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Warriors win after shutting down LeBron James in the 4th quarter
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Warriors win after shutting down LeBron James in the 4th quarter

And they did it without Draymond? Whoaaa

Daniel Hardee
Feb 13
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Thereโ€™s a lot to take away from the Golden State Warriorsโ€™ entertaining 117-115 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

  • Klay Thompsonโ€™s season high 33 points emphatically reminded the world of how dangerous he is and why his synergy with Stephen Curry makes the Splash Bros the greatest backcourt in NBA history. Thompsonโ€™s 16 points in the fourth quarter was the stuff of legends:

Twitter avatar for @NBANBA @NBA
Klay caught fire in the 4th ๐Ÿ‘€ @KlayThompson drops 16 PTS in the quarter and 33 PTS for the game in the @warriors win!

February 13th 2022

201 Retweets1,762 Likes
  • And there was rookie Jonathan Kuminga being far-and-away the most impressive athlete on the floor on a night he played against LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook. The #7 overall pick in the 2021 draft tallied 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field and 9 rebounds. This teenager is a force of nature who is learning the nuances of the game in advanced masterclasses under Coach Steve Kerrโ€™s tutelage.

Twitter avatar for @Beub_Warriors in 6 @Beub_
DAMNNNNNNNNNN JONATHAN KUMINGA ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ

February 13th 2022

6 Retweets58 Likes
Twitter avatar for @957thegame95.7 The Game @957thegame
Steve Kerr: โ€œJonathan (Kuminga) was our best player for the first three quarters.โ€

February 13th 2022

193 Retweets3,594 Likes
  • We even got to see Andrew Wiggins (19 points on 7-of-15 shooting) show off some of his All-Star swag by hitting the Kevin Durant memorial triple in Bronโ€™s eye late in the fourth. HARRISON BARNES WOULD NEVER:

Twitter avatar for @warriorsGolden State Warriors @warriors
that's so tough wiggs ๐Ÿ“บ #NBAonABC

February 13th 2022

450 Retweets3,311 Likes
  • And of course there was the teamโ€™s leader Curry cruising to 24 points and 8 assists with only 2 turnovers, handling his floor generalship duties like a true point guard.

But I was most impressed that the Warriors were able to hold their own against the championship tested frontline of King James and Anthony Davis. The Dubs won the rebounding battle 50-48! And they did it without All-Star Draymond Green and their 2020 #2 overall draft pick James Wiseman.

James finished with 26 points, 15 rebounds, and 8 assists; he also passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most combined regular season + postseason points in NBA history.

Twitter avatar for @getnickwrightnick wright @getnickwright
LeBron James, who folks consistently say โ€œisnโ€™t a scorerโ€ and โ€œscoring isnโ€™t what he does bestโ€ now has scored more points than anyone whoโ€™s ever played in the NBA. And he did it in fewer games, fewer minutes, and on fewer shots than Kareem.

February 13th 2022

5,055 Retweets30,437 Likes

But he shot a horrendous 9-of-27 from the field last night. Davis added 16 points of his own, but they came on 5-of-13 shooting. For the Dubs to hold them to such poor percentages without Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green on the floor is a testament to how these Warriors keep finding unconventional ways to win.

LeBron was imprisoned by Golden State activating 4th Quarter Alcatraz Lockdown Mode

LeBron clanging the potential game tying free throws at the end of the fourth quarter will probably be the lasting final image from this game. Check out how Klay celebrates:

Twitter avatar for @stephcshimmy๐–ˆ๐–š๐–—๐–—๐–ž ๐–‹๐–‘๐–š๐–—๐–—๐–ž x ๐–•๐–”๐–”๐–‘๐–Š ๐–•๐–†๐–—๐–™๐–ž @stephcshimmy
Klay Thompson when LeBron missed his first free throw and it seal Warriors' win. Original vid from: @markhaynesnba

February 13th 2022

6 Retweets54 Likes

But to get to that point, the Dubs put on a brilliant defensive performance to bottle up the man some call the greatest to ever play the game. With the game hanging in the balance, the Dubs limited King James to 1-of-10 shooting from the field in the final period:

Letโ€™s go to the pictures and dissect how they protected Chase Center from LeBronโ€™s 4th quarter fury:

0-for-1: LeBron airballs

LeBron sees all five Warriors here, airballs a jumper out of this that Talen Horton-Tucker catches for an easy putback. Airballs go to the offense as Jim Barnett would always say. But still, LeBron shot an airball!

