The 67-15 Golden State Warriors lost their first playoff game and third contest all season at Oracle Arena on Tuesday night. Time for sweeping changes in advance of tomorrow’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies, right?
Steve Kerr thinks so.
In response to his team’s 97-90 Game 2 loss, the Coach of the Year runner-up said the Warriors would make major adjustments – even bringing the recently crowned MVP off the bench.
Kerr says #Warriors are "changing everything" after Game 2 loss — "triangle offense, zone defense, Steph off the bench."
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) May 7, 2015
Was Steph Curry’s 19-point, 5-rebound, 6-assist performance really that bad? Certainly not. But a coach’s decision is never surface-layer; there must be another reason for Kerr’s choice. Perhaps to avoid Curry being matched-up with Mike Conley? The Grizzlies point guard was brilliant in Game 2, after all, and is primed for similar success with given additional time to recover from surgery to repair facial fractures.
Another, possibly more likely reaction to Kerr’s quip: He was joking. But his sarcasm still provides us an opportunity to pump the brakes on a developing thought that Golden State shouldn’t be favored to win this series.
We’re nearly three weeks into the postseason. All teams that advance to the playoffs are worthy opponents, but the cream has risen to the top come the second-round. These are basketball’s best teams. And remember, it wasn’t long ago the Grizzlies were considered top-line title contenders the likes of the Warriors or the ousted San Antonio Spurs.
Memphis is very, very good, a squad capable of beating any in the league over a seven-game series, let alone on a single night. But Golden State is the most popular title pick for reasons they mostly didn’t display during Game 2; the question now is if they will against the Grizzlies going forward/
No one knows for sure. What Kerr understands better than anyone, however, is the ways to get the best from his team beginning tomorrow night. Rest assured that they don’t involve benching the MVP, either.
