When the bell rings to start the second round of the NBA playoffs for the Lakers and Golden State it will be an incredible series of games combined with a whole lot of colliding history. How it all shakes out is both compelling and legend defining for both franchises. Which team moves on will only add to the legacies of several players who have already notched their names in the NBA Book of Legends. Let’s shake this down.
- If you though containing Ja Morant was a task, wait until we try and contain Steph Curry. The short answer is you can’t. Not just because of Steph’s considerable individual greatness but because most of the Warrior’s offensive schemes are designed to shake Curry loose for a critical half-second and it’s those tiny little moments he gets a quality shot off. Hit the screen hard, Draymond Green or Kevon Looney will take the hit and maybe get a foul called on you. Go under and you’ve added another half-second of time for one of the greatest shooters to lace ’em up to get an even more high quality look. Fight through too hard and Steph will time his shot so you knock into him and get the foul called his way. I don’t think it’s as simple as “put _______ on him” because of the schemes and screens the Warriors deploy. They will seek out a favorable matchup in the half court. In short you’re not containing Curry because the entire Warriors team is built to either get him a clean look or provide a high quality release valve for a Curry pass.
- Contain Klay Thompson then? Sure. Maybe. Put Vando on Klay and deny him open looks could help swing the series our way, a little; but you may be looking at a series of high output/high efficiency games from Steph that may be too much to overcome. Again, because of the sheer volume of screens the Warriors can deploy in the half court you really can’t assign a defender to anyone player. The Warriors find shreds of space and make the absolute most of it. Klay is one of the games best and most intense competitors and will find a way or drive himself mad trying.
- Shut the rest of the Warriors down then? If you watched the Sacramento series (especially the games the Warriors won) the balanced attack they can deploy comes from three areas: outside shooting, mid-range shots in space (which are the shots most teams willingly give up nowadays) and offensive rebounds is nigh-impossible to simply defend and win against. Again, in the half court, the Warriors will beat you…eventually. The Warriors are built and designed for the playoffs when the fast breaks slow down, when tendencies of a specific player or two can be exploited and where the fundamentals shine brighter than the athleticism is capable of. You absolutely have to control the glass which means shutting down both Kevon Looney and Draymond Green along with the board crashing Wiggins and Thompson. This will require a team-wide focus on putting a body on the closest Warrior, even if it’s not your man. We need to win the rebounding game to have a shot of any kind.
- Sounds bleak dude, any other helpful tips? Play at a high pace. Control the tempo. The Warriors play their worst when you speed them up, this is why they struggled so much on the road in the regular season but are doing OK there now in the playoffs. It’s a slower game, more akin to Chess than a pickup game in a park in your neighborhood. You have to match wits and methodology with speed and force the Warriors to play faster than they want. This is something Sacramento lost by the end both because of injuries to Fox and mainly not having much (if any) playoff experience on the squad. the Lakers have players with experience who can play fast, that’s the advantage I believe we possess.
- Can’t play sloppy. Turnovers will lead to break away threes and twos. Too many turnovers (and not boxing out and controlling the glass) will be the death of us so we need to play our best basketball in this series. Chemistry is on the Warriors side, rest is on ours. Win game 1 and get that out of the way, put the pressure (what little they will feel) on the Warriors and defend Crypto. Lose game 1 and all of the pressure will be on guys like Russell, Hachimura, Reaves and The Vandolorian. Every error magnified, every mistake an epic one. Win that first game and try to keep it rolling. We can win if we value every single possession like it could be our last.
I think this one goes 7 games, honestly. Either both teams will win out at home and it’ll come down to an epic game 7 (maybe the most epic semi-finals game in NBA history?) or the Warriors might beat us in 6 if our lack of chemistry and experience starts to show early in the series. This iteration of the Lakers has done a pretty solid job of playing up to the competition so I’m banking on that grit and moxie to make this a series for the record books.
Excellent fiver, Jamie.
I’m actually not worried about the ability of the Lakers’ offense to score on the Warriors’ defense. I think we’re going to destroy them on offense and Anthony Davis is going to dominate Green and Looney in the paint. I also think Dlo is going to have a stellar series against his old team.
The key to me is the Lakers’ defense need to be able to slow down the Warriors’ offense. I think you’re right that it’s going to be hard to play Steph and his teammates in a one-on-one situation. That would mean defenders trailing after Steph and Klay put them in jail. No thank you.
Lakers need to switch everything on defense and trap whenever they try to isolate Russell. That will keep defenders in front of shooters and allow AD to stay midway where he can cover the ball and the rim. Switch everything is the only way to preserve energy as the Warriors run around like wildmen.
The formula for the Lakers to win is simple. Outscore the Warriors in the paint and at the line by more than they outscore us from the 3-point line. Offense needs to score in the paint and from the line. Defense needs to limit paint points and free throws. KISS!
“Can’t play sloppy. Turnovers will lead to break away threes and twos. Too many turnovers (and not boxing out and controlling the glass) will be the death of us so we need to play our best basketball in this series.”
That is the biggest problem right there. It is the one area I would like us to make sure doesn’t happen.