- 12 hours ago
The Golden State Warriors turned back the clock against the Clippers. Steiny and Evan Giddings dive into the "urgency" displayed by Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Al Horford in a high-stakes play-in environment. They break down the defensive masterclass Draymond put on Kawhi Leonard and discuss Steve Kerr’s emotional reaction to the win. Is it time to stop talking about "moving on" from the Steph era and just enjoy the greatness while it lasts?
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00:00Let me see if I can do one.
00:02Tim Roy.
00:03Curry!
00:05He was in his bag last night.
00:07I know a lot of people were obviously watching,
00:09and, you know, they were on prime last night,
00:11but I was driving around around, like, beginning of the fourth quarter.
00:17So it was kind of the Warriors, they would make a push,
00:19and then the Clippers would, like, they'd cut it to three,
00:21and then the Clippers would go on a 6-0 run.
00:23And it just felt like they were kind of jockeying back and forth,
00:26but the Warriors could never really turn the corner.
00:28And Tim was right there on every single call.
00:32I mean, again, I know everyone was watching,
00:34and I went back and watched the fourth quarter just to get ready for the show,
00:37but shout-out to Tim Roy.
00:38He was really good last night.
00:40Yeah, he was.
00:42I listened to the first quarter, and then I had to turn it off
00:45because I didn't want to get too far ahead,
00:48and then I went home and watched the rest of the game.
00:52And, you know, great finish.
00:55I mean, it was just an absolutely great finish.
00:58There's no doubt about it.
00:59We're going to miss her tomorrow.
01:01She's going on a little vacation, so no Marcy tomorrow.
01:03Oh, she's going down to Phoenix to watch the Warriors?
01:05No, she's going on a trip, a little vacation.
01:10Okay.
01:10By the way...
01:11It's between you and her.
01:12By the way...
01:16I'm all in on the Warriors tomorrow.
01:18Are you?
01:19Yeah.
01:21Just because of last night?
01:23It has nothing to do with last night.
01:24But I will be rooting hard for the Golden State Warriors.
01:30Why don't you tell the people why?
01:32Because if the Warriors beat the Phoenix Suns tomorrow...
01:36You're one of a kind.
01:37It means the Phoenix Suns...
01:41It means the Phoenix Suns are in the lottery.
01:45Don't do that.
01:46And the Wizards have a pick swap with Phoenix if they need it.
01:53So if Phoenix loses and they're in the lottery and they somehow jump up, that's going to be
01:59conveyed to the Wizards now.
02:01Wow.
02:02You are something else, man.
02:04Always eyes on the prize.
02:05Also, last night, big beneficiary, the Oklahoma City Thunder, who owned the Clippers pick
02:15this year.
02:16So the Oklahoma City Thunder are now in the lottery.
02:22Incredible.
02:23Warriors might be getting them in a couple days.
02:25You never know.
02:26It would be Sunday.
02:28That would be game one.
02:29Warriors OKC?
02:30If they win, obviously, tomorrow.
02:32Yeah.
02:32And I guess it would be an afternoon game.
02:35Oh, God.
02:36Two.
02:37I mean, come on, man.
02:39All right.
02:39Here we go.
02:40I've been waiting.
02:41This is from the text line.
02:43I've been waiting all morning to hear, Stiney, tell everyone to chill out over one win.
02:47We've been way too happy.
02:48Bring us back to Earth, please.
02:49Oh, no.
02:50It's not the day for that.
02:52No.
02:52Today's the day to celebrate the win last night.
02:55We can talk about Phoenix tomorrow.
02:57But we got to talk about that game last night.
03:02And we always talk in the abstract about Curry and, you know, why we wanted him back.
03:09And last night, like, answered all the questions of why a lot of people wanted Steph to come back.
03:18And how much does that game make it worth it?
03:22You know what I mean?
03:23Like, did that one game kind of make it worth it for the two months before he came back?
03:33And was it worth it that he came back this year?
03:36To me, the answer is yes.
03:38Well, the reality is it doesn't matter what you or I think of whether or not it was worth it.
03:42It's clearly worth it to him.
03:44Right.
03:45I mean, that's why he wanted to come back.
03:47And that's why when he walked to the podium prior to his return against Houston, he said,
03:52I love playing basketball.
03:55And, you know, is Curry going to have, you know, some down games the rest of his career?
04:01Yeah.
04:01And he's getting a lot older.
04:02But you could feel the urgency in that game last night.
04:06Like, those guys, you know, I mean, just look up and down the roster.
04:11Curry's 38 years old.
04:12Draymond's 36.
04:13Curry doesn't have a contract next year.
