With their backs against the wall, the Golden State Warriors put on a terrific performance and emerged victorious. Coming off a Game 4 loss, Steve Kerr’s boys looked extremely calm and collected as a unit. Grabbing a much-needed 121-106 win, as they now head to Crypto.com Arena for Game 6, Stephen Curry believes that LeBron James and co. are the ones under pressure.
Advertisement
It’s not easy being 3-1 down in a postseason series and not being startled. However, being in this same position before, the San Francisco-based franchise kept their poise and managed to force a Game 6 rallying behind Andrew Wiggins’ 25/7/5 outing.
Complete two-way game tonight from 2⃣2⃣.@googlecloud || Player of the Game pic.twitter.com/Rzp62vv9mw
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 11, 2023
When down 3-2 in a series, many players would ideally be tensed being a game away from elimination… with the exception of The Baby-Faced Assassin.
“Pressure is on them to protect their home court”: Stephen Curry
After going 33-8 at the Chase Center during the 2022-2023 regular season, the reigning champions have a 4-2 record at home during this postseason. Having done a reasonable job defending their home turf, it’s now on Darvin Ham’s boys to do the same.
In the postgame interview, the GSW’s 2-time Most Valuable Player spoke to the Inside the NBA panel about pressure being transferred to the LA-based franchise.
“Honestly, I think the pressure is on them to protect their home court. We had pressure tonight to keep ourselves alive with our back against the wall and now that shifts.”
Further, the 2023 All-NBA Second Team member stated how the Warriors could still perform better than they have been doing, especially in terms of the Splash Brothers shooting the rock more efficiently.
“I think we can play better. Obviously, I haven’t shot the ball well from 3, Klay is kind of been hit or miss. So I feel like we can take another step and give ourselves a great opportunity. That’s the beauty of playoffs. It’s every game is kind of a narrative of its own and that’s what you love about it.”
Indeed it was an incredible outing for the Warriors. However, there is absolutely no reason for LeBron and co. to be under pressure. So far, the Purple & Gold have won all 5 of their games at home, with an average points difference of 17.8 points.
Can Steph get his revenge on LeBron James?
Back in the 2016 postseason, the Warriors overcame a 3-1 deficit in the Western Conference Finals only to blow a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Despite putting up some outlandish performances all season long, the Warriors were left stunned due to the King and Kyrie’s dominance in Games 5-7.
7 years since the embarrassment, the All-Star trio of Steph, Dray, and Klay have the perfect opportunity to get back at the 6-foot-9 superstar. After their Game 5 win, several analysts have some more faith in them.
Taking it “one game at a time”, Golden State might not be heavily favored to win the series, but are definitely causing LAL some problem.
