Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images
The Warriors got just what they wanted at the end of Game 4 against the Kings.
Harrison Barnes had a chance to crush the dynasty that spurned him when he caught a pass on the left wing from De’Aaron Fox and attempted the go-ahead three-pointer at the buzzer in Game 4 of the epic first round round series between the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors in the 2023 NBA Playoffs.
If Barnes hit the shot, his Kings would have a 3-1 series lead, and be one win away advancing to the second round. With two of the next three games at home, the Kings would have to feel great about their chances given the Warriors’ extreme struggles on the road this year.
If Barnes hit the shot, the Warriors’ championship core may have finally collapsed. Draymond Green has a player option in the offseason, and could very well have to go elsewhere to secure a long-term deal with a historic luxury tax bill facing Golden State.
If Barnes hit the shot, he’d be sticking it to the team that drafted him in 2012, won a championship with him in 2015, won an NBA record 73 games with him in 2016, and then replaced him with Kevin Durant after a shocking loss in the NBA Finals.
Barnes had the game on his fingertips. He just missed. The Warriors beat the Kings, 126-125, to tie the series 2-2 ahead of Game 5. Watch the shot here:
Barnes taking that shot was no accident — it was by design from the Warriors. Draymond Green was playing way off him, instead sitting on the left hand of De’Aaron Fox, the young Kings star who was just named the league’s first ever Clutch Player of the Year. Green was not going to let Fox attempt the game-winner even if it meant leaving Barnes open. When Barnes caught the ball, he had a clear look at the basket, with only a late Steph Curry closeout attempting to blur his vision.
The Warriors weren’t concerned. Listen to what Green told Curry after the game: “we’ve seen that movie before.”
Sure, Green could be talking about the Warriors persevering to win another hard-fought playoff game, to come back to tie the series after trailing 0-2 …. but it’s much easier to believe he was talking about Barnes specifically. This is Draymond, after all.
Barnes used to be part of the Warriors’ core. He was drafted in the first round of the 2012 NBA Draft by Golden State before the club selected Green in the second round. Klay Thompson was entering his second season in the NBA when Barnes was drafted, and Curry had just signed a rookie extension for only $44 million because the long-term health of his ankles was in question.
Barnes grew up with the Warriors. He started all 82 games on the Warriors’ first championship team, becoming a key piece in turning Mark Jackson’s plucky upstart into a terrifying machine that would go on to win four titles. The story between Barnes and Golden State was a happy one for the most part, at least until the 2016 NBA Finals started.
The Warriors didn’t lose that series because of one player. Barnes’ struggles were memorable, though. He shot 35 percent from the field, 31 percent from three, and was benched in Game 6 after shooting 0-for-8 to start the game. There are lowlight reels on YouTube.
The next year, the Warriors made one of the biggest free agent signings in league history by landing Kevin Durant as Barnes’ replacement. Barnes went on to have 2.5 forgettable years with the Dallas Mavericks before going to Sacramento. The Warriors won two more titles with Kevin Durant, and then another one after he left last season.
Barnes knew what Warriors fans were thinking before he was even asked about it after the game. When a reporter asked Barnes if the miss would stick with him for a while, he quickly pointed out that if he could make it past 2016, he could make it past anything.
Green didn’t shy away from the fact that the Warriors wanted Barnes to take the game-winner in his post-game press conference.
“You’ve got to make that,” Green said of the shot. “It is what it is. We know Fox can make a shot. He won Clutch Player of the Year (and had a game-high 12 points in the fourth). What I’m not going (to do) is (give) him an iso with anyone and just (be) watching him work and living with that. We are not going to live with that. We know that. Got to make somebody else beat you. If he hit it, great shot. He didn’t. You know, whether he hit it or not, it’s the right thing to make someone else beat you. He didn’t. It worked.”
Draymond Green on the Harrison Barnes look for the win: “We know Fox can make a shot. He won Clutch Player of the Year. What I’m not doing is giving him an isolation against anyone.” pic.twitter.com/0O2ZYLSyYw
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 23, 2023
Klay Thompson was more chill, because of course he was.
Thompson admitted he was nervous. Everyone in the building — and really, anyone invested in NBA basketball around the world — knew the stakes. He would never say it, but Thompson probably would have been even more nervous if Fox took the shot after so often playing the late-game hero throughout this season.
Kings-Warriors might be the best first round series in the NBA Playoffs since the the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the San Antonio Spurs in seven games back in 2015. The Warriors still have to win a road game to win the series, and they went 11-30 away from home in the regular season — plus 0-2 in the playoffs so far.
So much is still up in the air. The Kings have felt like the better team for most of the series. They’re the higher seed, and had the better regular season. But of course, the Warriors are the Warriors — the defining dynasty of this generation, a four-time champ, and the defending champs. They didn’t need Harrison Barnes to win titles. If it makes Barnes feel any better, they didn’t need Kevin Durant to win titles, either.
It would have been so sweet for Barnes to hit that shot. He missed, and the Warriors dynasty lives to see another day — for now.
