The Warriors looked like their regular season behemoth Monday night during their 101-84 victory over the Grizzlies to tie their Western Conference Semifinal at two games apiece. And while it might seem like it to the casual observer, it wasn’t just because Stephen Curry finally found his range from outside, or that lady luck had anything to do with it.
Even more misleading is the idea Steve Kerr’s adroit, pre-game adjustment to have Andrew Bogut *guard* the poor-shooting Tony Allen somehow “won them Game 4.” A similar vein of thinking was not-so-coincidentally found on reddit’s r/NBA page. No, basketball games last four quarters, and that strategy lasted for some of the first quarter. True, Allen only played 16 minutes, but it wasn’t because Steve Kerr decided to plug Bogut on him to start the game. In fact, Harrison Barnes marked him in the second quarter.
Basketball is a team game, so the absence of Allen — whether because Dave Joerger didn’t have a counter to the Bogut strategy, or he was worried they’d employ it again — was only part of the story, and a tiny sliver at that. To use that as the sole reason for the Warriors win is another case of dumbing down a fun, but complicated, game.
Even Tony Allen agreed “Golden State’s crazy defensive adjustment” wasn’t why the Grizzlies lost:
“It didn’t affect nothing,” Allen said of the big adjustment. “It’s, I just wasn’t able to give my team the energy tonight. I like that matchup, so hopefully they’ll do it again and I’ll take advantage of it.”
We’re big fans of accelerated brain usage, so let’s figure out what other factors mitigated a Grizzlies team that seemed to have Golden State’s number after successive wins in Games 2 and 3.
First, the Warriors were hitting shots they made during the regular season, but their ball movement was superior to the stagnant (during the telecast, it was said the Dubs averaged about 300 total passes per game during the regular season and ended up with just 256 in Game 3) way they shared the ball during the first game in Memphis. Sticky Fingers is a Rolling Stones album, not something you wanna see your offense lapse into. Look at the below possession. Dray and Iggy both pass up 3-pointers to move the rock along, before Steph eventually whipped a pass to an open Harrison Barnes for a simple 3-pointer in the near corner.
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Yes, we know Barnes missed it, but it shows how the Dubs were again making the extra pass Monday night.
Second, Steph — in particular — was looking to get his teammates involved, which is why he didn’t attempt a field goal in the first eight and a half minutes of the game. He stopped trying to be Steph Curry, MVP, and became Stephen Curry, incredibly talented and unique basketball player. Take the below decision to pass up a fast-break three — a potent Steph weapon — to draw in the defense and pass it up for a better three in the corner by Klay Thompson.
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That time it succeeded, and it’s not like Curry was cold or anything, he just made a more concerted effort to get his teammates involved before doing his thing.
The third reason the Warriors took Game 4 stems from the play of Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green. They showed why they’re likely to make the All-Defensive First Team later this month; Tony Allen is hoping he joins them this season after not making the squad last year.
Something to ponder about Bogut’s presence last night before we give you examples:
https://twitter.com/dkurtenbach/status/597996021767999488
Look at the way first Bogut, then Dray obstruct Memphis’ mammoth center from connecting on shots in the restricted area. In the first, Bogut just meets the Spaniard near the rim.
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On this possession, the 6-foot-7 (but really closer to 6-foot-6 or 6-foot-5 — he’s like Barkley) Green holds his ground as Memphis’ 7-foot tree trunk takes a swooping step through the paint for an attempt on the left side of the rim. Green bothers him so much it falls short and Steph comes over to help collect the board.
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The two Dubs front-court players brought da ruckus on defense Monday night. Both are banged up with just as many aches and pains as Gasol and Z-Bo are experiencing; both pairings of big men are nearly immovable in the paint. The Warriors will need Green and Bogut to be just as tough if they’re going to continue their winning ways in Game 5 on Wednesday night at Oracle.
But let’s remember, it’s never just one thing that makes the difference in a 48-minute game of NBA basketball. So many factors play a role in a win, boiling it down to one effective defensive strategy at the opening of the game insults basketball fans and readers and offers a brutally simple explanation for something that’s a lot more complicated. Hopefully, we did away with the surface crap for a more granular and accurate look at why Golden State prevailed.
