With a convincing victory against the

Sacramento Kings in Game 3 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series, the Golden State Warriors were able to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Warriors started off strong and kept up their momentum the entire game, with five players scoring in double digits. Stephen Curry had a game-high 36 points, while Jordan Poole chipped in with 16. However, NBA legend Charles Barkley dismissed the championship hopes for the Warriors during a recent TNT post-game analysis segment despite the Dubs’ brilliant comeback.

Barkley’s claims come in the wake of his bold Stephen Curry statement made at the expense of his friend

Shaquille O’Neal during a recent TNT show.

Charles Barkley comments on Game 3

The crew of Inside the NBA recently got together to skim through the highlights of the game. The crew comprising of Shaq, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson chimed in with their insights while doing so. Former NBA player Kenny Smith shared his concerns on the current developments.

He wanted to see how the Sacramento Kings will keep up their composure in the face of pressure. Smith said, “

I’m not sure how the Kings will manage the pressure of winning a game seven, if they can’t take the pressure of going up 3-1.” However, Charles Barkley was quick to defend the Kings.

Barkley said,

“I disagree with him. I think the Kings’ still in control of this series. They don’t have to win in San Francisco. They got to win in Sacramento. The Golden State played like a team that was down 2 zip, going back home. They played with great energy. They played with great desperation.”

He continued,

“Sacramento just got to shoot the ball a lot better. They got to get some defensive rebounding.” Barkley then told the crew what he thought about the Warriors’ performance. He said, “I think that they played with great energy and desperation, but there’s nothing that I saw tonight to say oh Golden State’s gonna come back and win this series.”

Hence, Barkley decided to choose the inexperienced Sacramento side over the defending champions.

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Barkley’s claim about Stephen Curry

The Golden State Warriors dominated the court, never trailed, and held up with a lead of 23 points. Incidentally, with 53 games of 30 or more points, Steph Curry has a remarkable postseason record and is on the 10th spot of the list of most 30-point games. Charles Barkley hilariously made an attempt to get on the list. But with 28 of these games, he comes in at number 24.

Hence, Shaq took a dig at Chuck, “You ain’t on that list.” Charles Barkley responded with,“Yeah, Steph was a better player than you.”

Shaquille O’Neal agreed with Chuck. He said, “Yeah, you’re right”

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Despite the crew joking around, Shaquille O’Neal has always been a fanboy of Curry. His admission to Chuck’s claim reinforces just that.