5 Best Playoff Moments in Golden State Warriors History (2024)

As a franchise, the Golden State Warriors have made 10 appearances in the NBA Finals and have collected seven NBA titles. Their legacy is long and storied, as the team has featured some of the greatest talents to ever play the game.

Their first championship win came in 1947, when they were still known as the Philadelphia Warriors. They defeated the Chicago Stags in the championship series when the league was once known as the BAA (Basketball Association of America). Since then, they've also been led to titles by Paul Airizin in 1956, Rick Barry in 1975, and four championships courtesy of Stephen Curry between 2015 and 2022.

Sure, the Warriors have gone all the way to the final series of the NBA's postseason plenty of times in their history, but the series leading up to their appearances on the game's biggest stage also provide some of the most iconic plays and memorable moments that they've offered to the league. Encompassing the Warriors' entire postseason history, here are the Golden State Warriors' 5 best moments in the playoffs.

5 Rick Barry's Historic Game 3

Barry's 55-point explosion in the 1967 NBA Finals was one for the record books.

After a 1966-67 season where Rick Barry led the NBA in scoring, the offense-reliant Barry would lead his team through the 1967 NBA Playoffs with some incredible scoring performances.

In just his second NBA season, and his first playoff run at only 23-years-old, Barry was unstoppable, averaging 30.6 points through the first two rounds of the playoffs, leading up to his first NBA Finals series. Somehow, this number was below his regular season scoring average, as he took home the league's scoring title with 35.6 points while shooting 45.1 percent from the field.

After taking care of the rest of the Western Conference, Barry met the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Finals, set to battle against the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Billy Cunningham and Chet Walker.

The series started out rough for Barry and the Warriors, losing the first two games of the series and finding themselves in a 2-0 hole heading into Game 3. Since the Warriors had their first chance to play at home in that game, Barry wasted no time, taking advantage of suiting up in San Francisco.

Barry would assume a mentality of, 'get me the ball and get out of the way,' in Game 3, taking 48 shot attempts and sinking 22 of those to score an unbelievable 55 points. To this day, it stands as the second-most points ever scored in a Finals contest, tied with Michael Jordan and only trailing Elgin Baylor's 61-point performance in the 1961 Finals.

Even more improbable, the Warriors were able to pull out a win over the dominant 76ers, who were the winners of 68 games in the regular season. Chamberlain scored 26 points and brought down 26 rebounds, but it wasn't enough, as Barry's incredible scoring performance kept San Francisco in the series. However, the 76ers would win the series after a hard-fought six games.

4 Kevin Durant Seals First Championship with One Shot

Durant's game-winning shot in Game 3 of the 2017 Finals effectively ended the series

The Golden State Warriors met LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers in their third straight NBA Finals against each other in 2017, but it was the first series where the Warriors threw 2014 NBA MVP, Kevin Durant, into the fold. Durant would prove to make all the difference in the series, making an already-unbeatable team in Golden State even more dominant.

The Warriors led the series 2-0 when they arrived in Cleveland for what could have been a series-deciding Game 3, as it would essentially be impossible for the Cavaliers to come back from a 3-0 deficit. This was even after the Cavaliers had pulled off the greatest comeback in the league's history a year prior, winning the 2016 NBA Finals after trailing 3-1 in the series.

Now, with the presence of Durant as the Warriors' added security blanket, a win would surely finish things for Cleveland. The Cavaliers, despite being clearly undermanned, were resilient in Game 3, even maintaining a two-point, 113-111 lead with less than a minute remaining.

After a Kyle Korver missed three-pointer for the Cavaliers, Durant came down with the rebound with his eyes on changing the complexion of the game. As the clock dipped to less than a minute left, Durant shot a three-pointer over the contest of James, which he knocked down to give the Warriors a 114-113 lead, one they would not let go of for the rest of the game.

Durant's huge three-pointer contributed largely to putting a close to the series. Durant and the Warriors would later win the NBA Finals in five games over Cleveland, securing their second title in three seasons, and recording the best postseason record in the history of the league, finishing at 16-1 on their way to the championship and Durant's first NBA Finals MVP award.

3 'Game 6 Klay' Sinks 11 Three-Pointers in Record-Breaking Performance

On the brink of elimination from the WCF, Thompson caught fire from deep against Oklahoma City.

The Warriors found themselves in a 3-1 series deficit against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2016 Western Conference Finals, only needing to be on the losing end of one more game to be eliminated from the postseason. The best regular season team of all time, fresh off of a record-breaking 73 wins, were on the verge of being the most disappointing team in the history of the league.

With Golden State down on their luck against another juggernaut in their conference, they won Game 5 of the series on their home floor, keeping a semblance of hope alive. Game 6 in Oklahoma City could have been where the Warriors' dream season came to an abrupt end. Then, when the team needed a hero more than ever, Klay Thompson took center stage.

Thompson, the other half of the famed 'Splash Brothers' duo with Curry, had a reputation for getting hot in a hurry from three-point range. As another one of the greatest shooters the game has ever seen, the two-way guard had moments where he looked as if he could not possibly miss.

