SAN FRANCISCO — Jimmy Butler powered through Dillon Brooks in the paint, knocking the Suns forward off his spot. Butler continued forging through Brooks before lofting a runner. The shot bounced in, falling through the net into Butler’s hands.
The Warriors’ forward then threw the ball at Brooks’ chest. Not hard enough to prompt any of the refs’ whistles to blow. But enough to get Brooks chirping, and to send a message. Subliminal, cautious, but a message nonetheless.
Because the two-game set against the Phoenix Suns meant two games of Brooks’ trademark attempts to bully the Golden State Warriors. He opened Thursday’s game in Phoenix on fire, and closed it with a shot to the abdomen of Steph Curry, exposed as he landed from a 3-pointer, hard enough to leave the point guard on the hardwood wincing in pain. The game ended in more hurt — a one-point loss on a free throw with four-tenths of a second remaining.
How would the Warriors respond to the throes of three straight fourth-quarter fumbles? On a team led by three players 35-and-up, and desperate for young players to emerge, could the Warriors muster enough quality? The Warriors’ kryptonite is young, long, athletic teams who spread them out and penetrate until the Warriors are discombobulated. Saturday was the fourth straight game against such a team.
And it featured Brooks, who, like the rest of the league, has gotten better and brings his best against the Warriors. An ideal villain to challenge their mettle. He became the face of the imminent threat to their season.
The Warriors, conspicuously, didn’t retaliate live against Brooks in Phoenix. And he did not get suspended for his actions. Which meant Saturday, Brooks served as a metaphor for the Warriors’ current state. A microcosm for their spirit.
“How can you not be upset?” Steve Kerr said of Brooks after the Warriors’ 119-116 win over Phoenix on Saturday. “This is a guy who broke (Gary Payton II’s) elbow in the playoffs, clotheslining him with one of the dirtiest plays I’ve ever seen. So it’s not like there’s not a track record there. … I don’t know what the point of replay is if you’re not going to kick a guy out for literally punching somebody. It’s bizarre to me that he was not, first of all, ejected from that game, and then suspended or fined. Nothing. Nothing.”
So they had to deal with him. With Phoenix. With the threat of spiraling out of viability before reinforcements can come via trade.
The Warriors looked vulnerable during their losing streak. Feeble on defense. Timid against defensive pressure. Rattled in the clutch. And Brooks was in the Bay looking to feast on the Warriors’ tenderness.
Would they fight back? Or just fall off the bone?
Butler’s chest pass was the first sign the answer was the former.
Brooks made his first five shots and scored 12 of his 22 in the first quarter, as the Suns’ offense did whatever it wanted. He barked at the Chase Center crowd, did his best to intimidate ballhandlers. Righting this ship required a response to Brooks.
The Warriors found the fortitude.
“I didn’t need to make a point,” Butler said, smiling after he sidestepped the question. He knows the Warriors’ situation is still too perilous to make this about Brooks.
But the Warriors’ fight on Saturday did enough to maintain hope. This wasn’t a conquered locker room.
Saturday still looked a mess at times. Draymond Green drew two quick technicals, leading to his ejection. And the Warriors still had too many turnovers. And missed too many wide-open 3s. And allowed too many wide-open 3s — including a late one from the left corner from Suns guard Collin Gillespie that would’ve put the Suns ahead. It usually goes in against the Warriors, but Gillespie missed.
The Suns proved just fallible enough to be resisted on this night.
But the Warriors’ desperation revealed itself.
One example was Curry accepting being picked on by Devin Booker. Golden State usually finds a way to help him out. They’ve developed a variety of ways to keep Curry off these islands. But the solution to this season demands not hiding. Not running. No schemes and gimmicks. Enough will, enough heart, to fight back.
So Curry wanted the assignment. Even though it could, and does, cost him on the other end. Even though, at a disadvantage on defense, he likely won’t shut down Booker, one of the league’s best scorers. Bookers finished 5-for-7 shooting with Curry guarding him. Save for a three-point play and good hesi that froze him late in transition, Curry kept Booker in front of him and taking shots the Warriors will live with him taking.
“My goal is to not give up any blow-bys,” Curry said. “If he’s scoring in the midrange and you’re making him work for it, that plays in our hands because we can keep the game moving. It does take a toll offensively because you’re working, but I like the challenge because it kind of reminds you of playoff-type experiences where you’ve got to really do both for however long you’re out there at a really high level, and there’s no shortcuts around it. You gotta take the challenge.”
It’s a mindset the Warriors need right now. This wasn’t the plan. The acquisition of Butler, the growth of Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody, the addition of veterans like Al Horford and DeAnthony Melton — they were supposed to be stable. Battling for a top-four seed. Deep enough to preserve some energy.
That’s over now. They’re back here again, the same place as before they got Butler to save last season. They have no choice but desperation. Beyond Phoenix, the Warriors’ current predicament requires digging deeper. Before Christmas. They’ve got to somehow claw out a winning streak, work their way out of this rut where everything is tough, and hope for another trade-deadline coup.
It’s that serious right now. Enough for Butler to not be able to sidestep a particular question. After scoring 56 points in two games against Phoenix, Butler was asked the reason for the aggression. He wanted to give the political answer. He paused a second before deciding this wasn’t the time for any of that. Desperation breeds efficiency.
“I got the ball more,” he said, “if we’re being brutally honest.”