0-for-2: LeBron misses the running fadeaway

Bron isolated against Nemanja Bjelica is not what the Warriors wantโ€ฆOR IS IT? Bron tries to drag him to the middle of the floor as a set up for a spin move attack, but he never quite gets the separation heโ€™s looking for. Bjelly does an admirable job of staying connected all the way into the restricted area without fouling before tripping and crashing to the floor.

Check out Klayโ€™s feint from the top and Damion Leeโ€™s aggressive double to thwart Bron as he chugs his way towards the rim. LeBron fires up an errant bank shot and puts his hands up wondering where the foul call was. Dub Nation loves it when Bron starts crying to the refs.

0-for-3: Late shotclock heave misses

With the Warriors defense leaving L.A. with no options, Bron just jacks up a three-pointer from hella far away.

0-for-4: LeBron gets stripped on fastbreak

This is historically when LeBron is most dangerous. Running in transition with the ball, barreling towards the rim like the runaway train in Unstoppable, creating the contact to draw a foul while finishing with impeccable touch.

Except Klay has seen this so many times that he knows what to do: meet him at the free throw line to slow him down just enough that D-Lee can slide in at the last second and knock the ball outta bounds. Young LeBron probably dunks on both of them, but this older version finds himself looking to the ref as if to say โ€œitโ€™s out on themโ€.

0-for-5: Bron gets trapped at a block party on Wiggins Island

Just two All-Star starters that were once drafted by Cleveland as #1 picks battling down low. GET THAT SHHHHOT OUTTA HERE!

Twitter avatar for @elongchanAwTalk22 @elongchan
Wiggins block the kingjames
Image

February 13th 2022

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0-for-6: Casting another brick from deep

Wiggins navigates around an off-ball screen from Matt Reaves and gets a late contest on a Bron three-pointer that clangs. This is the kind of shot the Warriors will take from King James all day: far from the basket and without getting his teammates involved for assists.

1-for-7: LeBron knifes into the lane for a layup

King James gets a high screen from Anthony Davis and gets downhill on a retreating Kevon Looney. Loon has to make sure AD doesnโ€™t get an angle for a pocket pass/alley oop from Bron, so he canโ€™t commit fully until Bron is too far into the paint. Klay offers some resistance alongside Loon but he doesnโ€™t have the verticality to bother LeBronโ€™s layup.

Lakers go up 105-103.

1-for-8: LeBron clangs the reload triple

AD penetrates, kicks it out to Reaves, who swings it to Avery Bradley (who was cut by the Warriors before the season), who dishes it to a waiting LeBron. Wiggins scrambles over late and leaps off of a pump fake. Bron does a sidestep with plenty of daylight for a wide open three. His shot bricks with extreme velocity.

1-for-9: LeBron misses a putback

There was a scrum after a missed AD free throw and Bron couldnโ€™t tap it in. That shot would have made it a 116-115 Laker lead with a minute to play in the fourth quarter.

1-for-10: LeBron misses a hook shot

Is it just me or does Russell Westbrook miss an open LeBron streaking backdoor here?

By the time Russ dumps it down to Bron, Looney is right there to contest with his freakish wingspan. Bron canโ€™t quite find the touch on the little hook shot attempt and his miss gets batted out to Klay. TOUGH MISS.

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Sleepy Freud
Feb 15

I was *driven to tears* by our D tonight. On offense, the Clips were like, *donโ€™t stand so close to me* and then *bombs away.* And there was seemingly no *other way of stopping* them.

Ah well, we miss Dray badly, but *when the world is running down, you make the best of whatโ€™s still around*โ€ฆ

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Stefano Gelati
Feb 14

I have an hypothesis on the โ€˜quick releaseโ€™ dunking style of Jon: I think that he really worries about slamming his head or face on the rim, should he hang tight and get those few inches more of lift. What do you think?

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