A live look at Warriors fans performing the mental gymnastics required to justify the Draymond Stomp:
The Kings lit the beam again and the entitled guys eighty miles down the road from Sacramento are not pleased at flippin’ all. Ladies and gents and anyone in between, we are officially back!
Of course, the entire focus of the narrative of this series has shifted from “The Kings are good now?” to “Draymond Green is innocent and that no-good dirty rotten scoundrel Domantas Sabonis must be stopped before his chest hurts someone again!” Okay, that may be a slight overreaction but it certain feels like that from the perspective of a lowly Kings fan such as myself.
But the scoreboard tells no lies and the Kings are currently up on the defending champion dynasty Warriors 2-0 in a best of seven series and are carrying some momentum with them into game three at Chase Center or as the internet shall soon call it, Golden 2 Center.
The dirty secret of this whole entire series has been that the Kings have largely been terrible on offense to start the postseason. Sure, De’Aaron Fox continues to destroy worlds and crush hopes and dreams on a nightly basis and Malik Monk is playing like he’s got a bandaid on his face again but aside from those two I’d be hardpressed to say that any King has had a particularly good offensive series.
Instead, the Kings, reportedly targeted by lower seeded playoff teams due to their weak defense, have won games through a combination of grit, heart, defensive intensity, and not intentionally injuring the other team (a rather important key to most sports events). Davion has been a beast! Alex Len has randomly turned us into a strong interior defensive team! The Warriors have like one guy capable of getting his own shot! Hopefully Mike Brown at least appreciates that his guys are finally getting it done on this end (even if only for two games in a row).
At this point, we’re probably all stomped out and so, on that note, let’s get to the awards ad take a quick look at the game ahead! (It’ll have to be a short one because the Japanese entertainment industry has no respect for the end to my seventeen years of suffering.)
Awards Time
Tony Delk Memorial Award - Gary Payton II GPII wasn't particularly good or anything for the Warriors but he was pretty much the only Warriors bench guy who wasn't a complete and total waste of space and did all the role player stuff that he's good at and got him that big contract from the Blazers this offseason.
Luke Walton Vacuum Cleaner Award - Jordan Poole I really do wonder if Draymond's punch did knock a couple of wires loose in the kid's brain. Though he's apparently been playing injured and I'm sure his teammates appreciate the effort, Poole has somehow managed to be worse on offense than he is on defense (and he's quite possibly the worst defensive guard playing major minutes in the league aside from Trae Young). Also he flopped so bad that it made De'Aaron dance a jig mid-game.
Playoff Bonzi - Davion Mitchell. This was pretty much the only answer as, in addition to playing suicidal Delly-level defense on Steph all night, Davion also hit the dagger three to effectively end the game and contributed a bunch on offense, including a fast break dunk that roughly looked like someone shot a bowling ball at the hoop and it grew arms and dunked the ball.
Shaq Antics Bringer of the Game - Domantas Sabonis, Just kidding, it's Draymond Green. Do I really need to explain why?
WTF Moment of the Night -Yeah, nothing's gonna top Draymond curbstomping a guy and then immediately vamping to the crowd like a heel waiting for a commercial break to end.
VF21 Fan of the Game - Big props to the guy, whoever he was, who was apparently ringing a cowbell directly next to Warriors GM Bob Meyers's eardrum all game. (Just ignore the part where we all found out he was a massive racist and hounded him into deleting his social media accounts directly after he went viral).
Honorable mention goes to 50 Cent and Floyd Mayweather for putting their beef behind them to sit three seats from each other courtside for this game. I'm gonna assume Vivek texted Floyd that 50 was coming but the guy just couldn't read it.
