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The Warriors know that their fans are angry. They are very aware of it. Friday night, at Oracle Arena, during a fun and refreshing evening, they not only reacted by their performance by beating Trail Blazers from 125 to 97. They sometimes celebrated with the passion of their most demonstrative fans.
Klay Thompson, on a hot run, turned to the crowd after taking a free kick and implored the fans to go crazy. Kevin Durant threw a thunderclap, turned to the audience and unleashed such a demonstrative fist pump, a little breeze arose.
You have the impression that it comes from Durant, after a difficult week, and his recent comments hinted at a gentle rebirth of the spirit. It was that kind of party for a Warriors team that had lost five of its previous six games, all against Western Conference opponents.
What awaits us is an indefinite game without Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, and although Friday night's game has eased the tension around this team, there are field problems that can not be ignored.
The Warriors eventually realized that their three-headed combination, Damian Jones, Kevon Looney and Jordan Bell – a playoff roster if DeMarcus Cousins faced setbacks in his recovery – was on display. Jusuf Nurkic, the center of Portland, even had 22 points while the three Warriors had accumulated only eight rebounds.
Everyone has something to offer, but over the course of the season, it's not about bad casual encounters against a higher center. In the Western Conference, warriors deal with this each night. To be precise:
Anthony Davis of New Orleans will be a strong candidate for the MVP. Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota, has this potential. Rudy Gobert (Utah) is the best defensive center in the league. The Lakers are threatened by two men at JaVale McGee and Tyson Chandler. In recent games, the Warriors have been dominated by Steven Adams of Oklahoma City, San Antonio's LaMarcus Aldrdige and Clippers' Montrezl Harrell (23 points, eight rebounds and four blocks last week).
Clint Capela is an integral part of the Houston system and is becoming a 20-point scorer. Nurkic, Nikola Jokic, of Denver, and Marc Gasol, of Memphis, are of great finesse. Dallas, DeAndre Jordan, excels in the rebound and protection of the rims (suddenly making 80% of his free throws). Phoenix has a rising star in rookie DeAndre Ayton. And the next player on Saturday night at Oracle is Willie Cauley-Stein of Sacramento, who improved quickly, who had 11 shots against 15 and 23 points against Gobert on Wednesday night.
Later, there is an answer to all this. Two answers, actually. When the team is in top form and André Iguodala is going through his usual ramp-up at the end of the season, the so-called "Death Line" will again be targeted for the crucial situations, with Green in the center. And if Cousins is able to play quality minutes, shaping all his skills, this notion of "lag" will not apply to any opponent – with the possible exception of Davis. (It's too bad we could not watch Cousins and Davis face Golden State with the Pelicans in the playoffs of last season).
In the meantime, there is a little nostalgia in the air. Until a healthy Warriors team starts bombarding the ground at every opportunity, we will see many more half-field sets – and that's where they will miss players such as & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; Andrew Bogut, Zaza Pachulia, David West and even McGee sometimes. There was no question of scoring, although West's mid-range shots could be lethal; it was more intelligent performance on board games, maximizing the strength of the Warriors as a machine to project and cut.
The team's ball movements should be immediately resurrected when Curry and Green return, but in their absence, it was amazing to realize that the team was just not as deep. General Manager Bob Myers did a good job of strengthening the bench with Jonas Jerebko and Alfonzo McKinnie. Quinn Cook has a real touch of typing, but playing the game is not their thing.
All of this could be of importance at the time of the playoffs, when half-pitch cohesion makes such a difference. And when you look at the Warriors' extremely heavy salary structure, leaving them room only for tiny contracts, what help could they hope to get? It's not uncommon for you to find a player like West, who was so eager to win a championship ring, that he did not really care about the money.
It is interesting that Cousins made this curious phone call to Myers in July. This acquisition seemed almost comical at the time, an absurd luxury that the Warriors hardly needed. If they expect to dominate the league again in the spring, its presence could be vital.
Bruce Jenkins is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected]
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