Golden State Warriors: 5 Lessons From Game 4

5. Harrison Barnes Continues To Be Underappreciated

If you simply took a look at the Game 4 box score, you probably wouldn’t even give Harrison Barnes’ stat line a second glance. He finished with a seemingly pedestrian 12 points and six rebounds. He added in a block and a steal while shooting 6-for-14 from the field, but he missed all four of his three-pointers. What was so special about his night?

Well, despite the public perception that their high-powered offense is what makes the Warriors so formidable, the Dubs have really made their money on the defensive end for the last two years. Last night’s Game 4 was no different, especially when Barnes was tasked with defending Zach Randolph.

We’ll dive into this a little more in-depth in a minute, but since Kerr was able to put Barnes on Z-Bo and make him work, the rest of the floor became littered with mismatches in Golden State’s favor.

Barnes was the key to a lot of the defensive adjustments Kerr made in Game 4. They clearly paid off, with the Dubs holding Memphis to 84 points on 37.5 percent shooting.

Offensively, Barnes started off the game with a missed layup and a missed dunk, but he went 6-for-12 the rest of the way. His points didn’t come often, and he’s only made two of his nine corner threes — his specialty area — in the postseason, but last night’s buckets were timely, helping the Warriors extend their lead further out of reach several times.

Barnes is nowhere near the top story from Game 4, but he continues to be the overlooked man in this starting five. Last night, he reinforced that notion by being, quite possibly, the most important defender on the floor every time he fought to front Z-Bo in the post. Relevant: Randolph finished with a meager 12 points and 11 boards for the game while committing four turnovers.

Next: No. 4