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How Warriors bene!ted from

missing NBA bubble in 2020

JUN 2, 2022
BY DALTON JOHNSON
WARRIORS

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S
AN FRANCISCO -- From 2015 through 2019, a "ve-
year span where the Warriors reached "ve
straight NBA Finals -- winning three of them --
Golden State played an extra 105 games in the
playo$s. That's an extra regular season, plus
another 23 games.

They were worn out, in every sense of the word.

Kevin Durant tore his Achilles in Game 5 of the

2019 NBA Finals, and Klay Thompson tore his
ACL in Game 6. The Warriors ran out of gas and
saw another title fall out of their grasp for
reasons they couldn't control.

Then came the 2019-20 regular season.

Durant already had departed in free agency for

the Brooklyn Nets. Thompson was set to miss the
entire year. Four games into the season, Steph
Curry fractured his hand and would play one
more game the rest of the way. The Warriors
"nished with the worst record in the NBA at 15-
50, before the league shut down due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.

That season was nothing short of a new low for

these Warriors, and they're now reaping major
rewards with their return to the Finals. Players
like Jordan Poole had to learn on the #y during
that season. He struggled without Curry and
Thompson by his side, just like most rookies
would. Now as a third Splash Brother and
integral part to Golden State's success, Poole sees
the bigger picture.
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"It was huge," Poole said Wednesday, when asked

about how important it was for him to get playing
time as a rookie. "Being able to pick and choose
my spots, feel the #ow of the game and see the
di$erence between college and the NBA. Finding
ways to incorporate that to better my game with
the 15-win season that we had.

"It was a blessing in disguise, for sure."

Another blessing in disguise was the Warriors

missing the NBA's Orlando bubble once the
season resumed.

The bubble consisted of 22 teams, with 16 already

in playo$ position and six more within six games
of the playo$s. The Warriors, clearly, weren't one
of them. For three months, with training camp
beginning on July 9 and the Finals set to run
through Oct. 11, the NBA isolated itself in Disney
World.

Kerr couldn't be happier the Warriors weren't a

part of it. That's the last thing they needed.

"I think the pandemic year when we had the

worst record in the league, I think it was very
helpful to not go to the bubble," Kerr said
Monday to reporters. "I think our guys frankly
were kind of fried emotionally from that "ve-year
run going to the Finals every year and being
injured. I think being away was the best thing for
our guys to kind of be re-energized."

There were talks about a Chicago bubble for the

eight teams that weren't invited to Orlando, but
that never turned to a reality. More than six
months after the pandemic-shortened regular
season ended, the Warriors gathered as a group
for the "rst time at Chase Center for a voluntary
minicamp from Sept. 23 through Oct. 6. Curry
and Draymond Green weren't there, but
Thompson was, which was a sight of what the
Warriors could be in the near future before he
unfortunately tore his Achilles in late November
2020.

But Kevon Looney looked as healthy as ever after

appearing in only 20 games during the 2019-20
season, and Poole was opening numerous eyes
during the minicamp with his work ethic.

The "nal four teams from the Orlando bubble

were the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Denver
Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers, with the Lakers
beating the Heat over six games in the Finals.
Anthony Davis averaged 25.0 points and 10.7
rebounds per game for the Lakers in those six
games.

In the last two seasons, he has been limited to

only 76 games, which isn't even one full season.

The Lakers had to beat the Warriors in the play-in

tournament the season after winning the
championship, and then lost to the Phoenix Suns
in the "rst round. The Nuggets beat the Portland
Trail Blazers in the "rst round over six games
before being swept by the Suns. The Celtics and
Heat both lost in the "rst round -- Boston to
Brooklyn in "ve games, and Miami was swept by
the Milwaukee Bucks.

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Over the last three seasons, the Heat have played

43 playo$ games. The Celtics have played 40, and
the Warriors have played 16. The Heat "nally
#amed out in seven games to the Celtics in the
Eastern Conference "nals, and rest, recovery and
health could play major roles in the Warriors and
Celtics "ghting for the ultimate prize.

Going into the Finals, the Celtics had to endure

back-to-back seven-game series. Their brightest
star, Jayson Tatum, has spent three-plus more
hours on the court than Curry. As the Warriors
hope to have the return of Gary Payton II, Otto
Porter Jr. and Andre Iguodala, with all three
going into Game 1 as questionable, Marcus Smart
and Robert Williams II also are questionable to
open the series and are expected to be day-to-day
the rest of the way.

The Warriors would never trade any of their

previous "ve trips to the Finals or the extra 105
games they played in that span. But taking a
breather and being able to reassess from top to
bottom has brought them back to the mountain
top. Maybe rest really is good every once in a
while.

That word is about to be an afterthought, though.

Especially if it means another championship
parade in the Bay.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Dubs Talk: A Golden State Warriors Podcast Dubs Talk: A Golde

Warriors vs. Celtics: NBA Finals preview

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