stop those lobs.

9. Playoff Harrison didn’t make the trip to Houston. At least not yet. After the previous game’s ghastly 1-of-10 performance, HB was a little better connecting on 3 shots in 7 attempts.

10. For those worried about an improbable Warriors’ upset, think about this: the Dubs were on the road; Thompson and Green scored a combined 26 points; the offense completely relied on Speights, Livingston, and Clark; Harden and Howard played the best they have all series … and yet the Warriors were one defensive stop away from being up 3-0.