It all started in April though, the Golden State Warriors were done. After a one-point loss in Washington, where the deciding point came from a technical foul by head coach Don Nelson in the final seconds, the Warriors had lost six in a row. They were nine games under .500 and Nelson was already looking ahead to the next season.
The Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Dallas Mavericks in 2007. |
Golden State won 16 of their final 21 games and nine of their last ten to advance to the postseason for the first time in 13 years. The Warriors met the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, a team Don Nelson had coached only a few years earlier. The Warriors were the only team to beat the Mavericks three times and had won six of the last seven meetings with them.
But with the Warriors as an eight-seed, and the Mavericks as the best team in basketball, no one gave them much of a chance. Nevertheless, the upset took place. Backed by a raucous home crowd, the Warriors defeated the Mavericks in just six games. Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson, and Matt Barnes had the series of their lives, while the Mavericks appeared rattled by the Warriors’ unorthodox style.
Baron Davis and the "We Believe" crowd at Oracle after a Game 6 upset of the Dallas Mavericks. |
In the second round they faced Jerry Sloan's Utah Jazz, who muscled their way to a five-game series win. It was a one-shot wonder for the Warriors, who lost most of their roster only a few years later. As for the Mavs, they remained competitive, but another early exit in 2008 cost head coach Avery Johnson his job.
The Golden State Warriors once again made the playoffs this year, the second time in as many years, and once again faced an uphill battle against the Los Angeles Clippers.
However this year the Warriors playoff series was almost derailed by the shameful remarks that former Clippers owner Donald Sterling made.
Game 7 of the series between the Warriors and Clippers is tonight at the Staples Center in L.A.
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