4:00 - 7:00 Why Steph's supporting cast struggled

7:00 - 11:00 - Why did DeMarcus Cousins play poorly in Game 3 after faring well in Game 2?

12:00 - 16:30 - What the Warriors missed without Kevon Looney

17:00 - 24:00 When will Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant return?

24:00 - 26:00 Klay Deal and what to expect in Game 4

1:00 What’s the latest on Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins?

3:00 How will DeMarcus Cousins fare in return?

5:00 Can Warriors win without Durant?

8:00 Can Steph Curry win Finals MVP?

10:00 How do Warriors slow down Kawhi Leonard?

16:00 How do Warriors handle their center spot?

22:00 We share our Finals predictions

25:00 Why we're not making much of the regular-season matchups vs Raptors

29:00 Outro promo: The Klay Thompson Deal

Defensive tactics don’t evolve as fast as offensive tactics, but ever since the Warriors started switching everything with Draymond Green-at-center lineups in Kerr’s first year as head coach, 2014-15, we’ve seen nearly every team in the league pick up the scheme.

They yelled. They hugged. They expressed relief.This one felt good, Draymond Green said. I’m not going to go home and sugar coat it. This one felt amazing.'

So amazing that Warriors coach Steve Kerr considered this 'one of the most satisfying victories we had' amid three NBA title runs in four years. So amazing that Curry said he feels 'damn proud of our team.'

1:00 - No one does it better than Draymond Green in the fourth quarter

02:00 - Kevin Durant’s calf strain injury

04:25 - The Warriors template to win without Durant

05:40 - Green and Looney’s “inspired” defense

08:15 - Rockets normalizing pass interference

10:50 - Rockets are ready to win game six

11:30 - Kevon Looney, Jonas Jerebko and the bench will have to carry the load with Durant out

13:45 - Jacob Evans can wash away a season of bad basketball in game six

16:00 - Warriors have to throw the kitchen sink at the Rockets

20:15 - Steph’s ramped up aggression, Kevon’s “most important game” he’s played as a Warrior

21:30 - Offensive rebounds have changed the tone of the series

24:45 - Warriors tapped into “ineffable” qualities Draymond brings when Green made that three-point shot

31:50 - Firebrand Dieter and Bay Area media ruffles Houston’s feathers

That left Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni having some unpleasant thoughts creep into his mind.

Fortunately for the Rockets, that nightmare did not happen. Unfortunately for the Warriors, Durant and Curry could not make a 3 to force overtime in a game they did not deserve to win, anyway.

The Warriors lost, 112-108, to the Houston Rockets in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday to tie the series at 2-2 and force a Game 6.

01:20

“Warriors play ‘slog of a game’”

02:10

Death lineup start and injury review

03:05

Why this game was unwatchable:

24 fouls on Warriors, 21 fouls on Rockets

03:30

Harden’s flailing legs: ‘You can’t complain about getting burned when you’re moving closer to the stove’

05:20

Kevin Durant won the game by matching Harden’s ‘nonsense,’ which Harden is too skilled to need to wield

06:00

Rockets deserve to be ‘punished’ for the way Harden plays ‘every single game’

09:30

Harden ‘did not try to make his three pointer’ at end of the game, he ‘tried to go to the line for three free throws’

10:15

Why Harden’s style ‘makes a mockery’ of the NBA rules

11:00

Harden is ‘chief’ among players ‘actively searching for contact’ making the game about ‘watching litigation in real time’

11:30

Mike D’Antoni’s post-game ‘conniption’

12:10

The ‘conspiracy’ the Rockets believe favors the Warriors

13:50

New York should be ‘on watch’ about viewership loss to ‘unwatchable nonsense’

15:15

The case for Klay Thompson being ‘in the wrong’ on certain referee calls

16:30

‘Crying wolf’ the whole game will lead to missed calls

17:20

The issue with making your game plan ‘let’s make the referees decide this entire game’

- 1:00: Warriors have “made a habit of taking their foot off the accelerator”

- 2:10: Dubs lose DeMarcus Cousins to an injury, lose the game because “they just imploded”

- 04:10: Warriors unveil “masterpiece of hubris” after season of practicing apathy in games

- 06:30: Zero excuse for Kevin Durant’s gameplay,  Patrick Beverley gets “between his ears”

- 10:38: Game two will either “open cracks” in Warriors facade or empower team to channel faults into championship focus

- 12:04: it would be unfair to say an achilles heel injury is related to others, one expert says “kinetic chain” may link achilles injury to other body parts

- 13:47: Jordan Bell, Andrew Bogut, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney play time to rise after DeMarcus Cousins’ fall

- 15:08: Will Bob Myers’ decision on Andrew Bogut pay off?

