Golden State Warriors: 5 Takeaways From Game 7 vs. Thunder
4. Bench Still Needs To Give More
At this time of year, it’s only natural to see teams’ rotations shorten up. When coaches get desperate and games become do-or-die affairs, the second unit’s leash becomes a lot shorter for obvious reasons.
Still, the Warriors need the same kind of production they got in Game 7, a game that felt like an outlier compared to the rest of the series. In fact, they might need the bench to be even better than they were in limited action in Game 7.
Golden State’s bench outscored OKC’s reserves 19-13 in the series clincher Monday night, and only Marreese Speights (-6) finished with a negative plus/minus. But a simple look at the minute totals for the Warriors’ six best players over the last two games is slightly worrisome entering a matchup against a well-rested Cavs team.
This is the time of year to not hold anything back, but the Warriors had to ride Curry (41 minutes, 40 minutes), Thompson (40, 42), Draymond Green (43, 40) and Andre Iguodala (38, 43) pretty hard over the last two games.
The margin for error will be even smaller in the Finals, which means the Warriors’ bench has to be even better in their limited time, especially on the road when the roar of the home crowd won’t be there to fuel them.
Golden State bench has completely manhandled this Thunder team. Credit Steve Kerr for having trust in his role players.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) May 31, 2016
Shaun Livingston‘s turnaround jumpers need to return. Marreese Speights needs to knock down a few shots without being a liability on defense. Festus Ezeli has to be a terror in the pick-and-roll while avoiding dumb fouls on the other end. Leandro Barbosa needs to be a threat on the break.
Whether Kerr choose to start Andre Iguodala or Harrison Barnes is irrelevant. All that matters now is that Golden State’s bench, which posted a -1.0 point differential in the conference finals, has to be much better against Cleveland.
Next: No. 3