5 Reasons The Golden State Warriors Can Win The NBA Finals This Year
By Ti Windisch
Defense Wins Championships
It may be a tired mantra, but it’s hard to argue that defense really doesn’t win championships. The NBA Playoffs often feature some low-scoring affairs, even when teams like the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers meet in the Finals.
After all, Game 7 last season was a 93-89 Cavaliers victory. That’s a very low score for a game featuring two of the NBA’s best offenses, but Cleveland holding the Warriors to under 90 while LeBron James and Kyrie Irving went off to get the Cavs the victory.
The deciding Game 6 the year before was a 105-97 Warriors victory. Again, the losing team didn’t manage to hit 100 points, although this time the winning Warriors did.
The year before, the winning San Antonio Spurs didn’t allow the Miami Heat to hit 100 points at any point in the series, and won the deciding Game 5 104-87.
As previously mentioned, the Warriors have the NBA’s second-best defense. In the playoffs, no team has been better defensively. Golden State has held the Portland Trail Blazers to under 90 points per 100 possessions, which is fantastic considering the Blazers have both Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.
Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson are all plus defenders, to say the least. Green should win the Defensive Player of the Year award this season; he’s the NBA’s equivalent of a free safety who can cover one-on-one, blitz, or play hard-hitting zone defense.
With Green on the floor, the Warriors have suffocated the opposition. He’ll be on the floor quite often in the 2017 NBA Playoffs, meaning Golden State will pose plenty of problems to opposing offenses.