Golden State Warriors: Western Conference Finals Preview

Slowing James Harden

The reason the Warriors are a much safer bet to make the Finals is that unlike the Rockets, they have the tools to slow down their opponent’s MVP in a seven-game series. Harden played well at times during the semifinals, but he never really dominated the proceedings. This does not bode well against a defense that prides itself on shutting people down and forcing them into bad shots.

Harden shot better than 45 percent against the Dubs in only one regular season meeting, and in that game — where he dropped 34 points on 14-of-27 shooting — the Warriors still won by 12. The reason? Golden State’s defense is capable of masking his strengths.

For one thing, they have an excellent on-ball defender to make him work in Klay Thompson. To be honest, Thompson might not even need to light it up from downtown in this series; if he can limit Harden and keep him off the foul line, he’ll have done his job in helping Golden State advance.

But the elite Warriors defense is about more than one man. When teams try to double-team Harden out of pick and rolls, he usually makes them pay with a pocket pass to the screener or a lob pass to an open three-point shooter. Harden is excellent at reading the defense and finding the open man in a facilitator role.

But the Dubs might not need to double-team Harden out of pick and rolls since they have Draymond Green, whose versatility is the reason the Warriors can switch so often out of pick and roll sets. We’ve seen what happens when Green gets into foul trouble and Harden is a pro at drawing contact, so this series could be decided by who wins that power struggle out of pick and rolls sets.

That being said, if the Warriors can prevent Harden from finding Josh Smith when he rolls, they’ll be far less susceptible to Dwight Howard alley-oops. Even better, if they can keep the Beard off the foul line (which they did in the regular season), they’ll have a very good chance of advancing.

Next: Final Prediction