SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors had a refrain after their NBA Finals Game 1 loss on Thursday.
"It's the first one to four."
Steve Kerr said it. Draymond Green and Klay Thompson repeated it. In the moment, it provided comfort to a Warriors team that choked away a 12-point fourth-quarter lead on its home floor.
The Warriors might be behind, but they're right.
But heading into a second game against the Boston Celtics, this Warriors squad now has next to no margin for error.
Yes, if you want to be pedantic, the only true "must-win" games are elimination contests, but history and the Warriors' own words demand we call Game 2 (Sunday, 5 p.m., Chase Center) what it really is:
A must-win game for Golden State.
If the Warriors don't win Game 2, the truth is that their chances of winning those requisite four games in this series drop significantly, if they are not altogether eliminated.
No team in the history of the NBA Finals has ever come back to win the title after losing the first two games of the series at home.
In fact, in the entire history of the seven-game NBA playoff series, such a turnaround has only been accomplished four times. And then, it only happened in the first and second rounds.
Fail to protect home court in the first two games of the series, and you're looking at the prospect of needing to win four of the next five games, with only two of those contests coming in San Francisco, a fortress for the Dubs this postseason before Thursday.
Even for the Warriors, with all of their enviable playoff experience, to accomplish such a turnaround seems terribly far-fetched.
The Warriors have experience coming out of their ears, but they haven't danced with a predicament like this often.
In fact, Thursday's Game 1 was only the third opening contest the Warriors have lost in 24 playoff series under head coach Steve Kerr.
One came in the NBA Finals (2019), and one came at home (2016 Western Conference Finals).
Both times the Warriors won Game 2. The Warriors can take solace in that.
But Golden State will need to come back from 1-0 a third time on Sunday if they want to raise a fourth championship banner.
"They have seen it all," Kerr said of his team's veterans. "They have won championships. They have lost championships. They have had their heart broken. They have had parades. This is all part of it."
For the younger players, Warriors star Steph Curry sees lessons in this team's peculiar playoff path, which has seen them fail to close out three times in three series.
"I look at how we responded from Game 5 to Game 6 in the Memphis series. Game 4 to 5 in the Dallas series. Even moments throughout the regular season where things are starting to get away from us a little bit at times and kind of have your come-to-Jesus moment, like we need to play right. We usually responded pretty well," Curry said Saturday. "It's the first time for a lot of things with this particular group. We are here in the Finals for a reason, because we figured it out along the way. If we're going to get back in this series, we've got to figure it out again."
Is this is a "come-to-Jesus" moment for the Dubs?
"Absolutely," he said.
Getting Jesus involved? The devout Curry wouldn't do that unless it was a must-win game, right?
The Warriors are also taking some solace in how Game 1 was lost.
The Warriors' 12-point lead was no fluke. The loss was characterized by multiple Warriors as Golden State letting its foot off the pedal and Boston taking advantage of the Dubs' lull.
And amid that characterization, another word was dropped a few times:
Desperation.
"We have to come out with a sense of desperation in the first quarter and really cement ourselves in terms of what we are trying to do," Curry said. "Play with the same joy, the same aggressiveness that we always do, but have to sustain it over 48 [minutes].
"It's crazy saying that. That's what it should be like in the Finals with two great teams going at it."
"We played about 40 great minutes, which will not get it done at this point in the season," Thompson said Saturday. "It was a harsh reminder, but something we all needed to go through, including myself. It's about how we respond tomorrow, which I am very excited for.
"We are going to play with desperation tomorrow, and I think that's when we are at our best."
If I didn't know any better, I'd say that desperation is something you bring to a must-win game.
Otherwise, what a waste, right?
Yes, Game 1 could serve as a wake-up call for the Dubs at the start of what could be a classic Finals series or a precursor of a Celtic coronation.
It's on the Warriors to determine which way it will go, and you can bet that the Celtics won't be complacent with one win to start the series.
And with outcomes so different, Game 2 is absolutely, 100 percent a must-win game for the Warriors.
Don't let anyone else tell you something different.
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