For each remaining game of the Golden State Warriors’ playoff run, we will be breaking down three takeaway thoughts. We continue with their Game 2 win over the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Golden State Warriors beat the Utah Jazz 116-105 in a second consecutive game that wasn’t as close as the score looked. While the Jazz did keep things closer for longer than in Game 1, Golden State never seemed threatened.
With that being said, the lessons of the game were different. Here’s a look at three things we learned in Game 2.
1. The Warriors are out-hustling their opponents
Perhaps the most amazing thing about last year’s 73-win Warriors team is that they could have been better. Not in record, because they were historically good in the clutch, but in totality. They meandered through many games, knowing that they could drop the hammer at any moment. Their offense was so absurd that they often played about 75 percent defense, which, considering how good their 100 percent defense was, tended to still be stifling.
Conversely, their opponents would play up to them. Besides Houston (which checked out on opening night last year) and Cleveland through Games 1 and 2, each Warriors playoff foe went all out.
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That disparity in effort became a problem in the playoffs. They dropped Game 3 of every series, and relied on clutch heroics multiple times each round. It caught up to them at the worst possible time.
The inverse is true this year. Warriors opponents appear defeated before games even start. Maybe it’s due to the presence of Kevin Durant, as he changes the aura around a team that used to look beatable. The prior assumption was wrong, but the demoralizing impact Durant’s presence has is understandable.
Meanwhile, the Warriors have dropped their flip-switching mindset. They have come out just about every game thus far and crushed their opponent immediately. They know that every loss keeps the possibility for injuries, suspensions and weird happenings alive, and as a result, they treated Game 2 against the Jazz like they treated Game 7 against the Thunder last year.
2. Andre Iguodala looks worn out
During Durant’s absence in March, Andre Iguodala stepped up. He nearly doubled his scoring (from 6.4 points per game to 11.3), and shot an unreal 60.0 percent from the field.
He also added three minutes (from 25.7 to 28.7) and significant usage (10.2 percent to 13.8) to his legs and back, which are increasingly difficult for him to keep fresh as he ages.
The notion that any 33-year-old wing who gets four dunks in a playoff game is less than themselves physically sounds absurd. However, Iguodala also had three turnovers (uncharacteristic for him), watched Dante Exum blow by him multiple times (uncharacteristic of both parties), and went 0-for-3 on from 3-point range.
That last part isn’t so out of the ordinary, except that Iguodala is now 0-for-18 from deep this postseason. That’s concerning, considering he made 25 triples last postseason and 29 the year before.
It was his knockdown shooting (along with his lockdown defense) that won him the 2015 Finals MVP, and it was the absence of those things at the end of last year’s finals that cost the Warriors greatly.
If his fading is starting earlier this year, Golden State is in trouble. Durant’s presence reduces Iguodala’s vitalness, but he’s still the team’s best option on LeBron James, and he’s also the death lineup member that teams will most often dare to shoot.
The Warriors will be title favorites with or without top-notch Iguodala, but nothing is absolute. An injury here, a suspension there, and suddenly an Iguodala 3 might need to go down.
3. Shelvin Mack gives Utah an important dimension
In my “3 Takeaways” from Game 1, I discussed how the Jazz are uniquely designed for Draymond Green to dominate defensively. One of the major reasons is that Green’s biggest weakness is containing speed guards, which George Hill is everything but.
Shelvin Mack is exactly that. With Hill sidelined in Game 2, Mack was able to probe Golden State’s defense off the pick-and-roll, and he finished with 14 points.
The Warriors would still rather Mack start. He was torched defensively, and is less of a catch-and-shoot threat than Hill. He finished the game a -12, second-worst on the team.
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However, if Hill returns for Game 3, Mack can be utilized in the right moments. He and Gobert can give Green-at-center lineups problems, while Hill can space the floor and give lineups featuring Zaza Pachulia, David West or JaVale McGee more ground to cover. Quin Snyder is a matchup mastermind, and should figure out a way to maximize Mack moving forward.