Sports // Golden State Warriors
May 20, 2022 Updated: May 20, 2022 8:49 p.m.
Kevan Looney № 5 of the Golden State Warriors celebrated a clash with teammates at the end of the third quarter against the Dallas Mavericks in the second game of the finals of the Western Conference of the 2022 NBA Playoffs at the Chase Center on May 20, 2022 in San Francisco, California.
Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images
Golden State Warriors center Kevan Looney plays at another level in the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.
In the victory in match 1 on Wednesday night, he made all five of his attempts from the field, grabbed five rebounds and gave four assists. He followed this with bright results from match 2 on Friday night: 21 points, 12 rebounds and 10-14 shots from the field. 21 points were the peak of his career (regular or post-season) and according to StatMuse he became the first center of the Warriors after Robert Parish in 1977, who has 20 points and 10 rebounds in the playoffs.
Star Wars came out in 1977, Jimmy Carter was only four months in office, and Jerry Brown was governor of California. (Well, maybe this last factoid makes him feel not so long ago.)
Looney was so good on this stretch that he even received “MVP” chants from the Chase Center crowd as he fired free throws in the third quarter. The center saw extended minutes in the second half after his teammate Draymond Green got into trouble with a foul.
Green recorded his fifth foul in the middle of the third quarter and dropped out after just over two minutes in the fourth quarter. Luney returned to action and late grabbed two massive defensive fights.
The Warriors are leading 2-0 in the series, and Game 3 is scheduled for Sunday night.
Eric Ting is the political editor of SFGATE. He was born in East Bay with a master’s degree in journalism from Stanford University. Eric holds a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College, where he studied politics and economics. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com
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