Golden State Warriors: 5 Keys For Game 6 vs. Cavaliers
5. One More Bench Outburst
Through the first two games of the series, it was Golden State’s depth that made up for neither Splash Brother reaching the 20-point plateau. The Dubs’ bench outscored Cleveland’s second unit by a massive 85-40 margin in those two contests, averaging 42.5 points per game with a +36.5 net rating.
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In the next three games, Steve Kerr‘s rotation has tightened up a bit, but the Warriors’ reserves also didn’t give him much reason to trust them. Though they outscored Cleveland’s bench by a 70-42 margin, the average dropped to 23.3 points per game with a horrible -16.0 net rating.
The Cavaliers’ second unit may not be scoring much by comparison, but they’ve also played 14 fewer minutes and have a terrific +15.5 net rating over the last three games.
In Game 1, Shaun Livingston dropped 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Through the first two games, Leandro Barbosa was shooting 10-for-12 from the field. Other than Andre Iguodala, who will likely be starting in Game 6, the consistency from Golden State’s reserves has tailed off.
Heading into a do-or-die Game 6, the Dubs need more from the bench than Marreese Speights bricks, Festus Ezeli over-the-back fouls or patented flops from Anderson Varejao. Now would be a good time for the “Strength In Numbers” slogan to live up to its reputation.
Next: No. 4