Read and React: The Warriors lose while winning
Welcome to Read and React, Yahoo Sports’ daily newsletter. Every morning, we serve up and break down the day’s top sports stories, from breaking news to impactful storytelling to that viral video everyone’s watching.
Get Read and React emailed right to you, every Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. ET.
TRENDING: Bucks advance, Celtics head home … Sharks knock off Avs in Game 7 ….. Tyronn Lue turns down the Lakers … Unbelievable Champions League finish … Cubs ban fan ….. The guy who won $1.2M on Tiger’s Masters is back with another big wager
If you just glanced at the box score of last night’s pivotal Game 5 between the Rockets and the Warriors, you’d be tempted to nod at the final — Warriors 104, Rockets 99 — and think, yep, here we go. Nice try, Houston, thanks for playing.
Not quite. The Warriors had to work for this win in a way they rarely do, and it might have cost them their greatest weapon: Kevin Durant limped off the court in the third quarter, not to return. Reggie Miller terrified Dub Nation by speculating that Durant’s movement resembled an Achilles injury; the Warriors later indicated that it’s Durant’s calf that’s aching.
That was the low-water mark of one of the uglier Warriors victories in their postseason run. The team hung on after blowing a 20-point lead, yes, but only because Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and Draymond Green stepped up in a way they haven’t all series. And Houston’s James Harden inexplicably didn’t even attempt a shot for almost nine minutes of the fourth quarter. Golden State won, yes, but they’re not likely to get that lucky playing that way a second time.
End of the line for Golden State?
Dynasties seem invulnerable right up till the moment they’re not. Nobody expected Alabama to get punched in the mouth, over and over, by Clemson in this year’s national championship. The Night King looked like he was on the way to winning “Game of Thrones” in a rout until Arya Stark pulled off the Westeros version of the Kick Six. The Patriots … well, let’s leave the Patriots out of this; they’re as inevitable as the setting sun.
But the Warriors? After three mostly relentless, efficient championships in the last four years, they might be nearing the end of their string. Both KD and Klay might hit the road, Curry might slip a notch from his godly perch, Draymond might go full berzerker at any moment. Right at this moment, the Bucks, Raptors and Nuggets are all clicking in a way the Warriors aren’t.
Granted, no sane fan writes off Golden State early. If KD comes back at full strength, if Klay rediscovers his stroke, if Steph files off the rough edges, nobody’s touching this team. But the “if”s are piling up.
We’re either watching the end of the Warriors dynasty or the start of their finest run to a championship. Either way, it’ll be one fine show.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Robert Kraft case could hinge on one important detail
TEREZ PAYLOR: Meet the Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill insurance policy
MIKE OZ: Joey Gallo is setting some weird records
Drink up, you’re in Wisconsin
Danica Patrick and her boyfriend are worth many millions of dollars. But her money was no good at the Bucks game.
Thanks for reading today’s newsletter!
Subscribe right now for free and never miss another one