- 16:21: DeMarcus Cousins is “probably not coming back”

- 18:15: Are Kevin Durant and Draymond Green still fighting behind the scenes?

- 22:00: Are the 2018-2019 Warriors facing similar playoff struggles the 2009-2010 Lakers faced?

- 23:08: Jordan Bell has “not shown it,” Houston Rockets can get this team”

- 26:45: Warriors will have to scheme to “stop Montrezl Harrel and Lou Williams”

- 30:10: Dubs may be “broken in ways we have not seen yet”

- 33:50: “Adjustments in the playoffs are overrated”

- 35:30: Warriors coaching staff “cannot coast through this one anymore”

- 36:30: “Warriors in five” still, Medina said, but bouncing back will test weaknesses the Clippers have exploited

- 39:05: Winning “cures all ills,” losing causes “big and small” issues to “boil up to the surface”

The pair also review why Patrick Beverley guarding Kevin Durant made sense from Draymond Green's “scheming” perspective on the tactics other teams bring to the playoffs that are not usually practiced in the regular season. 

Warriors concluded their final regular season game at Oracle Arena in Oakland with a 131-104 win against Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, April 7.

Beat writer Mark Medina outlines 14 confusing playoff possibilities the Warriors could face and the rotating rest strategy Steve Kerr will employ in upcoming games, involving half of the following eight players resting each game:  Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, DeMarcus Cousins, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Kevon Looney.

“Regardless of how these last two regular season games play out, the Warriors feel really good about themselves,” Medina said on this week’s Warriors Looking Forward in reference to potential upcoming matches against Los Angeles Clipper, San Antonio Spurs or Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs.

Time stamps 00:54 How Kevin Durant fits in the flow of Warriors' offense 6:20 Comparing Kobe Bryant's Laker situation to Kevin Durant's Warrior one 12:40 Medina talks about Durant's approach to the offense 17:00 Durant is built for the NBA playoffs 20:00 Warriors aggressiveness and their one big advantage 23:30 Assessing Golden State's likely playoff challengers 25:00 Can Durant win against the criticism against him? 30:00 Stephen Curry's leadership style 35:00 Durant understands his place with the Warriors 37:00 Durant and Draymond Green appear to have made up after the early season blowup 41:00 Lookin at the past few games and looking ahead

“The most important thing is, they're getting back on track and getting some more key wins against OKC and Houston,” Warriors beat writer Mark Medina told Dieter Kurtenbach on this week's episode of the WarriorsHQ podcast.

Golden State returns to Oracle Arena to take on the Indiana Pacers in one of the final games before the team moves across the bay to the new Chase Center.

What's Andrew Bogut's signing mean for Boogie Cousins?

Timestamps 1:40 Draymond Green looks great after what appeared to be a serious injury.

7:18 Kevin Durant and his inspired performance

18:02 What is serviceable defense by DeMarcus Cousins?

21:30 Does Cousins' defense cost him crunchtime minutes?

28:37 Will the Warriors face the Los Angeles Lakers or somebody else as the eighth seed of the Western Conference playoffs?

1:00 What to look for with the Warriors final 25 games of the season

5:30 Will we see 100 percent DeMarcus Cousins?

11:02 All-Star Game highlights including the Curry to Antetokounmpo alley oop.

After struggling with injuries last season, Green is back in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year. Following Tuesday's 115-108 win over the Jazz, Logan Murdock and Dieter Kurtenbach discussed Green's place among this year's crop of candidates.

The duo also talked about the recent play of Andre Iguodala, who scored 13 points on 5-of-6 from the field Tuesday night.

“I don't think that he's going to go back to his sandbagging ways anytime soon. He missed his opportunity to do that,” Kurtenbach told Murdock. “There was a little bit of like, 'I've proven everything I needed to prove by winning [NBA] Finals M.V.P. and [Iguodala] would kind of turn it on and off.”

Little of it centered on Durant's production that Warriors coach Steve Kerr called "spectacular" with 23 points while going 9-of-13 from the field, 3-of-4 from 3 along with nine assists and eight points.

“I have nothing to do with the Knicks. I don’t know who traded Porzingis. They got nothing to do with me,” Durant said. “I’m trying to play basketball. Ya’ll come in every day and ask me about free agency, my teammates and my coaches and rile up the fans about it. Let us play basketball. That’s what I’m saying. Then when I don’t want to talk to ya’ll, it’s a problem with me. Come on man. Grow up.”

Timestamp  2:12 How Anthony Davis' move impacts the Warriors and the NBA.