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And onto Chase Center, or as I know it the soulless knockoff Golden 1 Center rip-off that cost a billion dollars without looking particularly good and alienated the most passionate part of its team's fanbase (i.e. the non-expense account types). Of course, since no one actually likes that arena, their ticket prices are somehow lower than Golden 1's exorbitant game 1 and 2 prices! Kings fans, being the intelligent bunch we are, have noticed this and are buying tickets. There should be more Kings fans in that arena than there were Warriors fans in G1C but I don't anticipate there being a "takeover" or whatever the hell "Dubs Nati0n!" said they were going to do for game one.
It's hard to tell what the Warriors are going to do without Draymond. Despite his reputation, the guy still was their hub on both ends of the court and they will definitely miss him seeing as their entire system is based on both his passing and ability to play strong help defense. It's not that Golden State (how presumptuous of them to speak for a state with three whole ass other NBA teams in it) is helpless without Green, (they still have Steph and Klay) it's that Draymond was making the rest of his team's lives so much easier, even if that easy life was looking rough against the Kings to start this series.
Steph Curry is always capable of exploding and going supernova and, I don't know if you remember this Jerry, but Klay Thompson once scored 37 points against the Kings in a single quarter. They're still dangerous and the Kings absolutely should not take their foot off the Warriors necks now that they've got them stunned and crawling towards the ropes (unless they're taking their foot off their neck to stomp it- err, regain their balance because they're not very flexible). De'Aaron needs to continue being De'Aaron. Domas must be Domas. HB and Kevin must continue being rock solid. Keegan must hit a three. Malik must continue being chaos incarnate. Davion must continue being a dawg.
I truly believe now that the Kings are the better team in this series. Yes, the Warriors are the champions but the Kings are inevitable.
Final Prediction: Kings 117, Warriors 112
This is a cornered dog game. The Warriors are down 2-0, missing arguably their second best player, and have been blaming the refs for their misfortune. Playing in front of what is sure to be a loud home crowd (give or take the several thousand(?) Kings fans who are in attendance), I'd expect them to look more motivated than they've looked the first two games. That all said, if the Kings play defense like they did the first two games and get a little more production from their non-Fox guys, I think they could and should win it, despite the Warriors great home record.
Light the beam! I LOVE THIS TEAM! And eff Draymond Green!
The Kings lit the beam again and the entitled guys eighty miles down the road from Sacramento are not pleased at flippin’ all. Ladies and gents and anyone in between, we are officially back!
Of course, the entire focus of the narrative of this series has shifted from “The Kings are good now?” to “Draymond Green is innocent and that no-good dirty rotten scoundrel Domantas Sabonis must be stopped before his chest hurts someone again!” Okay, that may be a slight overreaction but it certain feels like that from the perspective of a lowly Kings fan such as myself.
But the scoreboard tells no lies and the Kings are currently up on the defending champion dynasty Warriors 2-0 in a best of seven series and are carrying some momentum with them into game three at Chase Center or as the internet shall soon call it, Golden 2 Center.
The dirty secret of this whole entire series has been that the Kings have largely been terrible on offense to start the postseason. Sure, De’Aaron Fox continues to destroy worlds and crush hopes and dreams on a nightly basis and Malik Monk is playing like he’s got a bandaid on his face again but aside from those two I’d be hardpressed to say that any King has had a particularly good offensive series.
Instead, the Kings, reportedly targeted by lower seeded playoff teams due to their weak defense, have won games through a combination of grit, heart, defensive intensity, and not intentionally injuring the other team (a rather important key to most sports events). Davion has been a beast! Alex Len has randomly turned us into a strong interior defensive team! The Warriors have like one guy capable of getting his own shot! Hopefully Mike Brown at least appreciates that his guys are finally getting it done on this end (even if only for two games in a row).
At this point, we’re probably all stomped out and so, on that note, let’s get to the awards ad take a quick look at the game ahead! (It’ll have to be a short one because the Japanese entertainment industry has no respect for the end to my seventeen years of suffering.)
Awards Time
Tony Delk Memorial Award - Gary Payton II GPII wasn't particularly good or anything for the Warriors but he was pretty much the only Warriors bench guy who wasn't a complete and total waste of space and did all the role player stuff that he's good at and got him that big contract from the Blazers this offseason.
