Locked On Warriors – Daily Podcast On The Golden State Warriors

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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Kevin Durant will be back in the lineup for the Warriors tonight as the Milwaukee Bucks come to town. The Bucks are not that good considering all the talent on the roster, but they're fighting for playoff positioning and will be a tough out tonight despite their relatively middling record and statistics. It's Giannis vs. KD in the SF matchup, which should provide plenty of fireworks. Draymond Green is set to make his return to the lineup as well.

In the 2nd segment, we go back in time to Stephen Curry's rookie year, where he was playing alongside Monta Ellis and Corey Maggette. The team went 26-56 under Don Nelson, and Curry was 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting that year. It was a different time, when Thunder was hooping and hopping as the Warriors' mascot, and the team would routinely score 110 points and give up 120.

The final segment is the first in a series of synopses of the Warriors' potential opponents in the first round of the playoffs. First up: the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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The Warriors lost to the Pacers behind 24 points from Victor Oladipo and only a 12-point 4th quarter effort. There were good things in the loss, however, with the Dubs jumping out to an early lead, and a veritable block party from Jordan Bell and Kevon Looney. However, the Warriors only have 8 more games, and are currently 6 games from the 60-win plateau. The return of Kevin Durant and Draymond Green on Thursday should help matters.

In the statistical deep dive segment, the Pacers game remains the focus. Lineups and miscellaneous stats are explored, with particular attention given to fast break points, which are an indicator of pace and an offensive mentality—the Warriors only had 2 fast break points against Indiana.

Around the NBA, the Celtics have won 4 in a row despite Kyrie Irving's surgery. The Cavs are hurting, with Kevin Love on concussion protocol, and in danger of losing home court in the first round. The Rockets are still streaking, but would face the Timberwolves if the season ended today. That matchup bodes well for the Warriors, as the Wolves have the ability to match up with the Rockets at every position.

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The Locked on Warriors Podcast is back after some technical difficulties wreaked havoc on production Monday. It's a wide-ranging show that begins with some other difficulties Aliko had to deal with over the weekend before heading into the latest on the various injuries and ailments of the Core 4.

The depleted Warriors played well against Atlanta and went on to win despite losing Stephen Curry in the 2nd half. They were dangerously outrebounded by the Utah Jazz on Sunday, leading to a blowout loss at home, but there are lessons to learn from the loss. Namely, this group of Warriors takes care of the ball very well, but has trouble getting the ball in the basket sometimes, and needs to rebound as a team.

Tonight it's the Pacers, the last team this season the Warriors have yet to play. Victor Oladipo is leading the league in steals and taking a ton of long twos, and he's got the Pacers winning games and potentially going into the first round of the playoffs with homecourt. Elsewhere, an epic streak from the Splash Brothers will end this year due to injuries and that other chef in Houston.

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The Warriors welcome back Stephen Curry (ankle) tonight against the Atlanta Hawks. Steph said his ankle is not 100%, and would not be until after June. But as he knows, it's time to lock in and make that push to the playoffs. Klay Thompson (thumb) may be returning Sunday against the Jazz, along with Draymond Green (pelvis). Kevin Durant (rib) is out for at least another week. Omri Casspi (ankle) is on the IR as well.

Down the Reddit Hole, today stays focused on the Warriors subreddit. It's Quinn Cook's birthday! Steve Kerr will certainly give hime some playing time on that account, and the fact that he's been very good of late. There's a poll on r/warriors asking whether or not Cook should be added to the playoff roster, and if so, who would GSW drop? Elsewhere, Klay landed the latest cover of SLAM Magazine. and Steph is playing in low tops for the first time.

The third segment is a continuation of the conversation about the Historical Basketball League and the NCAA's adherence to the amateurism model. Aliko offers his thoughts on the subject, as well as those of Andy Schwarz, the founder of the HBL, whose analysis forms the backbone of Aliko's upcoming piece on the subject at Forbes.com.

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The Warriors expect Stephen Curry to return on Friday, followed by Klay Thompson on Sunday. Kevin Durant will be re-evaluated next week, while Draymond Green is day-to-day with a pelvic contusion. GSW will host the Atlanta Hawks Friday, and it doesn't get easier from there, with the Jazz continuing the Warriors homestand on Sunday. A few beatdowns of good teams would do the Dubs some good heading into the playoffs—particularly with the Rockets playing so well.

The second and third segments are an interview with the CEO and CMO of the Historical Basketball League, Ricky Volante and Ralph Greene. The HBL has been founded in conjunction with historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and expects to tip off in either 2019 or 2020. The summer league will provide players with a paycheck as well as endorsement opportunities in addition to 5-year scholarships.

The wide-ranging conversation covers the falsehoods behind the amateurism model, why the HBL opted to partner with HBCUs, and just how it's all going to work. Further on, Ricky and Ralph go into detail about how it's unlikely the NCAA will be able to successfully retaliate against the HBL, and how current and former Warriors can get involved with the league as mentors and advisors.

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