Since the 2014-15 season, the Golden State Warriors have won the NBA championship 4 times. A total of 7 times for the franchise. Last season they made it to the playoffs round and were beaten at the Semifinal stage of the tournament. Because of their poor away record, they lost all three matches away from home to the Lakers. Charles Barkley predicted earlier that the Warriors might struggle against the Sacramento Kings.
The Kings won the game 118-94 and now will face the Pelicans for the final spot in the Playoffs. Stephen Curry scored 22 points, 2 assists, and 4 rebounds, not his greatest performance with the Warriors. For the Kings, Keegan Murray stepped up, scoring 32 points, and 9 rebounds, and was the top scorer of the game. But there was one player who even King Charles was oblivious about, who made a name for himself against the Warriors.
Keon Ellis before this game had an average of 5.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. During the crunch tie, he scored 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 15 points. The guard helped his team massively and was the star of the night alongside Murray and Domantas Sabonis. After seeing him perform Barkley said, “This kid here I never even know he was alive until the night he played his b**t behind off”.
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Even Ernie Johnson reiterated the same fact in the Inside the NBA show clip uploaded on YouTube. Johnson said, “I really didn’t know Ellis had a huge game.” The next match won’t be easy for the Kings as the Pelicans lost narrowly to the Lakers 110-106. The main news coming after the game was that the Pelicans’ forward Zion Williamson has suffered a leg injury and is doubtful to play. But how did one of the biggest dynasties of basketball fail again?
Charles Barkley pointed out the obvious issue of the Warriors
Barkley was sure, since last season, that the Warriors were over-performing because of one man called Stephen Curry. They needed support from others especially Klay Thompson. He played 32 minutes and had 4 rebounds and one assist but shockingly had zero points. Even Shaq had predicted, before the game, that for the Warriors to win, Thompson had to step up, but sadly he couldn’t. He missed all 10 of his field goal attempts during the game.
Now reports are emerging that Thompson will potentially be a free agent and ending his association with the Warriors. The Dynasty that won 4 titles together might end on a sour note. They have now missed the playoffs in three of the last five seasons.
Do you think the Warriors will be able to bounce back next season? And could they do it with Thompson one foot out the door?
