Stephen Curry’s Warriors miss the playoffs and foresee the end of an era

A decade ago, the Golden State Warriors recorded the best regular season in NBA history with 73 wins, although that chapter ended badly in the NBA Finals. Still, the core of that project went on to amass four titles, more than any other franchise in the 21st century. Now, the main protagonists of that group go on vacation with only 37 wins, their second losing season in fifteen years, and share a heartfelt embrace as the Phoenix Suns deliver the final blow. 111-96 in the game for the eighth spot in the Western Conference and the first-round playoff matchup with the reigning champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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Steve Kerr, the team’s coach, replaced Stephen Curry with one minute left on the clock. This time there was no magic, with 17 points and a poor 4 of 16 field goals for the 38-year-old point guard. The coach approached the star and called his main bodyguard, a Draymond Green previously ejected in a scuffle with Devin Booker, to exchange a few words and start the farewell. “Guys, I don’t know what will happen now, but I love you to death,” he told them.

Goodbye to more than just a season? After four appearances in six editions of the play in, far from the title and the group’s performance in the last triumph of 2022, it seems the Golden State dynasty finally reaches the point of no return. Kerr has no contract for next year and will decide his future in a couple of weeks. Green wants an extension of his contract before accepting his player option for the next season. Curry will have to take good care of the knee that has made him miss 27 games this season. The third musketeer on the court, Klay Thompson, hasn’t even played with them for a couple of seasons now.

“We are no longer those Warriors from 2016 or 2017, when we dominated the league. Now we are a fading dynasty,” the coach said in December. What was already evident with all players healthy on the court was confirmed by the knee injuries of Jimmy Butler and Curry. Age does not forgive. The San Francisco franchise has the oldest roster in the league, with an average age of 28.8 years, but with their two stars healthy, they briefly believed in another miraculous playoffs season.

“It’s okay to acknowledge that all this will have to end at some point, and we know it’s already on the horizon. We all try to extend it as much as we can,” Curry recently told The Athletic. The transformative point guard and beacon of Golden State all these years doesn’t really know how many seasons of good basketball he has left in his legs. The new longevity benchmark, undoubtedly, remains active with the Lakers in these playoffs. LeBron James, with 23 seasons behind him and 41 years old, still has to decide whether to hang up his sneakers, and his example pushes many of his contemporaries, including Kevin Durant.

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Curry has arguments to hold on to. In the first play in game, he once again showed that age is just a number. 35 points, 27 of them with the game on the line in the second half, and an epic comeback in the last quarter after being 13 down in the same to overcome the Los Angeles Clippers 121-126 and set up a meeting with the Suns. “I remembered the old times,” smiled the most prolific three-point shooter in history. Beside him, Green gave a masterclass in defense and nullified Kawhi Leonard, who had just had an excellent year.

“Look, we’ve won games with much more at stake, but this is one of the best,” Kerr said after beating the Clippers. “Where we are and our years, seeing the decline in performance this season, it was a nice demonstration of our competitive gene. For one night we were ourselves again, champions again, no matter how crazy it may sound from the outside,” added the coach, approaching 61 years old.

These two games also showed the potential and dangers of pairing Curry with a versatile but fragile center like Kristaps Porzingis, plagued by recurring health problems throughout the year and limited to 11 points and 15 minutes against Phoenix due to an ankle sprain. “What we saw these days was a good preview of what it could potentially be,” warned the Latvian, who will be a free agent this summer, after scoring 20 points against L.A. Management now faces countless market decisions, and no one rules out another twist to the project if giants like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, or LeBron James become available.

In Golden State’s collapse, Jalen Green shone with 36 points in 40 minutes for the Suns. He and the Suns were too much without being great for a Warriors team that is undoubtedly fading. In the other decisive play in matchup, in the Eastern Conference, the Orlando Magic crushed the Charlotte Hornets 121-90 led by Paolo Banchero’s 25 points and will face the fearsome Detroit Pistons led by Cade Cunningham in the first round, who hadn’t reached 60 wins in the regular season in two decades.

The playoffs start this Saturday with four series: Cavaliers-Raptors (7:00 PM, Prime), Nuggets-Timberwolves (9:30 PM, Prime), Knicks-Hawks (12:00 AM, Prime), and Lakers-Rockets (2:30 AM, DAZN).

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