He is famously known for dropping an NBA record 37 points in a single quarter against the Sacramento Kings during the 2014-15 season, officially putting him on notice as one of the best players in the league when he catches fire. Though his reputation preceded him, his team was entering a must-win game to keep their season alive, but Thompson stepped up in a major way.

Thompson started out the game red-hot, scoring 16 first-half points with four three-pointers. In the second half, Thompson turned the dial up to 11. By scoring 25 second-half points on a blistering 70 percent shooting from distance, Thompson led the Warriors to a close win in Oklahoma City, forcing a Game 7 at Oracle Arena.

Thompson's 41 points were critical, and his 11 made three-pointers broke the record for most three-pointers made in a playoff game. Of his 25 points in the second half, 19 came in the fourth quarter, which helped the Warriors keep pace with a talented Thunder team. Thompson's remarkable night led to him receiving the 'Game 6 Klay' moniker.

The Warriors would end up taking Game 7 at home, defeating the Thunder and coming back from a 3-1 deficit to make it back to the NBA Finals in dramatic fashion.

Though they'd make it back to the championship series, they'd ironically blow a 3-1 lead in the Finals themselves, performing one of the biggest collapses in history after one of the greatest comebacks the league had ever seen.

2 Baron Davis Throws Down Iconic Dunk Against Jazz

Davis' slam came after the Warriors performed one of the greatest upsets in playoff history.

In 2007, the lowly Warriors snuck into the NBA playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference, set to face off against the 67-15 Dallas Mavericks led by 2007 NBA MVP, Dirk Nowtizki.

The Warriors were composed of an interesting assortment of talent, including several players who were on the verge of being stars, but didn't exactly fit the mold of a go-to option. This applied to their forward Stephen Jackson, and guard Jason Richardson, but not to their point guard, Baron Davis.

In the first round against the Mavericks, Davis would average 25 points to lead the Warriors to a six-game series victory, completing the biggest upset in the history of the sport.

As the first team to ever defeat the No. 1 seed as the No. 8 seed in a seven-game first-round playoff format, the Warriors did the unthinkable, but they had to get ready for their opponent in the second round, the Utah Jazz.

In Game 3 of the second round against Utah, trailing the series 2-0, the Warriors were fighting for their playoff lives in a situation no one thought they'd be in. Despite this, Davis and the Warriors performed spectacularly in their home territory, leading the Jazz by a score of 119-99 with 2:50 remaining as Davis handled the ball on the left wing.

Davis, after turning on the wing and driving past former NBA All-Star, Deron Williams, would drive into the paint with reckless abandon and throw down one of the most memorable dunks in NBA history over the towering Andrei Kirilenko, sealing a Game 3 win. After Davis' iconic jam, Oracle Arena exploded, and former ESPN commentator, Mike Tirico, let the viewers at home know who Oracle Arena belonged to after Dallas took a break.

1 Stephen Curry's Step-Back Dagger

Curry kept the Warriors' championship hopes alive in the 2022 Finals.

After what was perceived as the collapse of the Warriors' dynasty following injuries to Klay Thompson and the departure of Kevin Durant, the national media was quick to write Golden State off as contenders for the next several years. Some even went as far as saying that the Warriors would never make it back to the NBA Finals in the Curry era.

After five straight NBA Finals appearances from 2015-2019, the Warriors won 15 games in 2020, and lost in the Play-In Tournament in 2021. Curry, after being eliminated from the Play-In, famously uttered a phrase during his media availability that would put the Warriors under pressure to show the league that they were still around for the long haul.

The very next season, Golden State defied the odds by making the playoffs as the No. 3 seed in the West, promptly running through the rest of the conference in the playoffs to get back to the NBA Finals.

The opponent that awaited was no easy task, as the Boston Celtics looked to stop Curry and Golden State from reaching the mountain-top. The Celtics sported several superstar players and key role players, like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year.

The Celtics took a quick 2-1 lead in the series, setting up a must-win Game 3 in Boston's TD Garden. With their backs against the wall and facing a 3-1 deficit with a loss in enemy territory, Curry put on a show. In what may be the best game of his storied career, he'd put the Warriors on his back, finishing with 43 points on seven made three-pointers, topped off by some late-game heroics.

With 1:42 left in the contest and a three-point lead, Draymond Green rushed across half-court with the ball. With Curry trailing the play, Green stopped, throwing a quick pass to his star guard. After a short step-back, Curry knocked down a huge three-pointer over the contest of Derrick White, giving his team a six-point lead.

Following his massive shot, Curry would run down the sideline, celebrating the eventual win with nearly two minutes remaining. After hitting several clutch free throws, Curry completed the Warriors' Game 4 victory.

He would then lead the Warriors to two more wins, raising the 2022 NBA championship on Boston's home court and securing his first NBA Finals MVP award.

Curry's amazing, pressure-filled night helped end the media's talking points where they had previously denoted Curry as a player that couldn't win as a team's clear-cut leader and best player. Though the Game 4 victory led to Curry's fourth title, it was clearly the latest championship victory that was the most meaningful for the legendary point guard.