Most people will cite the Golden State Warriors’ late game decisions as reasons for their tough loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, in a game they led by as many as 18 points.
Klay Thompson’s two ill-advised shots, which were well defended and well cleared and had virtually no chance of getting into the goal. The much-publicized non-decision to blow three led to Chet Holmgren – who scored a career-high 36 points to go along with 10 rebounds and 5 assists – a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
The late-game heroics of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a bona fide superstar and All-NBA talent. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game with 40 points on 18 of 29 shooting from the field and a shooting percentage of 66.9%.
But the game really got lost in the third quarter – the Thunder won 34-26. A 61-51 halftime lead for the Warriors increased to an 18-point lead at 6:54 of the third quarter (79-61). At the end of the third period, that lead was reduced to just two – 87-85.
After a half in which the Warriors corrected some things they needed to address on defense after the first game against the Thunder, a few details were missed in the second half – especially the little things.
It may sound like I’m focusing on nits, but at this level the Warriors need to pay attention if they want to compete. “Okay” is not okay. “Good enough” isn’t actually enough. “Close, but not quite” is still a loss.
The Warriors need to be elite and near flawless – and the brutal truth right now is that they are miles away from that.
The details I’m referring to, for example:
When Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins come over to double Jalen Williams, it’s Thompson’s responsibility to help the reliever and “sink in” against Holmgren. The aim is to get in front of Holmgren, attack him and make it difficult for him to catch all the passes cleanly.
But Thompson doesn’t take the lead and lets Holmgren catch the lob.
At other moments there was an obvious lack of effort to resist, particularly at the point of attack. Gilgeous-Alexander is a top scorer and finds ways to score against even the toughest defense, as his overtime heroics proved.
But cases like the following, in which he outsmarts Andrew Wiggins easily and without much effort, were also commonplace:
Dario Šarić as the only center in the lineup is also something the Warriors shouldn’t do in my opinion. The defensive duties thrust upon him as a five-man were too much for him – and against teams with superior pick-and-roll operators who are masters of scoring in space, it’s just too much when a defensively weakened one Players in the room defending demand a lot from him.
With Šarić as a roll-man defender in the pick-and-roll, he gets to the level of the screen against Gilgeous-Alexander, with Wiggins trying to push him away from the screen and to the sideline. But Gilgeous-Alexander takes matters into his own hands by refusing the canvas, switching gears and charging at Šarić, who can’t contain him and flies past him.
Almost the same obsession happens later:
As the Thunder execute a roll-and-replace action — with Isaiah Joe lifting from the dunker spot to the top of the arc while Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren simultaneously execute a ball-screen action — Šarić rises to the level the screen. However, with Jonathan Kuminga falling behind and unable to switch to Holmgren late, Gilgeous-Alexander Šarić attacks and lobs Holmgren for an alley-oop.
When in possession, the Warriors switch their pick-and-roll coverage: Kuminga switches to Holmgreen at the time of attack, while Šarić is expected to switch to Gilgeous-Alexander. However:
When Gilgeous-Alexander realizes that Šarić is giving him too much space, he steps back and calmly practices the three-pointer in front of Šarić.
It certainly felt like Gilgeous-Alexander could do whatever he wanted with Šarić at the Fives:
The fact that Šarić was the only tall player made it defensively untenable. Prior to this game, according to Cleaning The Glass, the Warriors’ opponents scored 116.6 points per 100 possessions in lineups where Šarić was fifth (353 possessions). That corresponds to the 25th best defense in the NBA without wasting time.
But when he’s on the four-man roster and has someone next to him who can legitimately play center (Kevon Looney, Trayce Jackson-Davis or Draymond Green), the Warriors’ opponents averaged 102.4 points per 100 possessions (208 possessions). – almost four points stingier than the best defensive team in the league, according to Cleaning The Glass.
Both the numbers and the eye test conclude that Šarić is not a true center who can anchor a half-court defense. He needs a real center at his side to be successful and to ease his defensive responsibilities.
A Kuminga turnover means the Warriors will have to keep up quickly on the other side – meaning there’s a higher chance of a mismatch. Sarić is forced to defend Gilgeous-Alexander in isolation, and while he forces the miss, that means the only big ball is pulled away from the rim – and Holmgren can easily catch the rebound and putback.
Another turnover on the next possession – an over-the-head pass from Curry that teams have scouted and expect quite extensively – leads to another Thunder bucket:
It was one of 16 turnovers by the Warriors, which resulted in the Thunder scoring 26 fewer points on turnovers. At this point, the turnover problem – even if it’s not as bad as last season (yet) – is something that everyone has to accept and that comes with the package. The answer is obvious: just don’t turn the ball over. But because of their style of play and the way they want to score points on offense, turnovers are the high risk that is always there when they want a high reward.
These – along with lineup decisions, positional conflicts and the little details they need to pay attention to in order to succeed at the highest level – are something they need to address. There is still enough time for that. But they reach a point where it will be extremely difficult to give up bad habits.
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