Golden State wins Game 5
The Warriors win Game 5 (106–105) and reduce the series deficit to 3–2
Game 5 was a tight win for the Warriors as they managed to steal a game on the road but it was at a huge cost. Kevin Durant came back from his calf strain to start in Game 5. The calf strain was a serious injury that has kept Durant out for thirty days during the play-offs and has meant that Durant has not managed to practice enough to get his fitness up. However in an elimination game, Kevin Durant was declared fit by himself, the Warriors’ head of basketball operations, Bob Myers and the Warriors’ head of sports medicine, Rick Celebrini. It all went wrong for Kevin Durant as he tore his Achilles just twelve minutes into his NBA return.
The play in which Durant injured himself was completely innocuous, it was a drive against Serge Ibaka and his Achilles snapped. Durant hopped onto his other leg before hobbling off to the side-lines and the Warriors’ organisation knew that it was serious as did Durant. As soon as Durant was dealt that unlucky hand, you could see in his face that it was curtains for his season. For the rest of the team, there was a realisation on their faces that the ace in the hole was gone and everybody had to dig deeper. The easy three-point looks in the first quarter would be gone, the silky efficient scoring that Durant would provide could not be relied upon. It would be up to to Curry, Thompson and Green to carry the Warriors’ tired legs to another championship.
The Warriors’ led the game by seven points before the Durant injury and after the injury, the Raptors closed up massively. The talent disparity disappeared and the game became incredibly close for the next thirty six minutes. The injury forced Steve Kerr to move DeMarcus Cousins into the rotation who has an up and down series but the move was inspired. Cousins’ came in when the injury shock reverberating around the arena and the Warriors were playing tight and delivered. Cousins immediately went to work and score the ball which kept the Warriors afloat going into half-time.
The Warriors’ lead lasted for the third quarter but then the Toronto Raptors’ chipped away at the lead and made the game incredibly uncomfortable. Nick Nurse has done a brilliant job in terms of coaching the Raptors to not let leads to get too out of hand which has been important in keeping the game within three or four possessions. The Raptors’ ability to get a bucket through anybody on the roster has paid dividends as they have managed to cut leads to two possessions during the play-offs. The insidious pressure has been impressive and has won the Raptors’ the game most of the time. With three minutes to go in the game, the Raptors found themselves up by six and with Kawhi Leonard in a scoring groove. Leonard had hit four consecutive buckets as Toronto built a slender lead that they could defend against the splash-happy Warriors.
With 3:26 remaining of the game, Nick Nurse decided to take a time-out and discuss the management of the game with the rest of his roster. In real-time, the decision was baffling as the Raptors were rolling and it seemed like they had Golden State on the ropes. The time-out took Leonard out of his rhythm and provided time for the Warriors to get brief respite for both Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry. In Game 5, ‘The Splash Brothers’ had outstanding games as they tried to get the Warriors home for one last stand at the Oracle Arena. Curry and Thompson had fifty seven points combined but it was the way that both players went about getting their points. The two Warriors were 12/25 from three-point land which translates at a 48% clip.
The Warriors have struggled with their shooting in this series against the Raptors. Toronto has defended the three-point tremendously and have not allowed the Warriors to get any rhythm from outside except for this game. Golden State’s experience and Thompson’s dogged determination became incredibly useful as the Warriors hit two threes to tie the game before Thompson hit the dagger to lead by three. Golden State went ahead by three with 57.6 seconds on the clock before all hell broke loose.
In the early part of the game, we saw the good from DeMarcus and now we saw the bad aspects of Boogie’s play. Cousins was inexplicably called for an offensive foul which put the ball back into Toronto’s hands at a time when Golden State needed to manage the clock and see out the rest of the tie. Cousins then turned the ball which gave Toronto another chance to win the series. Draymond Green who has had a poor series was both the villain and hero in the closing moments of this game. He had a puzzling back-court violation but came up big with a strong block on the last possession of the game, a corner three by Kyle Lowry.
Golden State were not superb down the stretch of the game by any means whatsoever, in fact it is some of sloppiest play that I have seen from a Steve Kerr side. However, the Warriors showed the grit to get themselves over the line and win ugly. The simple fact was that the Warriors did not care about how they won, they only cared for the plane ride back home to the Oracle for another huge game.
