Fans react to Warriors' Game 5 loss and Curry's fall

ALAMEDA (KTVU) - Strength in numbers never meant so much as on Monday night, when Golden State Warriors' fans held their breath for a Game 5 that had their MVP Steph Curry take a hard tumble, leave the game, and then return for a near-comeback in the second half.

It was a test for the Warriors' true believers.

Official watch parties such as the family-friendly night at Alameda Theatre drew crowds of blue-and-gold-clad fans. With a collective cringe, more than 700 fans watched the silver screen and saw Curry's shocking somersault over a Houston Rockets player.

Curry hit the ground hard and the stunned faces of fans feeling Curry's pain showed how quickly worries over winning a game can turn to worries over the well-being of a well-loved player.

The crowd's admiration held fast, though, even with Curry gone, for the strength in numbers of the team that kept on playing.

"Curry's the first guy, but you have to talk about everybody and bring the team together," said Hein Tu of Alameda.

"Let's go Warriors, bum, bum, buh-duh-dum," cheered 4-year-old Brianna Wong of Oakland who has been to 30 Warriors games.

Judith Marsh of Alameda remembers having season tickets with her late husband going back decades.

"I'm still a Warriors fan. It's never changed for me," Marsh said, reminiscing over the ups and downs over the years. The team's late rally gave fans hope.

"We love it. We want them to score, we want them to sweep tonight," said Lease Wong of Alameda.

After four decades of Golden State NBA title drought, the Warriors don't have fair-weather fans.

The fans who showed their colors Monday night are the gold and blue, tried and true believers to the end.

"We got it next game. We got it next game," said Sherwin Viray of Pinole.

"They could have done a lot better, both teams but I mean, they went out fighting, they took a loss fighting," said Jaden Lewis of Alameda.

Brian Hunter of Pinole was there with his son Imannul.

"I thought they were going to pull it out tonight, came out excited to see. Terrible thing that happened to Curry but we have another game so there's still hope," Brian Hunter said.

Many fans said they already have tickets to Game 6. Others plan to return to the watch parties, where a portion of the proceeds benefit the Warriors' Foundation. Something that makes for a win, no matter what happens with the game.