Locked On Warriors – Daily Podcast On The Golden State Warriors

The Warriors topped the Spurs again behind 32 points from Kevin Durant and 31 from Klay Thompson. The Spurs started Rudy Gay over Kyle Anderson but it didn't matter, as Gay's scoring couldn't help LaMarcus Aldridge (34 points, 12 boards) push San Antonio over the top.

The Warriors role players have been turning up the heat, with Andre Iguodala playing like a man reborn in the past two games, and Kevon Looney holding it down on the defensive end. David West, Quinn Cook, Shaun Livingston and JaVale McGee all deserve props.

Around the NBA, the Sixers dropped Game 2 to the Heat in Philly, and Joel Embiid is "******g tired of being babied." Tonight it's Wiz-Drakes, Bucks-C's and Pels-Blazers, all Game 2s.

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The Warriors flipped the switch at the right time, coming on strong against the Spurs from the opening tip. They rebounded the ball with ferocity, outboarding San Antonio by 21. Kevin Durant and Draymond Green filled up the stat sheet, while Klay Thompson filled up the bucket (27 points on 13 shots, 0/0 from the FT line). Steve Kerr opted to start Andre Iguodala in a very shrewd move.

The Spurs, especially LaMarcus Aldridge, were held in check for the entire game. LMA only put of 12 shots, and could only be counted on for 2 boards on Saturday. That will change though, as LMA is too good of a player to put up two clunkers in a row. The Warriors will have to stay composed and keep their energy and wits about them if they want to hold serve again.

Around the NBA, the Rockets were knocked about by the Timberwolves despite Karl-Anthony Towns and Jimmy Butler playing poorly. Houston needed every one of James Harden's 44 points to get past Minny. Game 2 should be interesting. Also: Boston is better than the sum of its parts. And: Anthony Davis really is the monster we've all said he is.

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A wide-ranging playoff preview with Aliko Carter of Locked on Warriors and Locked on Spurs' Jeff Garcia.

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It's official, the Warriors will begin the playoffs at Oracle on Saturday against the San Antonio Spurs. No Stephen Curry for this series. The Dubs played the Spurs well on two out of three occasions this season, with the final meeting resulting in an ejection for Draymond Green and the lowest point output of the season for GSW (75). The Spurs will mostly likely be without Kawhi Leonard, but LaMarcus Aldridge has been stalwart at the 4/5 position all season. The Warriors' bigs will have their hands full.

Klay Thompson has had a confusing season. He shot the ball better than he ever has, but that did not come with an increase in scoring. He barely hit 20.0 ppg this year, going 9/27 on the last game of the season to get the 23 points he needed to reach that plateau. He also had a down year defensively, according to advanced metrics. He will need to be the nuclear weapon we know he's capable of being in the playoffs.

The Warriors' coaching staff deserves credit for keeping morale high and reaching 58 wins despite all the the injuries the team has dealt with. They could have easily won ten fewer games. Steve Kerr did a great job of keeping the environment fun, and making sure everyone got a chance to play significant minutes. That focus on morale will bode well in the playoffs.

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The Warriors were outplayed from the outset in every facet of the game by the Utah Jazz last night. The Jazz were playing for their playoff lives, while the Warriors only seemed to be playing to make sure Klay Thompson could average 20 points on the season. The veteran 2-guard took 27 shots in the game, making 9. The Warriors would go on to lose by 40, their worst loss in the Steve Kerr era.

Stephen Curry only played 51 games this year, but he was impactful in every one of them. The two-time MVP arguably had a better season this year overall than he did last year, when the missed games are removed from consideration. But alas, Steph was hampered by ankle and knee injuries and won't return until after the playoffs have commenced.

The Warriors pepper the NBA stats leaderboards, with Stephen Curry leading the league in True-Shooting Percentage, the ultimate catch-all of shooting that we have. Klay led the team in three-pointers made, while Kevin Durant makes many appearances. Draymond Green is not as present as he has been in years past.

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There was a lot of winning by teams needing wins on Monday night, with the Thunder among the gaggle of teams to lose ground despite bringing home Ws. OKC now sits in 7th and could face the Warriors in the first round.

Tonight the Warriors face the red hot Utah Jazz, who have risen all the way to 4th in the West, and are looking to make ground on Portland for the 3-seed. The Jazz have won 5 in a row on their way to a playoff berth without Gordon Hayward. They have a new star in Donovan Mitchell, who played 38 minutes in Utah's most recent win against the LA Lakers. 

Utah's roster is filled with two-way players, which is exactly what Nick Young is not. The man they call Swaggy hasn't exactly been a disappointment this year; rather he's not the kind of player the Warriors could rely on to ingest complicated defensive schemes. That's a problem when he's not hitting shots, and he's only shot 42% from the field this year.

Continuing the season synopsis, defense is the subject of the day, starting with Draymond Green, who hasn't been the same player this year. The Warriors have missed Stephen Curry, who was the only All-Star to have a season on the upswing. Kevin Durant was kind of the same, reliable KD. And while Klay Thompson was money, his numbers are down.

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The Warriors lost to the Pelicans behind 7 turnovers from Draymond Green and 4 from Kevin Durant. KD did have 41 points and 10 rebounds, but it was not enough as both Jrue Holiday and Niko Mirotic hit 20 points, along with Anthony Davis who had 34 and 12 boards. It was an entertaining game throughout, but the Dubs weren't able to get the win for the fans on the final home game of the season.

The next night, the Warriors came out firing against the Phoenix Suns, and didn't turn the ball over to boot. The GSW defense was mostly suffocating, and the team coasted to an easy victory behind 34 points from Klay Thompson and five other Warriors in double figures.

Now that the season is almost over, it's time to take a look at the campaign as a whole. In Part 1, Aliko discusses the team's fourth straight march to The Finals, injuries, and the differences between this season and the last three years.

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The Dubs played horrible transition defense on their way to getting thumped by 20 points in Indiana.

The Pelicans make a favorable first-round playoff matchup, given their fast pace and poor defense.

The East just opened up with the news that Kyrie Irving will have additional surgery on his knee and will miss 4-5 months.

The Suns may have won the year by not winning games, says Miles.

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The Warriors look to create a legitimate winning streak with a victory over the OKC Thunder tonight in the heartland. The Thunder have played up and down in their last few games, but are looking to move up in playoff positioning to get home-court in the first round. The Warriors could definitely play spoiler. Thankfully, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are all healthy and ready to take on the challenge.

The Timberwolves are currently seventh in the West, so they would face the Warriors in the first round if the playoffs ended today. The Wolves will be welcoming back Jimmy Butler to their starting lineup in the next week or so. He will be a difference maker in the playoffs as will Karl Anthony Towns, but even without Stephen Curry it will be very tough for Minny to take four games off the Warriors.

The same goes for the New Orleans Pelicans, who have lost their last four and are in danger of falling out of the playoffs. The Pels are riding Anthony Davis as best they can, but need something more from their role players if they're going to stay in the chase to avoid the Rockets and Warriors in the first round. It will be interesting to see who Steve Kerr decides to start at center in the first round, depending on who GSW ends up playing.

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Patrick MCCaw is walking on his own after being undercut on a scoring attempt by the Kings' Vince Carter Saturday.

KD said something really disrespectful to referee Tre Maddox on Thursday, and his ejection was well-deserved.

Quinn Cook has earned a roster spot for the playoffs. Who should be cut to make room for the Warriors' new dynamo?

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