04:15Horford is 50.
04:17I mean, like, these guys don't know how much basketball they have left to play in these sorts of games.
04:24There's a single elimination, NCAA bracket style.
04:27And for them to go into that game, win, advance.
04:31I mean, Curry's talking to Clippers fans on the, you know, on the sidelines.
04:34He's falling into the crowd after hitting that three.
04:37Draymond actually wasn't as demonstrative as I thought he would be during the game.
04:41But after the game, he was roaring.
04:45It just, it felt like the champs were resuscitated.
04:49And again, it might just be for one night.
04:52But for them to go through everything they did this year with Jimmy Butler tearing his ACL, who was in
04:57the house.
04:58Moses, who rips his patella right before our eyes at the end of the year.
05:02That game was really important to these dudes.
05:05And they don't know how many of them they have left.
05:08You could feel how important that game was just because, and they'd kind of been talking about it.
05:17Like, their basketball mortality is right before them every single time they take the court.
05:22And I think the runner's knee, specific to Steph, really opened his eyes to, how many more games do I
05:29get to play?
05:30How many more years do I have left?
05:32And last night, especially in that second half, you could sense that he was just, he was just enjoying doing
05:38what he does best.
05:39Which is, at times, being the best player on the planet.
05:44Absolutely terrific.
05:45He was two for nine in the first half last night.
05:47Ten for fourteen in the second half.
05:49And what if I, would you, do they have to win tomorrow to kind of make that game worth it?
05:58No.
05:58They don't?
05:59No, they don't.
06:00And the reason why, I would say, even though it sucks, like, where are those stats going to go, Stiney?
06:08I don't know.
06:09They're just in a void.
06:10I would, I would encourage fans to print out the box score from last night's game right now.
06:17And frame it?
06:18Because they'll never be able to find it, probably, in about a week.
06:21No, but that's the game that, again, depending on what happens at the end, the rest of, you know, Curry
06:28and Draymond and perhaps Curry's career, like,
06:32you never know how many more you're going to get.
06:34Again, that might be the last big game they play in.
06:39I mean, I don't think it will be, but you never know.
06:42Father time is undefeated.
06:43They might get hurt.
06:45Their play might slip.
06:47Again, I just feel like each and every opportunity for these guys to take the floor together is one that
06:52you just got to sit back and be present for.
06:54I had a lot of friends last night who were obviously very excited, really happy about the win.
07:00And the first thing they're thinking is, well, we might be able to beat OKC.
07:03And it's like, that's not the point of the game.
07:06The point of the game is you got to witness, and you don't know how many more you're going to
07:11get to witness,
07:12something like you did with Curry owning the moment, taking center stage.
07:17By the way, in a game where there's another Hall of Fame top 75 player in it,
07:24and Draymond Green did his best to shut him down.
07:26If Kawhi Leonard doesn't score that meaningless bunny at the end of the game,
07:29you know how many points he would have in the fourth quarter?
07:31Zero.
07:32Zero.
07:32I agree with you.
07:33Draymond Green shut Kawhi Leonard down, and that is not an easy thing to do,
07:37especially having seen that guy literally take a championship from the Warriors back in 2019.
07:43Well, you know, Evan, it's like my father used to say, God rest his soul.
07:49You know, if you know you can take it from a guy, wait until it matters, then take it from
07:56a guy.
07:56And that's what Draymond did to Kawhi when he crossed him over on that last play.
08:01See, but you know what's great about that is we didn't know if Draymond could still do that when he
08:09wanted to.
08:10When he wanted to.
08:11I mean...
08:13You've been talking about it all year.
08:14His play's slipping.
08:15His defense isn't there.
08:16Right, but we all know that he can rise.
08:18He's risen to the occasion.
08:19We mentioned the games against San Antonio.
08:21We mentioned that little run he had when he guarded Durant.
08:25He's absolutely capable of it.
08:27And again, I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but, you know, can they put together another
08:32one tomorrow night?
08:33You know, they expended a lot of energy last night.
08:37But that's what I'm saying, though, is I don't know if they can do it again tomorrow.
08:41Just like I didn't know if Draymond would be able to shut Kawhi Leonard down and hold him to two
08:44points in the fourth quarter last night.
08:46But he did it.
08:47And that's, to me, what also is so special about a performance like last night is we did not know.
08:53I mean, like, do not sit up right here and act like you thought that they were just going to
08:57do that last night.
08:58The Warriors?
08:59Yeah, they were down 13 in the fourth quarter.
09:01Or in the second half.
09:02I think they're down 11 with, like, eight or nine left.
