Friday, May 17th, 2019

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Written while listening to Wu Tang Clan's On That Shit Again

 In appreciation of the OG Warriors   

The Kevin Durant Warriors have an air of droning inevitably. Like the freight train that rumbles by at 2 a.m., that team is going to get where it’s going, and there’s nothing LeBron James, James Harden, or anyone else, can do about it.The OG Warriors -- that’s what we’re calling them now -- are those jump-shooting assholes you must begrudgingly respect and even sort of like, the ones who rose from 40 years of irrelevancy, combusted after a 73-win season, then went out and bought the type of insurance package that’d make even the least risk-taking suburban white dad clocking 400K swoon.Last night made us remember why we hate-watched this beautiful nightmare. Portland was ahead last night, 65-50, at halftime, and who in the world would have confidently said the Trail Blazers were going to win that game?When Durant plays, he’s like the fun police, coming to make sure his team won’t ever find itself in position to rev the engine and have to erase a 15-point lead. (He also averages the third-most isolation plays in the league, which means, naturally, the ball, and the players, zip around a little more without him on the court.)Last night, the sprinter spotted its competition 10 yards to start the second half and made it up by the 3:48 mark of the third quarter, when a 3-pointer by Klay Thompson gave the Warriors a 77-75 lead.Then, an awesome and entertaining game broke out against a feisty Trail Blazers team, where Steph Curry (37) and Thompson (24) combined for a completely necessary 61 points, about half of which wouldn’t have really mattered if Durant was healthy and playing. Curry, without his 7-foot cheat code this postseason, has reverted back to two-time MVP Curry. Even Press Release Magic agrees.Oh, and Steph and Seth Curry are brothers. Seriously, they are. 

Iggy seals the victory

Andre Iguodala stripped Damian Lillard in the game’s final possession, sealing the 114-111 win. Lillard had another pedestrian game -- for him at least -- finishing with 23 points on 6-of-16 shooting. He took two shots in the first quarter, missing both.

CJ’s trying, Jennifer

On August 15, 2018, one Jennifer Williams tweeted at CJ McCollum, imploring the Blazer guard to “Win a playoff game then talk.”A few hours later, McCollum had a succinct response: “Im Trying Jennifer.”Since, McCollum and his team have won eight playoff games, and almost won another last night.With that surely in mind, the cast of ESPN’s The Jump brought Jennifer, who now has a few thousand Twitter followers and a blog, on its live set in Oakland last night, and the two antagonists finally met in person. The whole exchange was adorable.According to the Washington Post, Jennifer is a 38-year-old mother of four who bandwagoned the Warriors during this recent string of titles. Her Tweet was a response to all of McCollum's perceived Golden State hate: 

“In the past, I had seen different things about CJ saying stuff about the Warriors having a super stacked team, so when that tweet came up, I was just like, ‘I’m tired of this guy saying stuff and they haven’t even won a freakin’ playoff game.’” 

 Mr. Marjanovic goes to Los Angeles  

 For some reason that is much less important than the fact that it is a confirmed truth, Boban makes an appearance in “John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum,” which hits theatres today.According to the Wall Street Journal, Boban takes part in “an epic fight scene inside the New York Public Library starring Keanu Reeves.”The director wanted someone “with a heart and soul who was fun and interesting and yet gigantic,” which is, of course, Boban.Here’s Boban, on why he won the role: "It was because of my size. And because of my good-looking."Agreed.Boban was at the premiere yesterday, and so was his fellow free agent pal Tobias Harris, who documented the whole thing with his phone.

Portland-Golden State links

• We buried the lead a little bit: Seth had an awesome game, dropping 16 points off the bench, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:03 left. He was a team-high plus-13. Here are his highlights.

• Reporter: "As a young player, what have you learned from Kevon Looney?" Jordan Bell:"I'm older than Kevon Looney."

• Reporter: "You had a front-row seat for the competition between Steph and Seth Curry..." Klay Thompson: “I wouldn't call it a front-row seat. I was kind of out there playing.”

• Zach Collins had zero points, rebounds, assists, blocks or steals, plus two turnovers and five fouls last night.

• Kevin Durant won’t play in Games 3 and 4. His injury is more serious than initially thought, Steve Kerr said.

Bucks-Raptors facts

• Never forget that the Lakers let Brook Lopez walk in favor of Javale McGee. The Bucks scooped Lopez for $3.4 million, which essentially paid for itself in Game 1.

• ICYMI: On Wednesday, the Raptors, outside of Kyle Lowry, went 0-of-15 from the floor in the fourth quarter.

• Looking for a good bet? The Bucks are favored by 6.5 points. We think the Raptors will win.

 Concrete Reads  

• Giannis through the eyes of Milwaukee refugees [The Ringer]

• Anthony Davis will never find a better teammate than Zion Williamson [SB Nation]

• The Raptors wasted Kyle Lowry’s signature playoff moment [SB Nation]

  Podcast Pick

2019 Zion hype vs. 2003 LeBron hype [The Ringer]