Harrison Barnes’ game winner puts the Warriors in a bad spot
Fly Black Falcon, fly. Sigh.
It was almost poetic. The kind of cosmic basketball karma that makes you wonder if these things are scripted in advance.
Harrison Barnes—THE BLACK FALCON—draining a buzzer-beating three to send the Warriors spiraling toward the play-in tournament quicksand they’ve desperately been clawing to escape. The same Harrison Barnes who Warriors fans turned on after his dismal shooting performance in the 2016 NBA Finals, just bloodily daggered Chase Center at the buzzer!
The Black Falcon’s redemption arc was truly something to behold. After leaving Golden State for a max contract, watching Kevin Durant take his position and immediately win two Finals MVPs, then bouncing to Sacramento and now San Antonio, Barnes has lived the full “how it started vs. how it’s going” meme experience.
But when he released that game-winner Wednesday night, time froze in Chase Center. Warriors fans collectively experienced PTSD flashbacks to all those bricked wide-open corner threes from the 2016 Cleveland series. Except this time, the shot actually went in. The ultimate plot twist.
What makes this dagger especially delicious (or devastating, depending on your allegiance) is that it came against Jimmy Butler, essentially the third-generation upgrade of Barnes’ small forward position. The Warriors’ front office has systematically upgraded the Harrison Barnes role from good (Barnes) to great (Durant) to All-Star (Wiggins) to six-time All-Star (Butler).
Death. Taxes. Harrison Barnes killing the warriors with his shooting.
— Ballsack Sports (@BallsackSports) April 10, 2025
Yet there was Barnes, outshining Butler when it mattered most. After building a 14-point lead, the Warriors somehow managed to blow it despite Butler’s 28 points. The ultimate “what could have been” moment for a player who once appeared destined to be a cornerstone of the dynasty.
Remember when Barnes was the promising young North Carolina product with unlimited potential? When Mark Jackson boldly predicted he’d be an All-Star? When Warriors fans deemed him untouchable in trade talks? For one beautiful night in San Antonio, Barnes became everything Warriors fans once hoped he’d be—an assassin, a closer, a dagger-thrower.
Warriors may have just gone from hosting a first round playoff series to getting onto a plane for the play-in tournament because of Harrison Barnes. Everything is wrestling.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) April 10, 2025
The Warriors’ playoff picture, once seemingly secure after the Butler acquisition, now hangs in limbo. They’ve slipped into the seventh seed, staring directly at the play-in tournament with Minnesota. All because Harrison Barnes, the ghost of Finals past, returned to haunt the franchise that replaced him with greatness.
Maybe somewhere, LeBron James raised a glass of wine watching the highlight. After all, Barnes’ cold streak in 2016 helped deliver him a championship. Now Barnes’ hot hand might just help deliver the Warriors into playoff purgatory.
The Black Falcon’s revenge, served ice cold after seven years of waiting. And it definitely messed up the Dubs in the standings.