09:05For them to pull that game to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, I don't want to sit up
09:11here and act like we saw it coming.
09:13We didn't.
09:13I thought the Warriors were going to lose last night.
09:16I'll be honest.
09:17And they proved me wrong.
09:18They proved a lot of people wrong.
09:20And that's why, again, I think that that game is one to be appreciated because you didn't know if they
09:25could still do it.
09:26And they did.
09:28They sure did.
09:29They sure did.
09:30And, no, I'm kind of with you.
09:32For three quarters, I thought the game was, huh, okay, this is the way this one's going to go.
09:37This is the way this thing's going to end.
09:40And I don't know.
09:41Something, and I know saying a team wanted it more is really kind of hackneyed.
09:46But I do think once the fourth quarter started that, you know, guys like Draymond and Steph were like, this
09:55could be the last game of the year.
09:56Let's go out and come back and win the game.
09:58And even when they were, you know, even when they were down, like, you know, 8, 10, 11, I think.
10:04I don't know.
10:04Like in the first three minutes when they went down 12-2?
10:06Yeah.
10:07Did they ever go down 13, though, in the second half?
10:09I want to say 11 was the most.
10:11But they never panicked, though.
10:15The most they tried by was 13.
10:16Okay, 13.
10:17What was the score when it was 13?
10:18Do you know offhand?
10:19All right.
10:20Let's go to Brian in Palo Alto.
10:24Get us started here today.
10:25What's up, Brian?
10:26How you doing, man?
10:28Hey, guys.
10:28How you doing?
10:30The Attic last night was a stark reminder of why we should seek every ounce of the Steph Curry era
10:36for all it's worth.
10:40And I have no idea why there's so many people that seem to want to move on, including Stiney all
10:45the time.
10:46But, like, I don't know why you want to move on.
10:48Like, you know, like, I mean, the reason they're at 10 seats is because Jimmy Butler and Torres ACL, right?
10:54Like, the same way that, you know, the Lakers are going to get bounced in the first round because Luke
10:58is out for the year, right?
10:59So, like, you know, if you give this guy any help, no player has ever tilted the court like Steph
11:06Curry in the history of the game, ever.
11:08And he's still an incredible player.
11:10And they should aspire to give him absolutely as much help as possible to try to win a fifth title.
11:16And maybe they don't, but, like, it's a worthy pursuit.
11:20And why on earth they'd want to move on?
11:22And Stiney wants to move on all the time.
11:24That's all they talk about.
11:26Why would you say that?
11:27Why would you say I want to move on from Steph?
11:30I was actually on yes.
11:32You talk about it all the time.
11:33Yeah, you got to find out at the end of the year what Steph wants to do.
11:37And then when Steph tells you what he wants to do, then you proceed.
11:40If Steph wants to stay here, then you got to – then he's going to stay here.
11:44But if Steph is open to being moved because he's not happy here, then you got to think about that,
11:50too.
11:50Of course.
11:51Yeah, of course he wants to stay here.
11:53And that's – no one's buying that trope, okay?
11:56Okay.
11:57And so, yeah, I think you try to get everything you can out of it because he's the greatest player
12:02I've ever seen play the game.
12:04I've never seen a player, like I said, tilt the court in the way that Steph Curry does.
12:08It's incredible.
12:09And they should aspire to give him as much help as possible.
12:14And to handicap Steph and his contributions or his impact or his value because Jimmy Butler tore his ACL,
12:22that's why we want to tear it down or for whatever reason is just – I think it's insane.
12:25Like, we should aspire to get every ounce out of it.
12:29Which they've been doing, right?
12:30Haven't they been doing that for the last four years?
12:35Sure.
12:36Yeah, I think once – obviously, once they did the Jimmy deal, right, I think that was sort of up
12:41from 2019 to 2022, 23.
12:45No, I don't think they did their absolute best to do it, and nobody does.
12:48But, yeah, so anyways, that's my take.
12:52Can we just retire the let's move on, you know, like –
12:55Yeah, we'll see.
12:58What's next is not good.
12:59So let's enjoy the good.
13:00Thanks.
13:01Yep.
13:01Thanks, Brian.
13:02Appreciate the call.
13:04It's kind of weird when he's positive.
13:07No, I mean, look.
13:10Steph was great last night.
13:14And, you know, it's a matter to me of how many moments are going to be enough for the fan
13:20base over the, you know, next couple years.
13:22Yeah.
13:23And how many of those games can he provide the fans with?
13:27Well, and the reality was he couldn't provide them with moments because he wasn't on the court last couple of
13:33months.
