Golden State Warriors: 10 Keys To Beating The Cleveland Cavaliers

8. Getting Good Minutes At Center

The turning point of last year’s Finals was Kerr’s decision to bench Andrew Bogut and insert Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup — a decision that led to three straight Warriors wins by an average margin of 14.0 points.

Against a Cavs team that no longer plays Timofey Mozgov and has been starting Tristan Thompson at center for most of the season, the Dubs are going to need solid production out of their centers in limited action.

In last year’s Finals, Bogut played a grand total of three minutes over the last three games of the series. But after riding Curry, Thompson, Iguodala and Green in the conference finals, Kerr may be hesitant to go with a small-ball dominant lineup right from the start.

Against OKC, the Dubs looked awfully vulnerable when Bogut got into foul trouble/was outplayed by Steven Adams. They couldn’t keep the Thunder off the offensive boards, Festus Ezeli was an unmitigated disaster in his limited action, and Anderson Varejao is still Anderson Varejao.

If Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love, Draymond Green and Bogut are all on the floor together, it’d make the most sense for Tyronn Lue to stick Love on the less threatening Bogut. In those situations, Bogut has to exploit Love’s defense while also keeping Thompson off the offensive glass on the other end.

Ezeli, a more mobile big who was effective against Cleveland in last year’s championship series, could be a better option against Thompson at center, though the Dubs may be better off scrapping all their centers from the rotation whenever Channing Frye enters the game.

In any case, whenever Bogut/Ezeli/Varejao are in the game for their limited stints, they have to keep Cleveland’s offensive rebounders off the glass, present a threat at the basket out of pick-and-rolls and avoid the costly fouls that shorten the starters’ breaks.

Next: No. 7