81/82 W Sacramento Kings 119/97
82/82 W Portland Trail Blazers 157/101
This week is the least basketball I have watched since October. It’s a dramatic shift from two NCAA tournaments and the NBA season into this lull before the playoffs, with only the Masters to cushion the blow. (Yes, I also watch the golf majors. It’s the only televised sport that I’ve played so I can claim to sort of understand it). The transition between these two events is best demonstrated by their two theme songs on CBS, where they add the sound of sneakers squeaking in one and add birdsong in the other. Fun fact: you can listen to an hour of the Masters theme song which might be good for the ultimate golf nap.
The NBA regular season is over and the post-season, or as my friend calls is “the real season” begins.
I’m not a big person for stats, here are a few notable ones for the year
Kevon Looney leads the NBA in offensive rebounds
Kevon Looney and Jordan Poole played all 82 games.
Looney has played 217 consecutive games and Poole has played 152 consecutive games - both of their previous breaks were from being put into a health and safety protocol for Covid.
Klay Thompson has the most 3s in the NBA
Klay is the 3rd person in NBA history to have more than 300 3s in a year (Curry and Harden are the others)
Klay, Poole and Curry combined for the most 3s by a trio in NBA history. The previous record was held by Klay, Curry and Draymond. It is also the first time in history that 3 players on a backcourt averaged more than 20 points a game. (That one I admit is a little esoteric and I only learned what backcourt meant this year but the point is - Poole, Curry and Klay have been getting buckets.)
Curry was shockingly close to a 50/40/90 season, ending with 49.3% FG, 42.7% 3PTS, 91.5% FTS.
And just for a moment, let’s glory in the last game of the season, where the Warriors had 55 points in the first quarter (an NBA record) and Klay, needing 5 3s to get over 300, and knowing he might not play for long, got 5 3s in the first 5 minutes. And then there was the Kuminga dunk
I know the game was meaningless, but it was also super fun.
The Warriors are playing their best basketball of the year right now. The games at the end of the season had less competition but the Warriors have won four of their last five road games. Having GPII makes a huge huge huge difference on the floor and suddenly all the rotations make sense.
The Warriors playoff rotation is: Steph, Klay, Draymond, Looney, Wiggins, followed by Divincenzo, Kuminga, Poole, Payton, Moody. Every single one of the bench players are playing their best basketball of the year right now by far. They are leaps and bounds better than they were even a few months ago. As for Wiggins, I think of it this way–as he ramps up, he only has to be as good or better than the last man in the rotation with their minutes. If he plays Game 1, can he be better than Moody during Moody’s minutes? Yes. Better than Kuminga? Probably. He will improve but he doesn’t have to be him right away.
We may not win but the Warriors have set themselves up as best as they can, including a first round match up against the Kings, who are very good but are also very very local and that can make a big difference. They will bus to the game. During the regular season, there’s a bus but some players also carpool up. Sacramento is filled with SF/Oakland transplants - the sky high housing market means there are a lot of Dubs fans who live in Sac. There are intersections between these teams and these fan bases across the board. Harrison Barnes and Coaches Mike Brown and Leandro Barbosa came from the Warriors. Also, these teams played three of their four games by November and Sac sat most of their starters in the game last week. The team they each faced this year is not the team they will face in the playoffs.
Finally, not only have the Warriors and Kings never met in the playoffs, they have never been in the playoffs at the same time until this year. This is something Northern California has never seen before. It should be fun.
And although the players aren’t talking about it, this could be the last time Klay, Draymond and Curry are in the post-season together. No one knows what will happen but the contract realities for Draymond and then Klay combined with the new NBA contract which further penalizes high spending teams–it would be hard to keep this team together. I learned last year that the Warriors don’t turn a profit for the owners until they make the finals. I don’t feel bad for the owners - they make plenty of money from their other endeavors, but this is still surprising and not sustainable.
I’m getting ahead of myself. I call this newsletter A Game At A Time and then I’m jumping to the unknowable future. Back to appreciating the lull in between games.
And letting you in on a secret. I have a surprise for you.
I think in song lyrics. Let me explain…a lot of the time there is a song in my head connected to the events in my actual life. Sometimes I have to translate it into words when I speak. Until recently I thought everyone had a soundtrack running in the background.
So something kinda fun has been happening while I’ve been writing this newsletter since October. Inevitably, in the process of writing, a song would play in my head, loosely associated with the theme of whatever I was writing about. These songs often became the titles or subtitles for each post. I never tried to do it, I never forced it, it just kept happening. Sometimes I was sure it wasn’t going to happen and it always did. Post after post after post had a song or songs for it.
Here are the newsletter titles. Can you hear these songs in your head?
A Sort of Homecoming
Dig If You Will The Picture
Almost Doesn’t Count
When It Began
A LIttle Patience
Step By Step/Bit By Bit
We’re Halfway There/How Soon Is Now
Anything Can Happen
Time and Time Again
When I See You
I’ve Been Here For Years
It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year/Never Too Much
Lip Service/I’m Not Angry
I Love Your Smile/Welcome Back
82/82/Secret Secret
I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time, but I didn’t want to wreck it - it was like a soap bubble floating in the air, or a spider web in the breeze. I also thought that if I told you about it, I would curate it, because some of these songs are embarrassing and in a few cases, they are songs I don’t like.
But the season is over and it’s time to share the unintentional playlist to A Game At A Time. I’ll keep adding to the playlist if it continues to happen. I mean for real, did I ruin it by telling you?
Go Dubs.