Toronto for the first time in this series seemed to slip in terms of the laser focus that has been a dominant trait for this version of the Raptors. In many ways, the Raptors have taken after Kawhi’s calm demeanour in which they worry about one possession at a time. In this game, it felt like that approach went out of the window as the Raptors’ showed video packages of securing the championship at the ScotiaBank Arena. The Raptors’ dare to dream seemed to take the players’ mind away from the focus necessary to beat Golden State. Toronto cannot expect Golden State to roll over and die, they need to go and take the championship away from the Warriors.
Moreover, the Toronto has placed themselves in a tricky position. A victory in Game 5 was the ideal result for the Raptors as it would have obviously killed the series off and meant that the championship would finally end up in the Six. Going back to Oracle for Game 6 is tough task at hand especially given the humiliation that the Raptors dealt the Warriors on their home turf in Game 3 and 4. Golden State will come out and desperate to go out with a band rather than a whimper, it is entirely possible that the emotional energy of the crowd could carry the Warriors to a Game 6 victory. That will place the Raptors in a tough position for Game 7 as Golden State will have the momentum at hand and experience on their side. Will the rest of the Raptors’ roster wilt under the pressure?
It is unbelievable how such small decisions in the play-offs create huge effects. Nick Nurse’s time-out was baffling and ill-advised as it killed his team’s rhyhtm. In the regular season, the error does not mean as much due to the large number of games. In the post-season, that minute detail means everything as it gave the Warriors a chance to get their legs under them and get over the line. The momentum of the series has shifted ever so slightly but the Warriors will be heartened by a tough road victory and the newfound momentum.
Game 6 will be another elimination game for the Warriors but they will not have the services of Kevin Durant who has suffered an Achilles injury. Durant is expected to be out for an entire year which is a huge blow for a thin Warriors’ side who can rely on consistent contributions from four players. Looney, Klay, Green and Curry have been the consistent contributors for the Warriors in this series and from Klay a big Game 6 will be expected. Klay in Game 6 is almost a mythic figure, the player who only gets hotter as the game slows down and everything means more. Against Oklahoma City in 2016, Klay won the WCF with his forty one points, the same applied to Game 6 against Houston in 2018. The previous Klay trends and the emotional energy coming from the crowd will give the Warriors reasons to feel that the game is winnable. The other driving factor revolves around Kevin Durant.
Kevin Durant’s injury was stunning and tragic at the same time. The Achilles went so anti-climactically as the former MVP stumbled off the court. The spillover effect from the injury is that it has galvanised the Warriors to win the championship for Kevin Durant who literally sacrificed his body to make a winning contribution. An interesting stat coming out of Game 5 is that Durant’s eleven point contributions created a buffer which meant that the Warriors were able to win by one, his sacrifice won Game 5. It is easy to fling blame around in this instance by blame has to belong to all parties.
The Warriors are at fault for not stopping KD from playing when he was one bad movement away from serious injury. In this instance, Bob Myers has a responsibility to prevent Kevin Durant from doing further damage to himself even when he was not fully prepared to step onto the court. It should be noted that Durant had only practiced lightly before starting in Game 5. It was unknown about how the calf injury would hold up when Durant made a movement in anger. Durant needs to accept some of the blame for his injury as it was ultimately his decision to play the game. We have seen players such as Kawhi Leonard and Scottie Pippen refuse to play the game when they do not feel comfortable or healthy. The last party that should shoulder some of the blame is the media. The media through their reporting of the series put pressure on KD to return as they created an expectation that Durant would be healthy. The media acted as a multiplier for fan sentiment which could have pressured Durant into playing the game.
The injury to Durant obviously seems to change the landscape of the league. The marquee free agent of the 2019 class now has a noticeable mark on his injury record which is sure to cause some consternation. Players do not recover all that well from Achilles, the mobility and explosiveness needed to exist in the top one percent of NBA players could very well be gone. It is entirely possible that Durant will not be the same player in terms of lateral quickness and acceleration that he currently is. My personal theory is that Durant will opt into his current option and get some of the best medical care in the NBA.
The Warriors have a vaunted medical staff and it is was one of the reasons why DeMarcus chose to come to the Bay Area. Boogie wanted one of the best medical staffs to rehabilitate his Achilles so that he would be an appealing free agency target in 2019. Although the quadriceps injury put that plan to bed, the thinking behind the plan is pretty sound. Durant could opt into his $31.9m, rehab his injury and maybe be available for the Warriors in the play-offs next season. KD would be giving up around $9m but it is pretty likely that he will get a $40m per year contract in the 2020 off-season.