Luke Walton Vacuum Cleaner Award - Jordan Poole I really do wonder if Draymond's punch did knock a couple of wires loose in the kid's brain. Though he's apparently been playing injured and I'm sure his teammates appreciate the effort, Poole has somehow managed to be worse on offense than he is on defense (and he's quite possibly the worst defensive guard playing major minutes in the league aside from Trae Young). Also he flopped so bad that it made De'Aaron dance a jig mid-game.
Playoff Bonzi - Davion Mitchell. This was pretty much the only answer as, in addition to playing suicidal Delly-level defense on Steph all night, Davion also hit the dagger three to effectively end the game and contributed a bunch on offense, including a fast break dunk that roughly looked like someone shot a bowling ball at the hoop and it grew arms and dunked the ball.
Shaq Antics Bringer of the Game - Domantas Sabonis, Just kidding, it's Draymond Green. Do I really need to explain why?
WTF Moment of the Night -Yeah, nothing's gonna top Draymond curbstomping a guy and then immediately vamping to the crowd like a heel waiting for a commercial break to end.
VF21 Fan of the Game - Big props to the guy, whoever he was, who was apparently ringing a cowbell directly next to Warriors GM Bob Meyers's eardrum all game. (Just ignore the part where we all found out he was a massive racist and hounded him into deleting his social media accounts directly after he went viral).
Honorable mention goes to 50 Cent and Floyd Mayweather for putting their beef behind them to sit three seats from each other courtside for this game. I'm gonna assume Vivek texted Floyd that 50 was coming but the guy just couldn't read it.
---
And onto Chase Center, or as I know it the soulless knockoff Golden 1 Center rip-off that cost a billion dollars without looking particularly good and alienated the most passionate part of its team's fanbase (i.e. the non-expense account types). Of course, since no one actually likes that arena, their ticket prices are somehow lower than Golden 1's exorbitant game 1 and 2 prices! Kings fans, being the intelligent bunch we are, have noticed this and are buying tickets. There should be more Kings fans in that arena than there were Warriors fans in G1C but I don't anticipate there being a "takeover" or whatever the hell "Dubs Nati0n!" said they were going to do for game one.
It's hard to tell what the Warriors are going to do without Draymond. Despite his reputation, the guy still was their hub on both ends of the court and they will definitely miss him seeing as their entire system is based on both his passing and ability to play strong help defense. It's not that Golden State (how presumptuous of them to speak for a state with three whole ass other NBA teams in it) is helpless without Green, (they still have Steph and Klay) it's that Draymond was making the rest of his team's lives so much easier, even if that easy life was looking rough against the Kings to start this series.
Steph Curry is always capable of exploding and going supernova and, I don't know if you remember this Jerry, but Klay Thompson once scored 37 points against the Kings in a single quarter. They're still dangerous and the Kings absolutely should not take their foot off the Warriors necks now that they've got them stunned and crawling towards the ropes (unless they're taking their foot off their neck to stomp it- err, regain their balance because they're not very flexible). De'Aaron needs to continue being De'Aaron. Domas must be Domas. HB and Kevin must continue being rock solid. Keegan must hit a three. Malik must continue being chaos incarnate. Davion must continue being a dawg.
I truly believe now that the Kings are the better team in this series. Yes, the Warriors are the champions but the Kings are inevitable.
Final Prediction: Kings 117, Warriors 112
This is a cornered dog game. The Warriors are down 2-0, missing arguably their second best player, and have been blaming the refs for their misfortune. Playing in front of what is sure to be a loud home crowd (give or take the several thousand(?) Kings fans who are in attendance), I'd expect them to look more motivated than they've looked the first two games. That all said, if the Kings play defense like they did the first two games and get a little more production from their non-Fox guys, I think they could and should win it, despite the Warriors great home record.
Light the beam! I LOVE THIS TEAM! And eff Draymond Green!
