This iteration of the Golden State Warriors has been through some considerable adversity in the past; just last season, on their way to winning the NBA championship, the Warriors had to dig themselves out of a 2-1 hole, on the road no less. However, Stephen Curry and the Dubs have never been through the kind of adversity they're facing at the moment, as the 2022 Finals MVP now finds himself down 2-0 in a playoff series for the first time in his career.
The Sacramento Kings, simply put, have outgunned and outplayed the Warriors through the first two games of the series at Golden1 Center. This, sadly, has been a common theme for the reigning champions throughout the course of the season, as they have now won just 11 of their 43 games on the road this season, including the past two playoff games.
Heading home gives the Warriors a chance to even the series, as the Dubs, as heartbreaking as their two losses in Sacramento were, have been excellent in San Francisco this season.
However, the Warriors, as all teams do, would prefer to at least have split the first two games of the series, stealing homecourt advantage away.
Playing the blame game for the Warriors' inability to do so may be a disingenuous idea, but alas, some members of the team are more responsible than others for the 2-0 deficit they're facing at the moment.
Here are the two Warriors who should shoulder most of the blame for their Game 2 loss to the Kings that wasn't without its fair share of controversy.
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Draymond Green
Draymond Green does not have the cleanest track record when it comes to being at his best behavior in the playoffs. In 2016, Green's antics came back to haunt the Warriors, as he received a crucial one-game suspension in Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals after he accumulated a few flagrant fouls throughout the course of their playoff run.
And it could very well come back to haunt them once more, nearly seven years later.
Draymond Green has never been the type of player to back down from physicality or trash talk. In fact, he relishes that part of the game. But in Game 2, with the Warriors down by just four points and having just put up a defensive stop, Green had to put his foot on Domantas Sabonis' chest with just enough force to rid himself of any plausible deniability when it comes to his intent on the play, Sabonis' attempt to cling to his leg notwithstanding.
As a result, officials simply had no choice but to eject Green from the game. Green's reputation did not help matters at all, that's for sure. But given how experienced he is, the Warriors' heart and soul knows better than to put himself in a position where the officials can decide whether or not he can suit up for the most crucial minutes of a tightly-contested matchup.
Of course, it's easy to say that Draymond Green should have just tried his best not to stomp on Sabonis' chest. Green, at the spur of the moment, won't really be thinking too hard about where his foot lands, especially when he and the Dubs are trying to capitalize on a potential 5-on-4 opportunity on offense. Even Damian Lillard believed that there wasn't any intent behind Green's actions.
But Green remains inarguably the Warriors' best defender, their defensive anchor who communicates where his teammates need to be and their rover who cleans up mistakes on the backline. The Warriors need him to be on the court, period. But now, instead of looking forward to what could have been a 1-1 series heading into Chase Center, Green is in serious danger of facing a suspension.
Stephen Curry
It seems almost unfair to pin any sort of blame towards Stephen Curry's shoulders, given how excellently he has played for the Warriors since his breakout 2012-13 season. But being one of the best players in the NBA doesn't exempt one from blame — in fact, given the responsibilities they have to shoulder, they're the ones who should take the harshest of criticisms to the chin.
Curry did not have a good Game 2, especially late in the fourth quarter. While it seems almost blasphemous to say that Curry was locked up on defense, Davion Mitchell did as well of a job as anyone to make scoring a difficult endeavor for the two-time MVP.
With the game getting away from them, Curry was unable to navigate the Kings' defense with his usual aplomb. He settled for ridiculously difficult contested three-pointers that clanked repeatedly, going 0-5 for long balls in the fourth including four misses from deep in the final five minutes of the contest.
Stephen Curry is too good of a shooter for this to happen once more, so expect him to come out hot in Game 3 in front of what should be a fired up crowd at Chase Center.
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