Real-Time Tweets About the Golden State Warriors
Golden State’s miracle season might be receiving its last rites. After a record-shattering regular season win-loss total of 73-9, the Warriors continued to step further away from back-to-back championships. Down 3-2 to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State now must string together three consecutive wins to return to the NBA Finals for a second straight year.
Out of the two teams to ever exceed 70 wins in the regular season – the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls and the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors – only the latter would have not gone on to become the league’s champions. But where did it start to unravel?
Golden State Warriors fans’ activity tended to peak during the games, and a few unanticipated defeats have left their supporters a little silent now that the game is over. Check out the number of mentions in the past 24 hours on Twitter below, and then keep reading to hear how it all went down.
It Was Golden State’s Title to Lose
With the NBA’s Coach and Player of the Year, Steve Kerr and Steph Curry, focused on returning to the finals, Golden State made quick work of their first opponents, the Houston Rockets. While the series finished in five games, it could have ended in four (Houston’s only win came in a 97-96 contest). Fans expected these wins, commenting online as if their team were perennial favorites, not as if they supported a team whose previous championship came 40 years prior to their success in 2014-15. Check out how the Golden State Warriors compare with other playoff teams on our NBA Playoffs on Twitter feature!
Progressing forward, Golden State replicated similar performances against the Portland Trail Blazers. However, the overall team performance begged fans to start having the conversation out in the open and online through Twitter, “Are we sure we can repeat?” The Warriors bested Houston by scores of 26, 9, 27, and 33. They only managed to beat Portland by margins of 8, 11, 7, and 4 points. They went from dominant and all-convincing to winning, questionably.
It didn’t help fans that the team they wanted to face, the San Antonio Spurs, had been shown the door by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Panic had begun to set in, whether or not anyone was willing to admit it. Golden State had owned the regular season meetings against Gregg Popovich’s men, 4 games to 3. While they had experienced better success against the Oklahoma City in the regular season, 4 games to 1, fans couldn’t deny that the Thunder were hot.
Golden State Weren’t Ready for OKC
Oklahoma City rode their hot streak right into Oracle Arena, home of the Golden State Warriors, and snatched Game 1 away from them. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way, and the fans shared their feelings with one another about their disappointment. In the regular season, Oracle Arena had been a fortress where the Warriors had won a record-setting 54 games in a row. The coaches, players, and fans were ready for a turnaround – and they got one.
Scoring 15 points in under two minutes, Steph Curry’s electric performance had people jumping in the area – and tweeting like crazy. His heroic performance in Game 2 made all the difference, and the fans couldn’t stop talking about it. Just like that, everyone was a believer again in the Golden State back-to-back championship drive. Well, everyone except Oklahoma City.
Playing away from home, the Warriors never found a groove in Game 3 and ended up losing 133-105. Beyond the score, contact between Draymond Green and OKC’s Steven Adams became a large point of conversation among fans. Those supporting the Golden State Warriors hoped the league wouldn’t suspend Draymond, and their 140-character-or-less prayers would be answered by the NBA. He would be allowed to compete in Game 4.
Klay Thompson tried to will a win into existence, but with a less-than-100% Steph Curry performance drawing questions from fans as to just how healthy he wasn’t, it wasn’t in the cards. Oklahoma City continued their postseason dominance over Golden State, pushing their opponents to the brink.
After a season-saving Game 5, Steph Curry reassured Warriors fans at the Chase Center by roaring “We ain’t going home,” after poking the ball away from Kevin Durant and scoring a layup on the other end.
Behind 3-2, the Warriors have to bring every thing they got to Oklahoma City if they wish to keep their NBA Championship dreams alive. Maybe it’s time for the will and word of the fans to take hold and rally their heroes to victory.
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