Golden State Warriors: 3 takeaways from Game 4 vs. Spurs

3. The gift is the curse

In our Game 3 takeaways, we referenced Andre Iguodala‘s postgame statement. “Our gift is our curse,” the veteran told NBC Sports‘ Kerith Burke, referring to how his team’s immense talent and joy for basketball leads to bouts of carelessness and turnovers.

Game 3 represented the gift. Knowing the Spurs would bring it, the Warriors came out valuing possession. They turned it over once in the first quarter and four times in the first half, not giving fuel to the Spurs and their crowd.

Just two days later, Game 4 represented the curse. Up 3-0, the Warriors came out looking for an easy sweep. Perhaps they had reason to expect one as the Spurs rolled over last spring, and the same might have happened if Golden State came out with precise focus and execution.

Instead, it coughed the ball up twice in the first minute. It was up to five turnovers three minutes in and seven at the 7:41 mark.

While the Spurs were only up 10-7 at that point, the stretch quite possibly cost the Warriors the game. It immediately got the crowd involved and gave way to open jumpers and dunks that emboldened guys (particularly Dejounte Murray and Rudy Gay) for the remainder of the game.

Given what we saw in Game 3, the Warriors should be able to tighten things up in Game 5. It is harder to get up with a 3-0 lead when a loss brings you home for Game 5 than it is to get up with a 3-1 lead when a loss sends you back on the road.

Fans ideally want teams to play the same way all the time. As Iguodala made clear, you aren’t going to get that with Golden State. Game 4 was his case in point.