8:28 Analyzing how the Warriors exploded on offense during their road trip.

12:00 The Warriors foundation: Stephen Curry an MVP candidate and Draymond Green a defensive stalwart.

14:14 DeMarcus Cousins is great on offense but could be exposed on defense.

21:40 The Warriors center position is suddenly more versatile

23:30 When will the Warriors lose again?

Timestamps 00:35 DeMarcus Cousins looks more comfortable on the court

4:26 Draymond Green is starting to play like his normal self

8:25 How Green is helping Cousins and others integrate into the team

10:52 Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry get all-star nods but will Green and Klay Thompson join them in Charlotte?

17:39 A private players-only meeting with former President Barack Obama sparks intrigue

28:24 A preview of the Warriors matchup against the Boston Celtics. 

1:13 Klay Thompson's ridiculous shooting

4:00 Reasons behind the Warriors winning streak 8:15 The return of DeMarcus Cousins 16:30 Jordan Bell and the problem of developing young players 

“It was stupefying how good they were on defense,” Warriors beat writer Dieter Kurtenbach tells Logan Murdock of Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala’s second half on Sunday night against Dallas Mavericks.

But as the conversation turned to Most Valuable Player, both wonder, does Stephen Curry’s ability to “make it look easy” work against him in MVP discussions where Murdock says “narrative” dominates?

Not if the MVP is someone who changes the way basketball is played, as Kurtenbach tells Murdock Curry still does.

“Durant should be in the MVP conversation too with some of the numbers he’s putting up,” Kurtenbach says on this week’s episode of WarriorsHQ.

Kurtenbach and Murdock also break down Steve Kerr’s decision to “take away the stagger” and start Klay as the anchor in the fourth quarter on Sunday’s game against Dallas Mavericks and whether it’s the team “getting back to base.”

“No one knows if this guy is usable,” Kurtenbach says about DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins before wondering how Cousins would fare against Montrezl Harrell in the second unit of the Los Angeles Clippers during the upcoming Friday, Jan. 18 game.

“Boogie’s not going to be able to play more than 20 minutes a game for months so don’t worry about the stagger. This is all unimportant.”

“If the Warriors care, they win.”

Logan Murdock counters with the observation that the Warriors’ victory against the Timberwolves was “one of their worse games” of the season and points to Coach Steve Kerr’s unhappiness with the team’s execution before conceding: “This team is too good right now.”

Medina and Murdock also review Draymond Green’s performance in his first game back after missing 13 of the past 15 games. Medina calls Green’s gameplay the most impressive even if his post-game stats may not reflect that. Murdock suggests Green’s buzzer-beating, first-half alley-oop pass to Klay Thompson to secure three points as the play of the game.

Medina gives context to Green’s return with talk of his wish to win Defensive Player of the Year for a second time.

“I think if you put truth serum into him, he would admit: He wasn’t playing the kind of defense last season that deserved being on the NBA Defensive First Team,” Medina said before reminding listeners that Coach Steve Kerr expressed anticipation more for Green’s potential conditioning restrictions than any minutes restrictions ahead of his return from injury recovery. “It’s not surprising that Draymond is playing like this.

“He came out as if he was playing yesterday. He did not miss a beat whatsoever.”

Murdock defined and paralleled Green’s story of the last two seasons to Andre Iguodala’s — who missed the Dec. 11 game against the Timberwolves for right hip tightness — as a struggle to “stay on the floor, and trying to sustain that … to maximize their talents.”

Shifting gears to discuss Demarcus Cousins’ injury recovery and recent assignment to Santa Cruz to practice with the Warriors’ G-League squad, Medina and Murdock compared Cousins’ experience to baseball teams sending players to practice with minor league teams.

“It was [Cousins] idea to go down there,” Murdock said. “He feels that the best way he’s going to get back is by five-on-five, full contact.”

Murdock then analyzed Cousins’ first practice with the Santa Cruz team and how it factors into his expectation to return to play with the Warriors by Christmas.

Before Durant's 49-point game against Orlando Magic, Kurtenbach reminds Murdock, the last time Durant put up numbers like this was against the Portland Trailblazers last season.

Durant is averaging 48 points a game in his last three, which included two wins against Portland Trailblazers and Sacramento Kings that ended a four game losing streak. “We will remember this,” Kurtenbach says

But if Curry doesn't return to take on the Toronto Raptors, will Golden State's regained confidence be enough to hold them off as they start a five game.  Warriors beat writers Logan Murdock and Mark Medina break it down. 

Warriors coverage: https://bayareane.ws/2IppzFK