Lowell Cohn: Warriors need to find way to counter Thunder’s punch

This is about the Warriors, but first a little boxing. There’s something you need to understand, and no sport explains winning and losing better than boxing.

On Sept. 23, 1952, Jersey Joe Walcott defended his heavyweight championship against Rocky Marciano in Philly. Walcott knocked down Marciano in the first round with a perfect left hook to the jaw, a hook that sent Marciano flying backward across the ring. Marciano got up at four.

Walcott probably was a better athlete than Marciano, more agile, quicker on his feet. Certainly more elegant. Going into the 13th round, Walcott was ahead on all three cards. Was giving Marciano a boxing lesson. And then Marciano landed the greatest right cross in the history of boxing, sent Walcott into a dream and won the title by a knockout.

In boxing, the more dazzling fighter does not always win. You let a puncher hang around and he will wear you down. And he will finish you. Marciano finished Walcott.

And the Oklahoma City Thunder, a puncher if there ever was one, hung around in Game 1 and finished the Warriors. The Warriors got off fast like Walcott and then coasted - maybe they thought this would be easy. And the Thunder stayed with the Warriors, were tougher than the Warriors, and then landed the right hand.

There is something to be said for grit, persistence and sheer determination. And the Thunder had it and the Warriors did not.

Now, the Warriors are telling themselves fairy tales. Steve Kerr is telling himself a fairy tale.

“We’re fine,” he said to the media on Tuesday. “We’ve been through this. We haven’t lost a Game 1, but last year we lost two home games in the playoffs. So, twice we were forced to go on the road and down 2-1 on the road without home court. We know what we have to do.”

Well, wait a minute. Is it true the Warriors know what to do? They didn’t know what to do in Game 1. Who says they know what to do now? Kerr and his players have taken to portraying Game 1 as part of the program. Business as usual. No big deal. These things happen.

They recite last year’s playoff history as a lesson to their advantage. They were down twice and still won the championship. They lost home games in the playoffs. It’s all accounted for.

Except last season, the Warriors never dropped Game 1 at home in any series. Losing Game 1 at home was serious. Is serious. The Warriors showed a vulnerability and sheer carelessness we have not seen. They were Walcott and, like Walcott, they faded. And lost.

“This is what it’s about,” Kerr said, putting the best spin on things. “I was part of five championship teams as a player. It was never easy. Every team I was on that won a title lost at least a home game during the playoffs. So it happens. There’s a reason we pour champagne on each other’s heads when we win. It’s hard and it’s a grind and this is a great reminder of that.”

You could make a case the Thunder’s roster is as talented as the Warriors’. Take the top six players on each team and the Thunder may be better. It’s certainly a discussion. You could make the case Billy Donovan is coaching the Thunder as well as Kerr coaches the Warriors. We canonize the Warriors around here - for good reason - but the rest of the country may be more skeptical.

Stephen Curry did not do what the Warriors needed in Game 1. Was horrible in the fourth quarter. Draymond Green scored points, but was weak on the boards, could not contend with the giants in the Thunder’s frontcourt. Curry and Green need to deliver. Fast.

If the Warriors lose Game 2, the world suddenly will become a very hard place for them. Down 2-0 and heading to OKC, they will not win this series. Game 2 is a must-win game. Usually “must-win” is a cliché. Not this time around.

No one is saying the Warriors will lose Game 2. In a sense, they are lucky. They get to show their character. I’m using character in the sports sense - their guts, their refusal to lose, to go away. Their ability to play as a team, something they didn’t do on Monday. Well, not for 48 minutes.

The Thunder showed their character on Monday. They were playing badly. They fell behind by 14 points. Took the big left hook. But they kept coming. Just kept coming. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook don’t get along. You could see them bickering on the floor. But they kept coming.

Now, the Warriors can do what the Thunder did. They are behind. They are in a bad place, but not an impossible place. Beat the Thunder. Keep coming. Win Game 2 and put things right. Demonstrate your character to the world.

“This is not the NCAA tournament,” Kerr said Tuesday. “We’re not going home. We’re coming back to play again. One team’s got to beat the other four times. The best team wins. We’ve got to try to be that best team.”

On May 15, 1953, Marciano gave Walcott a rematch. Chicago. Rocky knocked out Walcott at 2:25. First round.

It was a character issue. Usually is.

The Warriors need to be Rocky. Leave Walcott to the Thunder.

For more on the world of sports in general and the Bay Area in particular, go to the Cohn Zohn at cohn.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at lowell.cohn@pressdemocrat.com.