13:33But that's why, to me, it's – you know, and I realize they didn't really have a choice, right?
13:37They were never going to get lower than 10th.
13:39Draymond said it himself.
13:40They could have lost 15 games in a row.
13:42They wouldn't have – wouldn't have been able to get below into, you know, the 11th spot.
13:48I mean, this was a team that did have – what was the stat you guys threw out yesterday?
13:52They had a worse record than the Kings after the All-Star break?
13:56I guess so, yeah.
13:56Or something like that?
13:58I'm not sure, but if that's true, there's a lot of losses on the Warriors' resume.
14:03I think it did make the last couple of months worth it.
14:06You know, and look, again, they could lose tomorrow and dip back into the lottery
14:10and all the people that are saying, you know, you shouldn't have brought the setback in the first place
14:13will get their cake and eat it too.
14:14But the fact is they gave us a moment last night.
14:19They gave us a game last night.
14:22And there have not been a ton of those this season.
14:24You know, when you and Gu were talking – I don't know if it was yesterday or the day before
14:28–
14:29you know, like best moments from the year.
14:31I honestly had to go back to November.
14:33To me, the two best moments are kind of the best feeling that I had watching this team this season
14:37were those back-to-back wins in San Antonio.
14:40When – I think it was like November 14th?
14:43I mean, there has not been a day in 2026 before last night
14:48that made me feel great about watching the Golden State Warriors.
14:53And it was largely because Curry wasn't there.
14:55But what Curry did last night – and I don't want to make some sweeping conclusion
15:01about what this means for the franchise and what they do moving forward.
15:06But to me, it's just about – it's about being present in what happened.
15:10Because the reality is they're – the reason why that game was so special
15:15is because of how old they are and how few games they've been able to deliver together
15:21because of injury, because of slippage, because of all these different factors.
15:27And that's why at the end of last night, Kerr is talking about how that game made him feel –
15:33it sounded like damn near a finals victory.
15:36You know, Curry is screaming like he used to do in the playoffs.
15:39And it's because they don't know how many of those they have left.
15:43And so, to me, it's not a reason to just go all the way in
15:48because they won a 9-10 play-in game.
15:50But that also doesn't mean that you shouldn't appreciate what you saw last night.
15:53Absolutely.
15:54This is what you're talking about.
15:55Steve Kerr talking about that game last night.
15:59The fact that we're still alive, you know.
16:01We've got to go to Phoenix now and try to get another one
16:04and get ourselves in the playoffs.
16:06But more than anything, I'm just so proud of the guy.
16:10We must have been down double figures five, six separate times.
16:13And we came back every single time we made a run.
16:16It was such an incredible display of guts and competitiveness and connection.
16:22And, obviously, Steph and Dre kind of took over down the stretch.
16:28All right.
16:29And here's more Steve Kerr.
16:31For one night, we're us.
16:33We're champions again, you know.
16:34And I know that may sound crazy to everybody out there.
16:37It's a play-in game.
16:38I don't care.
16:39It's just absolutely beautiful to watch.
16:41All righty.
16:43There it is.
16:44Steve Kerr.
16:45Do you have a problem with saying we're champions again?
16:47I wonder if Goo would.
16:51I don't.
16:52I don't.
16:53Because he's been a part of nine.
16:59And last night, they were celebrating like they won a championship.
17:03And that might piss a lot of people off or make them wonder,
17:07hey, what are we really playing for here?
17:09But I'm sorry.
17:10Those guys, they get to determine how they finish this season.
17:16And I'm glad.
17:17I am damn glad that Curry came back so that they get to be the ones
17:22that dictate how it goes.
17:23Not father time, not random happenstance, not an injury, but Curry, Draymond, Porzingis,
17:31Horford, Pods, Santos, Melton, GP2.
17:35Everyone that played in that game last night got to determine how their season was going
17:40to come to a close.
17:41And the reality is they'll get to do it again on Friday.
17:43But I'm just glad that they're the ones that get to decide it.
17:47That basketball is one that is the thing that determines how this season ends.
17:53Because for so much of this year, it hasn't been about basketball.
17:56It's been about who can stay healthy, who can be on the floor, load managing.
18:01The last home game of the season, fans didn't even get to see Curry.
18:04And I was doing postgame and there were people calling in pissed off that they saved him
18:08for a sack game.
18:09Then they blew the next night in Sacramento.
18:14Does it make it all worth it?
18:15It certainly sounded like it did to them last night.
18:17Yeah, and last night to me showed a little bit of their conundrum, too.
18:26Everybody knows that they're capable of beating good teams.
18:32It's just how often can they beat them.
