The warriors are in uncharted territory.
For a second game in a row, the defending champions and the Kings went toe-to-toe in all four quarters. And for the second straight game, the upstart Kings – in their first playoff appearance since 2006 – took the lead.
In the heat of the moment, it’s hard to ignore how Game 2 went.
Draymond Green’s early sacking, De’Aaron Fox’s clutch-time exploits, Stephen Curry’s relentless late push, Jordan Poole’s ongoing struggles and the deafening cowbells of the home crowd all rightly deserve closer scrutiny.
And yet, no matter what lens you’re viewing this series through, it boils down to one simple fact: The Kings lead 2-0 over the Warriors. Here’s everything you need to know about what happens next.
Last time, Warriors trailed 2-0 in playoff series
The last time the Warriors were down 2-0 in a playoff series, Curry had just finished his freshman season at Davidson, and Thompson and Green were both still in high school.
Golden State has lost the first two games of the Western Conference semifinals to Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer and the Jazz since the 2007 NBA playoffs, when Baron Davis, Steven Jackson, Jason Richardson and co.
Utah defeated Golden State in five games of that series.
Has Stephen Curry ever trailed 2-0 in a playoff series?
No he did `nt.
This is the first time the Warriors Dynasty trio of Curry, Thompson and Green have lost Games 1 and 2 of a playoff series.
In the Dynasty era, prior to this series, Golden State had only lost Game 1s two other times — Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals to the Celtics and Game 1 of the 2019 NBA Finals to the Raptors.
Warriors comebacks after 2-0 in playoff series
The Warriors have only come back from a 2-0 deficit in playoff series once in franchise history, and you’d have to go all the way back to the 1987 NBA playoffs to find that example.
Led by head coach George Karl and star guard Sleepy Floyd, Golden State overcame a 2-0 deficit against Karl Malone, John Stockton, Mark Eaton and the Jazz to win three straight games to place in the best-of-5 continue series.
How many teams have come back from a 0-2 draw in playoff series?
According to the Land of Basketball database, only 32 teams out of 442 cases have come back from falling 2-0 in a playoff series.
That historically gives the Warriors a whopping 7.2 percent chance of making that comeback.
Recent examples of teams coming from 2-0 down are:
- Western Semifinals 2022: Mavericks defeat Suns 4-3
- NBA Finals 2021: Bucks defeat Suns 4-2
- Semifinal West 2021: Clippers defeat Jazz 4-2
- East Semis 2021: Bucks defeat Nets 4-3
- First round West 2021: Clippers defeat Mavericks 4-3