Warriors should not need to be shocked by complacency

It's not hard to understand what is plaguing the Golden State Warriors as their first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers stretches surprisingly. According to Klay Thompson, the champions were already looking forward to the Rockets, assuming a clear victory in the fifth game. According to Kevin Durant, they relaxed too much. According to Draymond Green, he did not bring the required defensive intensity to force his teammates to strive. According to their opponent Lou Williams, "It's their mistake to have a prospective vision. So it's for them. The four players are right and the problems they raise share one common root: the effort.

However, what is strange with the 129-121 victory of the Clips Thursday in Oakland is that this is the second time in five games that L. A. has been punishing Golden State on his field. A defeat in a first-round series is forgivable for a four-time conference champion, but two consecutive home defeats attest to a deeper discomfort.

There are three games, the Clippers, after recording a deficit of 31 points in the third quarter, have caught up with the Golden State punk at home in a humiliating way. After that, the Warriors had the same kind of predictions they had last night, and yet they allowed themselves to relax again. The Warriors got what they deserved and were alive in the next two games, but unlike the previous season, they did not use this embarrassment to dissipate.

The diagnosis of loss by Steve Kerr's game 5 is consistent with what his players said. "It's just a defense," he said. "We just did not defend." Williams buried Golden State in the second and fifth games. He was easier to stop than he and his compatriot super-sub, Showzl Harrell, to the Clippers. The pair spent most of the fourth quarter running pick-and-rolls and other small action games to either give Williams some space or give Harrell the balloon momentum.

There is certainly something to be said about the annoying quirk of the Warriors offensive at the end of the game as well. Even though Kevin Durant scores 45 points, Steph Curry should take more than 15 shots in a closing match. The distribution of the workload would not have been a problem if the Warriors had a proper defense in the second half. While the unpredictable reluctance of the Warriors in times of crisis recalled their horrible series against the Rockets last year, the team can clearly return to the victories even if everything does not work.

But that does not work every time, as the Clippers have shown, and no matter how talented the Warriors are, they will have to play harder if they want to play three rounds. They still have two chances to put an end to this defeat, and despite Golden State's two Golden State defeats, the team will be favored in all playoffs until the final.

The question is how much more will these extra games get? While this first-round series should not end in another 3-1 win, the Rockets are not easy enemies. If the Denver Nuggets win tonight, the Warriors will have had the longest playoff series in the first round, which will put them to rest with an injury to DeMarcus' Cousins. What is scary is that they are so good that it may not matter.