The Warriors Are So Good and It Doesn’t Make Sense
Since not too much happened last night, I wanted to talk about the Warriors’ pure domination of the Nets. From their exquisite play in the 3rd quarter to their swarming defense, the Warriors certainly deserve all the credit they’re getting right now.
Golden State Warriors (117) vs Brooklyn Nets (99)
This game featured a lot of star power, a lot of scoring, and oh wait, the Warriors won convincingly. That was anti-climactic.
The Warriors and their dominant defense held the Nets in check, running away with things in the 2nd half. Let’s talk about it.
Golden State Warriors
The Warriors are pretty good at this whole basketball thing. Their swarming defense swallowed Brooklyn whole and their offense didn’t hold back. Their fast-paced play and superb play on both sides of the ball continue to enforce the fact that they are the best team in basketball.
Blitzing The Pick-and-Roll
The Warriors blitzed the crap out of the Nets last night. The Nets tried to target Steph Curry in the pick-and-roll early on and got burned a few times due to poor rotations. But more often than not, that blitzing defense created chaos for the Warriors, in their favor.
James Harden receives a screen from Bruce Brown and is coming downhill. Harden’s original defender, Wiggins, is right on his heels. Steph Curry, who is guarding Bruce Brown, steps up to contest Harden in the lane. Curry gets his hands on the pass, engulfing Harden, and the Warriors are going the other way.
Even if Harden somehow got this pass-through traffic, Kevon Looney is lurking on the weak side for the steal.
Later on, still in the 1st quarter, KD gets a screen from Blake Griffin. Draymond Green shades KD and Nemanja Bjelica steps up on Kevin Durant. This leaves Blake Griffin open on the roll, but the Warriors close off the passing lanes again.
This is a lazy pass from KD and a great recovery from Draymond Green. And if you look on the left side of the image, Andrew Wiggins is waiting to rotate over to Blake Griffin.
Ok, last one. Harden is being guarded on the left side by the pesky Gary Payton II. He gets a screen from Aldridge and tries to get downhill. But Kevon Looney, who was guarding Aldridge, is there to challenge him. So, Harden tries to pass the ball back to Aldridge. I think you know how this ends.
The Glove Jr. makes a leaping steal and the Warriors are once again off and running. You might want to try making safer passes Brooklyn. Just food for thought.
The Warriors Are Kings Of The 3rd Quarter
Similar to their championship-winning seasons, the Warriors are a dominant 3rd quarter team once again. After the halftime break, they seemingly always have an advantage against their opponent. Last night against Brooklyn, the Warriors outscored the Nets 35-18 in the 3rd quarter. The Warriors’ combination of great defense and more energy helped them run away with things.
And that is just a continuation of the great defense the Warriors have been playing in the 3rd quarters of games this season.
Golden State’s Defense In The 3rd Quarter This Season
37% Opponent FG% (1st)
29% Opponent 3-PT% (6th)
4.4 Opponent TO (T-3rd)
2.7 Steals (2nd)
21.8 points allowed (1st)
83.3 DRtg (1st)
The Warriors’ defense in the 3rd quarter this season has been elite. They force turnovers and bad shots, as we saw in the Nets game. Their great defense allows their offense to thrive, which has been happening.
Golden State’s Offense In The 3rd Quarter This Season
30.6 points (1st)
49.3% FG (1st)
37.1% 3-PT (7th)
7.5 Assists (1st)
117.2 ORtg (1st)
When you have a 33.9 net rating in a single quarter for the season, you know you’re doing something right. The Warriors have been dominating the 3rd quarter of games, outscoring their opponents by nearly 9 points.
Great teams always have moments where they impose their will on you, and the Warriors’ time is the 3rd quarter.
Stephen Curry Is Unfair
I know that everybody already knows this, but the things he does regularly are incredible. Just look at this stat line;
37 points – 7 rebounds – 5 assists – 63% FG – 9 3-PM
Curry notched his 37th career game with 9+ three-pointers made in a game. He passed the 2,900 mark for 3-pointers during the regular season and is rapidly approaching the record set by Ray Allen. His off-ball movement and the pressure he puts on defenses is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.
And he’s a little bit crazy.
Now it’s just time to wait until Klay Thompson returns from injury.
Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets looked dead in this game. After a strong start, their energy on both ends of the floor was nonexistent. They couldn’t keep up with the Warriors’ fast pace and just fell apart in the 2nd half. It was a disappointing game in what could very well be a Finals preview for the Nets.
The Bench Is Holding Them Back
With the departure of Jeff Green and Landry Shamet this offseason, it was only logical to expect a step back from the Nets’ bench unit. When you lose two of the best role players in the NBA, that kind of thing will happen. But what we’ve seen from the Nets’ bench unit this season? It’s concerning.
With Joe Harris out, Patty Mills got the starting nod. While that keeps the starting lineup lethal, it revealed how poor the bench is when Patty Mills isn’t with them. Aside from garbage time minutes to the rookies, I can’t say I like the Nets’ depth.
DeAndre’ Bembry? Jevon Carter? LaMarcus Aldridge? No offense, but those guys can’t be key contributors on a championship team. Even with Patty Mills being their 6th man, I don’t love what Steve Nash is having to throw out there in games.
And it’s not like the Nets can make any trades. They don’t have any money and most of their players are too valuable to let go. Unless they want to let go of Joe Harris (unlikely), they’re stuck with this bench. That isn’t ideal in the playoffs when you can’t just rely on your starters to win you games.
The Defense Still Needs A Lot Of Work
The Nets have been playing a switching defense all season and it’s been surprisingly effective. Given their lack of versatility and size, their defense had been thriving nonetheless. That all ended last night.
Early on in the first quarter, Steph Curry gets a screen on the left side of the court. Blake Griffin switches onto him, etc, etc, etc.
Might not want to do that against the best shooter ever.
Curry gets a screen near the logo from Bjelica. Blake Griffin is again switched onto him. You know the rest.
Again with Blake Griffin? We have to give him the purple heart or something, like Dan Majerle.
In transition, Griffin is late getting through an Otto Porter Jr. screen and Curry does that thing that he always does.
This one is a doozy. Griffin switches onto Curry off-ball on the right side of the floor.
And then Curry precedes to just dance around Griffin (most of it without the ball) en route to an easy score.
The moral of the story? Don’t switch against Steph Curry. The end.
Scared Hours
Crypto.Com Arena?
(Rant incoming)
Remember what I said about there not being much to talk about from last night? Yeah, I take that back now. I promise you’ll care about this story by the end.
For over two decades, the Clippers and Lakers have played their home games at Staples Center. The stadium is beloved, filled with history, and it had a classical feel to it. There have been so many moments in that stadium, so much history, it’s become synonymous with the Lakers’ brand.
So why the hell are they now calling it Crypto.com Arena? I get that Staples didn’t want to pay to have their name on the stadium anymore, but why Crypto.com? Why does there have to be a .com in the name? I’m going to a basketball game, not a website. Money talks and stadium names are a part of the business, but were there any better options?
Why couldn’t they have called it Office Depot Arena? I’m impartial to Office Max Center. Anything would be better than Crypto.com Arena. Ugh.
What Are Your Thoughts From Last Night’s Games? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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