The Golden State Warriors beat the Phoenix Suns 120-111 on Wednesday.
Here is a list of important things that occurred in this game that will very quickly be rendered unimportant:
- The Warriors clinched the No. 1 overall seed and home court throughout the NBA playoffs.
- It was the Warriors' 13th straight win and the Suns' 13th straight loss.
- Golden State became the winningest team over a three-year span in NBA history.
- Stephen Curry had a 23-point first quarter.
- Curry finished with 42 points, 11 assists, five boards and two blocks. He joined Larry Bird, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Tracy McGrady as the only NBA players to post a line like that (h/t basketball-reference).
- Derrick Jones Jr. dunked on the entire Warriors roster at least twice. If you haven't watched this kid yet, start doing so.
- Alan Williams poured in 16 points and gobbled up 17 boards along with four steals. I thought this was a kind of rare thing. It is not. Turns out this line happens all the time, but Williams played his college hoop at UC Santa Barbara, so we're gonna give him some shine anyway.
I know what you're thinking. "Okay, Kyle. These are all cool things — except that Alan Williams thing that was kind of lame — but what is going to render this all useless?"
I'm glad you asked, reader. That is all unimportant because this happened.
That is Shaun Livingston receiving a pass from a scrambling Steph Curry with the first-quarter clock winding down. Livingston recognizes that basketball-playing, spring-loaded Roomba JaVale McGee has been left all alone under the basket. Livingston throws the lob, only he didn't really throw a lob. He threw a dreadful pass that slammed haphazardly off the backboard and somehow careened into the basket.
This "shot" counted for three points. That in and of itself is funny. What makes it even better is that Shaun Livingston is allergic to shooting three-pointers. Livingston had two three-point attempts all season and missed both (he really still only has two attempts, but this one will go down as another). He hadn't shot a three since February 28 in Washington. The make against Phoenix was Livingston's third in three seasons with Golden State. He's now 13-66 from beyond the arc in his 12-year career.
This was a special glimpse of why nobody likes the Warriors. They had a 38-point first quarter and a 20-point lead when that scramble happened. Everything went their way the whole quarter. Then Curry loses the handle and there's a loose ball that Curry should have lost on multiple occasions. Instead he gets it to arguably the worst three-point shooter in the entire arena, who tries throwing a lob for an easy two and instead banks it home for three. That has to be annoying. The Warriors stunt on teams on purpose all the time, they don't need to also be doing it on accident.
However, night in and night out the Warriors give fans something they've never seen before (including a blown 3-1 lead in the Finals. Did I do the meme right?). Shaun Livingston cashing a three-pointer is about as rare as it gets. Even if it was by total accident, it still counts. And that's the most important thing.
