With several years of hindsight, I think it is fair to say the NBA play-in tournament has been a resounding success, generating a chaotic onslaught of memorable moments and hyper-competitive precursor games. We had this LeBron game-winner against the Warriors, this scoring masterclass from Jayson Tatum, and who could possibly forget whatever Patrick Beverley and the Minnesota Timberwolves were doing after they punched their ticket into the playoffs two years ago? This season’s slate of play-in games continues the tournament’s trend of producing high-wire basketball, with a couple compelling storylines to boot.
[Smoothie King Center, New Orleans:] Despite the Los Angeles Lakers narrow and, frankly, “lucky” win against the New Orleans Pelicans, in the end, whether Lakers fans like to admit it or not, this game wound up being “The Zion Williamson Show”—and it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say he alone could’ve willed this Pelicans team to a 7th seed berth if he didn’t leave the game with a potentially season-ending hamstring injury. Speaking of which, there is something inexplicably cruel about the 23-year-old’s up-and-down career so far. It’s as if the basketball gods, for whatever reason, placed a curse on Zion; just when he puts everything together, tragedy strikes.
With his two co-stars, Brandon Ingram and, as usual, C.J. McCollum, underperforming at the brightest of lights, the partnership between Williamson, Trey Murphy III, and Jose Alvarado wreaked havoc on the Lakers defense; Murphy and Herbert Jones stretched the floor with their shooting, Alvarado fed the beast, and Zion attacked the basket with brute force. By the end, Willamson was responsible for 53 of New Orleans’ 106 points, as the Pelicans outscored the Lakers in the minutes he played. Now that right there is one hell of a postseason entrance.
I’ve yet to see Zion ever match the sheer, unadulterated visual explosiveness of his days in college—and with all the injuries that he’s amassed since stepping foot in the NBA, I’m almost certain that he will never recapture that same combination of size, strength, speed, and vertical prowess. But for a brief moment in time, just as the first half was about to close, seeing Williamson hastily and gracefully dribble full-court while beating the buzzer for a deficit-cutting layup genuinely reminded me of the player we might never get.
With Williamson out against the Sacramento Kings, the Pelicans’ postseason aspirations look dim, to put it lightly. But if, by some miracle, this Zion performance is no fluke and he continues to turn the corner heading into next season—meaning he conditions himself and stays healthy, as the organization fully commits to some “Heliocentric Zion”-adjacent offense—I don’t think all hope is lost.
[Golden 1 Center, Sacramento:] “Now that I’ve got a taste of what that experience is like, I’m sort of addicted.” Congrats, Chris Paul, for being three years sober! In all seriousness, this slow-motion trainwreck of a season encapsulates many things: the almost certain death of a basketball dynasty, professional damage control, delusion, and getting old.
First, much credit to the Fox-Sabonis-led Kings, who haven’t had the smoothest road to the postseason—and they still have to beat a Zion-less-but-talented Pelicans team for the 8th seed. Everyone will deservedly heap praise on Keegan Murray and his 32-point outing, who clipped 61.5% of his three-pointers. But amidst the confetti and recognition, the 24-year-old Keon Ellis, too, deserves similar treatment, as he’s silently established himself as a worthwhile, two-way contributor.
From March onward, Ellis has averaged 8.5 points while shooting 45.7% from the arc, with the undrafted guard continuing his momentum against Golden State, scoring 15 points with 3 steals and 3 blocks—all while doing a superb job containing Stephen Curry.
But back to the Warriors; could you have possibly asked for a worse season? Missing the playoffs, losing your lottery pick to the Portland Trail Blazers, and the cherry on top is that you, the fan, have a front-row seat to the actively unfolding disintegration of the “Big Three.” Of course, it is probably unwise to proclaim this as the nail in the coffin of a dynasty that has tormented my life for almost as long as I can remember—after all, just a few seasons ago, the Warriors went from the worst team in the league to NBA champions in the span of two seasons—yet, in some ways, it does feel like this is the end, doesn’t it?
Several Warriors fans have been trying to point fingers at who is responsible for the franchise’s rapid demise—the loudest, most obnoxious crowd of them all being the ones who almost always blame Steve Kerr for the organization’s shortcomings—but that almost feels too convenient; every fanbase blames their coach whenever things don’t go well; it’s too easy, and it’s also too shallow. When you really think about it, however, the actual answer is mostly ignored: time.
Stephen Curry is 36 years old; he doesn’t feel that old—he, LeBron, and Kevin Durant have aged so gracefully over the years that we take their longevity for granted—but the signs are there. Since the All-Star Break, Curry has been averaging 23.1 points on 57.1% true-shooting, which, shockingly enough, is below league average. Yes, we’re at that stage where you can call Curry an “inefficient scorer” and technically be correct. Not to mention, one of the strongest indicators of a player aging is one’s ball security; Curry recently, including his game against Sacramento, has had some egregious turnovers.
Plenty of discourse has been had about the rapid decline of Klay Thompson and the erratic, unprofessional, and frankly team-killing on-court behavior of Draymond Green. But not enough discussion is made about their deteriorating supporting cast. Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II, and Kevon Looney, all of whom were key contributors to the Warriors’ championship two years ago, have regressed to barely serviceable role players. To make things worse, Wiggins gets paid $24 million for the next three seasons, they’re stuck with Chris Paul’s $30 million contract for another year, and a 34-year-old Draymond Green still has $100 million guaranteed in his deal.
Golden State already went all-in on maximizing Curry’s championship window. They have succeeded, and now they’re paying the consequences. Unless those aforementioned supporting players rebound and play like $20 million caliber guys, this team also lacks the assets to make a blockbuster move. Once again, sports are fickle—the Warriors can make some good moves, and enough of those “good moves” could catapult them back into the conversation of being championship contenders—but they need an absolute miracle for any of that to materialize. It was a good run; cherish it.
The Sideline Discourse 