18:34And look, Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Porzingis, and Horford,
18:43they're all veterans.
18:45They're all NBA champions.
18:48And, like, they're not going to be easy to beat because of their experience.
18:55But the question then becomes, what's going to happen tomorrow?
19:00You know, Steph played 36 minutes last night.
19:03How is he going to bounce back?
19:05You know, is Draymond going to have the energy?
19:08Porzingis was limping after the game.
19:10And Draymond got hurt, I thought, a little bit late, didn't he?
19:13I thought he got, something happened to Draymond late, too, I thought.
19:18But, yeah, the question is, you know, how many of these do they have?
19:24How many of these do they have left this year?
19:26They're going to need one more for sure to get in tomorrow night.
19:30But let's go to Leroy in Oakland.
19:35Hey, Leroy, what's going on, man?
19:38Hey, what's up, Stiney?
19:40Hey, hey.
19:40What's up, Evan?
19:41Yo.
19:42Oh, my God.
19:43Man, Evan, real quick.
19:44I'll try to be quick.
19:45Evan, you know what?
19:46They do, the Warriors do have to get that game against Phoenix to solidify what they did yesterday.
19:55And I rarely go against you, Evan, but I think that they, it'll solidify it because they're just a better
20:02team than Phoenix.
20:04They're a better team than Phoenix.
20:06Come on.
20:07You got to give that up.
20:08They're a better team than Phoenix.
20:09So that's why they should beat them, and it'll make that count yesterday.
20:13Stiney, you said something yesterday that, you know, everybody overlooked, but I didn't.
20:19I caught it.
20:20You said the Warriors are going to run four All-Stars out there.
20:26And that got me pumped a little bit.
20:28Like, wow, four All-Stars out on the court together.
20:32You know, the IQ, the experience.
20:35And what I was proud of yesterday was the veterans were the ones that came through.
20:41Those were the guys that came through.
20:43And they've been much maligned and people have been saying this and that, but it was the veterans.
20:48It was the champions that came through.
20:51Also, Stiney, Evan, I want to give some love to Guy Santos and Porzingis, and not for their scoring.
21:00Because when I texted yesterday, I was like, look, I need six assists from Al Horford, right?
21:06He didn't do that, but Guy Santos had five.
21:11Porzingis had five.
21:13And when the Warriors are great, and when they're at their most dynamic, it's their bigs that are passing the
21:20rock.
21:21I remember Bogan.
21:22I remember David West.
21:24I remember the other kid I can't think about.
21:26But when we were good, it was Guy's making the transition from, hey, I'm not going to score, but I'm
21:34going to set screens, I'm going to do the dirty work, and I'm going to pass the rock.
21:38So those ten assists from Porzingis and Santos was big.
21:42So I just wanted to give them some love, too, guys.
21:46Appreciate it, Leroy.
21:47I think he said, I think we can beat Phoenix.
21:52Got you.
21:52Yeah, yeah.
21:52No, I got you, Leroy.
21:53Well, that's fair.
21:54Yeah, I didn't think about it from that standpoint.
21:57If you believe the Warriors are a better team than Phoenix, yeah, I mean, I guess.
22:03Well, this team's got a chance to be better than Phoenix.
22:06Like, the team that they threw out there last night was the best team they've thrown out there in the
22:11last couple months, obviously, right?
22:14Yeah.
22:14Since Butler got hurt.
22:16Oh, 100%.
22:16Yeah, and it was the first time we saw them all together.
22:20You know, I was, but, and this is one of the reasons I didn't feel great about last night is
22:25I thought that it would take a little time for them to look like a team, you know, for them
22:31to come together.
22:32And I guess you can make the argument it did.
22:34I mean, it's kind of interesting that I felt like, and I don't know how you did, but I know
22:38we got to hit a break here.
22:39But in the first half, I actually felt like it was, it was kind of the guys that had been
22:44playing the last two months that kept them afloat.
22:48It was, it was the Santoses.
22:50It was the Pods's, you know, Melton didn't do it a lot with his scoring.
22:55GP2 didn't do a lot with his scoring, but I felt like it was those guys that kept them in
22:59the game so that they weren't down by 15 or 20.
23:02So that when they got to the second half, they were, they were within striking distance and their champions could
23:07take them home.
23:08Yeah.
23:08And that's why to me, even when they got down 11 or 13 at the beginning of the fourth quarter,
23:14again, when you're, when you're playing Curry, Green, Porzingis and Horford, you know, they have an understanding that 13 points
23:21is something you can overcome and it can happen pretty quickly.
23:26And that's exactly what happened last night.
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