Golden State Warriors: Draymond Green must play more center, plus other lessons from Game 1

For each remaining game of the Golden State Warriors’ playoff run, we will be breaking down three takeaways. We continue with their Game 1 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

The Golden State Warriors came back from a 25-point deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs, 113-111 in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.

While there were things to be learned from the Warriors’ 82 regular season games and first eight playoff games, this was, in a sense, their first real game of the season. Here’s what we learned from Game 1 of the real gauntlet.

1. Small lineup needs to be used earlier and more often

The assumption all season was that the Warriors coaching staff was saving its best lineup.

Certainly they knew that Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green were better together than the 224 regular season minutes they aggregated would indicate.

Durant and Green do get worn down a little more by playing up a position, and that appeared to be why Steve Kerr and his staff were going to the “Death Star Lineup” sparingly. They didn’t need more than 224 minutes of it to win 67 games, so why tip their hand and tax their stars?

That logic held firm through the first two rounds, as Golden State blew through both Portland and Utah in four games apiece. Durant’s health, Iguodala’s theoretical Finals defense against LeBron James and Green’s energy level were of more concern than crushing teams with the most terrifying two-way lineup ever assembled.

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By halftime of Game 1 against the San Antonio Spurs, those assumptions had all but crumbled. The Warriors were down by 14 after the first quarter, and the deficit had ballooned to 25 midway through the second. Yet it wasn’t until 1:12 remaining in the half that the Warriors went with Green as their center. Acting head coach Mike Brown pulled him 12 seconds later, likely due to him having three fouls.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points at the half. Kawhi Leonard had 18. Zaza Pachulia and JaVale McGee were getting torched by Aldridge on the block and by Leonard on switches or at the rim, while providing no help on the glass. David West was slightly better defensively, but even worse on the boards.

Maybe Green would have done a better job on Aldridge and on the boards, maybe not. Doing worse would have been impossible though, and he certainly would have done better on switches. He would have also pushed the tempo and spaced the floor on offense.

It was unclear why Brown didn’t try this. Saving the lineup no longer made sense; it was Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Perhaps he feared being at an even greater rebounding disadvantage, though giving the Spurs a chance to grab misses is better than letting them score at will.

Maybe Iguodala’s health was a concern (he was experiencing knee soreness and did not play in the second half), though Shaun Livingston and, to a lesser extent, Matt Barnes can function in the Iguodala role.

Whatever the reason, Brown did not go small until 8:52 remained in the game. The Warriors were down 94-85. The next three defensive possessions, they blocked a shot, got a steal and forced a fadeaway from Aldridge. They cut the lead to 94-90 at 7:18, which is when Curry re-entered. Green remained at center the rest of the way, and the Warriors closed the game on a 28-17 run.

Without a slow-footed big man on the floor, the Warriors can switch, help, overplay and recover much more freely. They force opponents into tougher shots and more turnovers, and run more effectively off those changes of possession due to Green and Durant’s ability to grab and go.

The halfcourt offense isn’t as dramatically altered (Pachulia had a strong offensive Game 1, West is a high-post stud and McGee can be a game changing lob threat), but it’s still better. Green forces opposing centers to vacate the lane by either shooting threes or screening for shooters, and this in turn opens up the paint for cutters and drivers.

Maybe this was the plan. Maybe Brown knew that the Spurs had no answer for Green at center, and he was saving the lineup for a closing burst.

That’s fine as an initial gameplan. But if your team is getting smoked in a massive playoff game, and you have a lineup that you know gives your team its best chance, you need to abandon that gameplan. Even if only for five minutes. Maybe Green wouldn’t be quite as fresh in the fourth, but that’s a gamble worth taking when down by 25.

Had Leonard not left the game in the third quarter, or had a couple more makes/misses gone San Antonio’s way, the Warriors’ closing small-ball surge would have been too little, too late.

Kerr’s reluctance to boost Green’s minutes at center was a major reason Golden State lost Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. He claimed to have learned from that, and we took him at his word all year. Brown’s unwillingness to go small was eerily similar, and it’s getting harder to give this otherwise-brilliant staff the benefit of the doubt on this particular, and particularly crucial, issue.

2. Warriors won’t get junk points against Spurs

By virtue of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant all playing in a movement-heavy scheme, the Warriors have the most unstoppable offense in basketball. However, there are little wrinkles that make them better than they should be.

Curry, and to a lesser extent Thompson, draw respect as shooters disproportionate to their greatness.

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Their historically-high volume and unprecedented ability to make tough 3s causes entire defenses to freak out and abandon principles. Three guys will run at Curry when he’s left open, which leads to far more open dunks than it does missed threes. When Thompson is off the ball, defenders will literally guard him from behind, essentially choosing to give him a free backdoor layup over a catch-and-shoot triple.

The way defenders react to Curry and Thompson has influenced the rest of the roster and coaching staff. Backcuts, pump fakes, and the idea of leveraging over-aggressive closeouts are pillars on which the Warriors’ offense is built. This leads to several “junk” baskets every game, even against elite defenses.

Except against the Spurs. Gregg Popovich and his players know that an open Curry or Thompson three isn’t all that different than an open Allen Crabbe three, and they defend accordingly. This can lead to loud (Curry hit seven threes) or quiet (Thompson hit one) shooting nights from deep, but it takes away those junk points. There were no triple closeouts, slept-on backcuts or even ill-timed double teams in Game 1. Without those freebies, the Warriors need their stars to be on in order to win.

3. The Durant Difference has fully arrived

Over the last two years, a cold shooting night from Thompson would have doomed the Warriors in a game like this. The Spurs’ disciplined defense, relentless rebounding and big, deliberate offense is reminiscent of the Cleveland team that beat Golden State three straight times last June. When the shots weren’t falling, teams like this used to render the Dubs relatively normal.

It’s well-understood that this is why they were so determined to get Durant. Until Sunday’s Game 1, this difference was only theoretical. Now, we’ve seen it. This was Durant’s first “That’s why they brought me here” game (with the possible exception of his Game 3 against Utah).

Curry’s hot shooting kept the Warriors within striking distance through three quarters (he was 6-of-12 from deep entering the fourth), but he went only 1-of-4 in the final period. Thompson remained cold (0-of-2 from deep). Had this been Game 6 against Oklahoma City last year, this is where the comeback would have died.

Durant sensed the moment, and poured in 12 huge points. He had 34 in the game, but it was the manner in which he scored (10-of-12 from the line, 14 points in the paint) that matters moving forward. He can get into the lane at will, and has dozens of devastating scoring moves once he’s there.

Even with Leonard in, Durant was undeniable. This is partially because Leonard spent time on Curry and Thompson as well, but Durant’s dominance doesn’t necessarily change that choice for Popovich. If it does, Durant can still shoot over the top against Leonard, and perhaps Thompson ignites in future games if Leonard is moved.

Next: 5 takeaways from Golden State Warriors' Game 1 win

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