Golden State Warriors: 5 Lessons From Game 4
3. Packing The Paint Works Against Memphis
Getting back to Harrison Barnes, the reason his hard work against Z-Bo was so important was it allowed the Dubs to play physical in the paint by utterly ignoring Tony Allen on the perimeter. In fact, for most of the first quarter, Kerr had Barnes on Z-Bo and Draymond Green on Marc Gasol, with Andrew Bogut technically guarding Allen.
By “guarding Allen,” I mean Bogut packing the paint and focusing solely on not getting a defensive three seconds call.
The result? A Barnes-Green-Bogut trio clogging up the lane and making life difficult for Memphis’ frontcourt duo — really the only offensive advantage this team has. With Bogut and/or Green there to back him up with help-side defense, Barnes was able to front Z-Bo in the post without worrying about getting beat on the backside.
This isn't 5-on-4 D by the Warriors, it's really 3-on-2... Bogut/Barnes/Draymond on Randolph and Gasol. Working perfectly.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) May 12, 2015
The Dubs were perfectly content to let Allen chuck up threes in the first quarter, and the Grindfather couldn’t make them pay for it, finishing with four points on 2-of-9 shooting.
In fact, it got so bad that Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger couldn’t afford to leave Allen on the floor. Mr. “First Team All Defense” was limited to only 16 minutes because of his First Team No Offense.
Harrison Barnes has successfully allowed Steve Kerr to get Tony Allen out of the game.
— Aaron Bruski (@aaronbruski) May 12, 2015
Without Allen on the floor, the Splash Brothers both found their offensive rhythm, combining for 48 points on just under 46 percent shooting.
As the San Antonio Spurs showed us in the 2013 Western Conference Finals, packing the paint against the Grizzlies and daring them to beat you from the outside works effectively against this team. By leaving Allen blatantly wide open to start Game 4, the Dubs dared Memphis to make them pay for it, and the gambit worked.
Next: No. 2