Unheralded Warriors, waiting for Curry’s return, showing their championship standard remains

HOUSTON – LJ Cryer, playing in front of a hometown crowd in Houston that included his parents and his girlfriend, was baffled to begin overtime. 

Playing in his first game since Jan. 25, the undrafted rookie guard had gone from surprised to just to be making the road trip, to starting the extra period for the Warriors Thursday night in his first game back from a hamstring injury. 

“I wasn’t expecting to go back in … but you’ve got to be prepared for anything,” Cryer said. “First NBA overtime, they threw me in there, so I just wanted to make the most of it.”

But instead of wilting under the pressure of unforeseen circumstances, the Houstonian on a two-way contract steeled himself against the Rockets and even made a 3-pointer.

By the time his night was done, Cryer’s stat line read: 20 minutes, 12 points, five fouls and a crucial role in one unforgettable 115-113 victory. 

He was one of three two-way players – Malevy Leons and Nate Williams – who saw major minutes for the Warriors Thursday. Perhaps, Cryer posited, their anonymity was a strength. 

“Playing against Kevin Durant and a lot of those bigger guys, they probably didn’t even know who were were when we checked in,” Cryer said. “We had to go out there and be the aggressors and show them.”

Their names might have been unknown, but the effort they showed was the kind Golden State has long-prided itself on. 

After the improbable win, Draymond Green sat at his locker, knees still wrapped in ice after battling former teammate championship Durant and the burly Alperen Sengun for almost three hours. 

Despite having six rotation players on the injury report, Green and the Warriors have not let such circumstances dictate their effort. 

After all, grit is the expectation for a franchise and a locker room that has won four titles in the past 11 years. 

The cavalcade of three-pointers is still there – Golden State leads the league in long-range attempts at 45.4 per game – and the beautiful passing is still around, albeit in smaller doses since the raw talent has filtered out. 

But that hustle, that desire to dive for a loose ball, that remains. 

“You don’t become a championship organization without guys like that, and that’s what we are,” Green said. “We’re a championship organization, and there’s a standard here. You have to play hard.”

Helping maintain that tone of eternal optimism tinged with gumption is Steve Kerr, who gleefully added another gutsy win over Houston to a resume packed with them. 

Since the trade deadline reshaped the roster, Kerr has repeatedly emphasized that he finds the current group a blast to coach, even as Steph Curry remains out with runner’s knee. 

“The mentality is right, and we have to keep plugging away,” Kerr said. “Tonight was really fun.”

Even while sidelined, Curry remains a positive presence in a Warriors locker room that is patiently waiting for his return. 

“Keep going, I know it’s tough, but (I) promise you, I’m coming back,” is what Green said Curry texted him. 

Playing in the toughest conference, the Warriors remain over .500 at 32-30, rebounding from tough losses with unexpected wins against teams that, perhaps, believed they had an easy night against them.

While the Warriors lost two in a row to the Lakers and Clippers, they also defeated Denver and now the Rockets at nearly full strength. 

Golden State is 5-7 without Curry. Not a spectacular record by any means, but enough to stay above water. 

“If his body allows him to get back, I know he will come back,” Green said. “He’s not wanting to shut it down. For us, just gotta stay afloat.”

Golden State will have its rough nights, when effort is not enough to beat superior talent or shot-making ability. That could be Saturday, when the team flies to Oklahoma City to play the top-seeded Thunder in Tornado Alley. 

But if there is one thing the Warriors have demonstrated with 20 games left in the season, it’s their desire to win. 

In a league now packed with tanking teams, the Warriors instead push in a different direction. And their drive is still evident, embodied by a singular focus from those destined for the Hall of Fame all the way down to an unheralded hometown hero hanging onto an NBA roster spot.