Curry, The Proverbial Sleeping Giant, Awakes
I’d Like to Double Down on the Warriors!
With an incredible 108-101 comeback victory on the road Saturday night, the Golden State Warriors clawed their way out of the grave to force a Game 7. It was a game the Oklahoma City Thunder controlled until the Warriors slowly, relentlessly turned what looked like an inexorable tide. It was probably the best offensive performance of Klay Thompson’s life, maybe the best defensive performance of Andre Iguodala’s life, capped by a dagger from one Stephen Curry.
Alert to those who sold their Warrior stock. There is a game 7 and it seems the Warriors have found and drained their magic elixir. It won them 73 games and will get them back to the NBA Finals.
There were 3 things that happened in this game that were significant:
Frist, I completely agree with Charles Barkley, that the Thunder played hero basketball and that is why they lost. Between Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook they missed 38 shots, the rest of the team only took 32.
Second, Klay Thompson single handedly saved the Warriors season by going 11-18 from behind the arc and scoring 41 points. He kept the Warriors close and carried Steph until he was awoken from his slumber.
Third, Steph Curry found his swagger back in the 4th and the Thunder aren’t coming back. This is eerily familiar with last year when Steph was out of sorts for the beginning of the Cavs/Warriors NBA Finals. Curry finally found his groove in the 4th quarter of game 3 and he never looked back. Look for him to do the same.
The only reason this game was close was because of all the second chance points by the Thunder. If momentum is a thing, the Thunder are done. If it isn’t, they are done.
Watching the Warriors come from behind and seeing Thompson go off is the reason why I enjoy this Warriors team so much. What a great series and hope to win some more money off of Curry and company come Monday.
Game 4 Reactions
Batman Vs. Superman
When is good a disappointment? When DC’s greatest heroes clash without a good understanding of why. The reason why The Dark Knight would want to fight against the Red Caped Moralist is muddled and confusing. The Dark Knight had the three greatest superhero movies ever and the Superman franchise seemed to have rebounded from mediocrity. Instead a trajectory that was headed to where the Avengers had taken the Marvel movies, we were left wanting more. With a great trailer we hoped for potential greatness, but when the credits rolled we were left with an overhyped title, underdeveloped plot, and a disappointing movie.
The expectation of a movie titled Batman vs. Superman we would expect to see an important problem with two different reasonable solutions where the two Superhero’s would passionately disagree on the best way to resolve the problem, which would lead to a historic fight of Epic proportions. The important problem didn’t seem that important and the solutions didn’t seem that reasonable.
The movie’s plot didn’t form naturally, but seemed forced taking leaps from scene to scene. If the movie was a painting, it would look more like a connect the dots picture as opposed to a breathtaking work of art. The outline of what they wanted to happen was there, but the path didn’t flow. The heroes’ crimes didn’t merit the outrage towards one another. The puppeteer fueling the feud, Lex Luther, planned to pit the two against one another, but it was only plausible because the script said so. The plot didn’t convince me that these two superheroes needed to fight each other, nor had good reason to fight one another.
The most enjoyable part of the movie was the actual fight. I was fearful that they would dumb down Superman’s powers to fight Batman, I didn’t feel they did. Superman, obviously faster, quicker, stronger when at full strength dominated, but Batman having the tactical advantage when he was able to use Kryptonite. When Batman puts Superman through the roof you get the sense that Superman underestimates his foe. Why shouldn’t he? Batman is a mere mortal and Superman is the epitome of Super. Superman’s lack of respect for Batman is evidenced when he prevents Batman from fighting crime in Gotham. These scenes were the very best parts of the movie.
When down the road I am looking in Netflix for a superhero movie to watch, I will probably end up choosing one of the Christian Bale Batman’s or a Marvel movie. This is a disappointment, because if Christopher Nolan had made this movie I am sure that I would have bought this movie and watched it annually.
Here are some critics opinions.
Richard Roper from the Chicago Sun Times, writes:
Here’s what rocks. We all know Batman, even with all his fighting skills and his cool toys and his cunning, would be no match one-on-one against Superman. “Dawn of Justice” figures out a way to level the playing field and then some.
David Edelstein from vulture.com says:
But he never gets to the heart of that all-important civil liberties question, not because the question is unresolvable but because there can be no true endings in this superhero universe. The problem is that you can’t build a coherent myth out of fragments. You can only hope that the audience will be too jolted — and too turned on by the prospect of more jolts — to care.
Plenty are Selling Their Warrior Stock
The Warriors, got, well, ‘warriored’. Generally it is the Warriors blowing out teams and leaving them exasperated looking for answers. Sunday the Warriors took their turn from the wooden spoon. Their was plenty of blame for everyone. Draymond Green appeared to have been possessed with Kendrick Perkins. He was 1 for 9 from the floor. Curry and Thompson shot poorly and their once stellar defense was shoddy at best allowing 133 points. Durant played like a man among boys on both ends and the Warriors were ran out of the building. Most reactions are giving up on the Warrriors.
Good article from Chris Mannix writing for the Vertical:
“Where was the Warriors’ confidence? Gone, beaten from them by a relentless performance from Kevin Durant, the one-time MVP, who shook off two subpar games to deliver a 33-point, eight-rebound gem. The accolades have come fast for Curry, deservedly, yet here was Durant, firing in midrange jump shots, steamrolling down the lane for dunks, reminding everyone that any list of the world’s best scorers includes him – that the war he once waged with LeBron James for the NBA’s most dominant player was ongoing.
Where was the Warriors’ swagger? Hijacked, first by Russell Westbrook, who, for the second time this series, has outdueled Curry, the reigning MVP.”
“We’ve hardly ever seen this incarnation of the Warriors destroyed so thoroughly, and never in a game that meant so much.
“Putting aside why it happened — yes, the Warriors had one of their worst (unluckiest?) shot-making nights of the season, but they also played some of their most porous defense of the year and looked out of sorts for long stretches of the game — Golden State’s Game 3 drubbing has left the team in trouble.”
Fivethirtyeight’s NBA Playoff predictions seem to be down on the Warriors chances and the Thunder are now 64% favorites to make the NBA Finals. According to ESPN’s BPI The Thunder are 60% favorites.
Dieter Kurtenbach for Fox Sports isn’t convinced that the Warriors are cooked:
“It was the kind of lopsided victory from which teams don’t usually come back. It’s the kind of knockdown that keeps teams on the mat. To double-down on the boxing metaphors, the Thunder’s Game 3 win was a punishing haymaker straight to the jaw.
The Warriors were floored Sunday — there’s no questioning that, in a 28-point loss where the margin was as large as 41 in the second half — and it’s put them in a must-win scenario ahead of Game 4. But it’s a bad idea to presume the Western Conference Finals is over and that the Thunder will be heading to the NBA Finals.
Write them off if you want, but remember: the Warriors are historically good, and a single game is a pretty small sample size.
And for all of the narrative out there, Sunday’s Game 3 win for the Thunder was just that, a Game 3 win. Impressive as it was, it only counts as one.”
I am expecting a series win from the Warriors and hope to make my money back from last nights loss.