Curry on Warriors Game 2 history: ‘We understand the drill’
OAKLAND – Steph Curry was at it again, basking in yet another series-opening win at home on the Warriors’ projected path to their fifth straight NBA Finals.
Game 2 will be tougher, right? The Portland Trail Blazers will adjust after their 22-point defeat? The Warriors won’t be strutting into a trap game, will they?
“We understand what the drill is,” Curry responded after the 116-94 win that opened the Western Conference Finals.
The Warriors are 14-4 in Game 2s since 2015. All but one have been at home, and that outlier was a 2018 conference finals loss at Houston (127-105).
The other losses: 2015 second round to the Memphis Grizzlies (97-90), 2015 NBA Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers (95-93, OT), and this year’s first round to the Los Angeles Clippers (135-131).
“We’ve been in this situation plenty of times, and more so than not, have handled our business in Game 2,” Curry said. “Obviously against the Clippers, we didn’t and had to really work.”
Since 2015, the Warriors have opened all of their 19 playoff series at home except for that 2018 Western Finals in Houston. Their only series-opening defeat came in the 2016 Western Finals, to the Oklahoma Thunder (108-102).
Outlasting the Trail Blazers didn’t come as a surprise, nor did Curry’s game-high, 36-point outburst, his biggest since putting up 38 in the playoff opener against the Clippers.
“It’s just a game at a time, man,” Curry said. “Having been through so many of these series, we understand what the drill is and they are going to make adjustments and probably play really aggressive and assertive in the first half.
“Game 2, we have to be ready for that punch and keep playing hard.”
Here is how the Warriors have opened their playoff series since 2015:
2015
First round
Game 1: Warriors 106, Pelicans 99
Game 2: Warriors 97, Pelicans 87
Second round
Game 1: Warriors 101, Grizzlies 86
Game 2: Grizzlies 97, Warriors 90
Western Finals
Game 1: Warriors 110, Rockets 106
Game 2: Warriors 99, Rockets 98
NBA Finals
Game 1: Warriors 108, Cavaliers 100 (OT)
Game 2: Cavaliers 95, Warriors 93 (OT)
* * *
2016
First round
Game 1: Warriors 104, Rockets 78
Game 2: Warriors 115, Rockets 106
Second round
Game 1: Warriors 118, Trail Blazers 106
Game 2: Warriors 110, Trail Blazers 99
Western Finals
Game 1: Thunder 108, Warriors 102
Game 2: Warriors 118, Thunder 91
NBA Finals
Game 1: Warriors 104, Cavaliers 89
Game 2: Warriors 110, Cavaliers 77
* * *
2017
First round
Game 1: Warriors 121, Trail Blazers 109
Game 2: Warriors 110, Trail Blazers 81
Second round
Game 1: Warriors 106, Jazz 94
Game 2: Warriors 115, Jazz 104
Western Finals
Game 1: Warriors 113, Spurs 111
Game 2: Warriors 132, Spurs 113
NBA Finals
Game 1: Warriors 113, Cavaliers 91
Game 2: Warriors 132, Cavaliers 113
* * *
2018
First round
Game 1: Warriors 113, Spurs 92
Game 2: Warriors 116, Spurs 101
Second round
Game 1: Warriors 123, Pelicans 101
Game 2: Warriors 121, Pelicans 116
Western Finals (away)
Game 1: Warriors 119, Rockets 106
Game 2: Rockets 127, Warriors 105
NBA Finals
Game 1: Warriors 124, Cavaliers 114 (OT)
Game 2: Warriors 122, Cavaliers 103
* * *
2019
First round
Game 1: Warriors 121, Clippers 104
Game 2: Clippers 135, Warriors 131
Second round
Game 1: Warriors 104, Rockets 100
Game 2: Warriors 115, Rockets 109
Western Finals
Game 1: Warriors 116, Trail Blazers 94
Game 2: ???