For each remaining game of the Golden State Warriors’ playoff run, we will be breaking down three takeaways. We continue with their Game 2 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
The Golden State Warriors pushed their playoff winning streak to 10, becoming only the fifth team in NBA history to reach that mark with a 136-100 demolition of the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night.
It is typically harder to find takeaways from games that only consist of two meaningful quarters. Given the myriad storylines that emerged after a classic, controversial Game 1, that general rule did not apply to this Game 2 blowout.
1. The Warriors’ wing depth is to be reckoned with
Ever since they signed Andre Iguodala in the summer of 2013, the Warriors have had the best wing rotation in the NBA. That first year, it consisted of Iguodala, Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes. The next year, Shaun Livingston joined the fray. Two NBA Finals runs later, they added Kevin Durant, turning their positional dominance to a near monopoly.
So deep and dominant is the Warriors’ wing unit that neither Patrick McCaw nor Matt Barnes see consistent minutes.
With Iguodala hobbled in Game 1, Mike Brown moved Barnes into the rotation. He is, after Iguodala and perhaps Durant, the team’s best option on Kawhi Leonard. After Leonard exited, Brown went more toward Livingston on the wing, which in turn opened up more minutes for Ian Clark at guard.
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With Leonard and Iguodala both out for the entirety of Game 2, Brown was careful not to overtax the 31-year-old Livingston. He slid McCaw into a featured role, and the rookie delivered with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting, five assists, three steals and quality defense.
Livingston and Clark each chipped in exactly 10 points, three assists and two steals. Durant and Thompson combined for a modest 25 points and seven assists, but were both defensive terrors.
Jonathon Simmons admirably filled Leonard’s void as a scorer, putting in 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting. But his increased burden hurt his defense, and his wingmates—Danny Green, Manu Ginobili, Kyle Anderson, Dejounte Murray and Bryn Forbes—went a combined 10-of-41 from the field.
Leonard is a far better player than Iguodala, and thus a bigger loss. However, if instead the Warriors were down Durant and the Spurs down Simmons, Golden State would still be the deeper team on the wing.
2. Pachulia replacement options
We don’t know if Zaza Pachulia‘s heel injury will cause him to miss time, or how long he’ll be out for if it does. But let’s assume the worst, as the Warriors coaching staff is certainly doing. Who will step into the starting lineup? Who will eat the bulk of his minutes (he’s averaging 15.4 per game this postseason)?
The easy answer would be to start David West or JaVale McGee, but both options present problems.
West is locked into minutes at the beginning of the second and fourth quarters. Tacking on the first and third quarter minutes that Pachulia plays pushes West up into the mid 20s (he’s at 14.0 as is) — far too heavy a workload for the 36-year-old to remain effective in.
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McGee could supplement this plan by opening the second and fourth, but he is a terrible fit with the Clark-Livingston-Thompson-Green group that starts those quarters along with West.
The four All-Stars complement McGee better, but starting him forces him to guard San Antonio’s starters in the pick-and-roll and LaMarcus Aldridge or Pau Gasol on the block. He’s also an important energy player off the bench, and starting him would zap him of that power. His minutes must remain low, as he is not effective when he isn’t sprinting end to end and beating big men in transition.
The best option, therefore, is to start small. While the Warriors like to limit Green’s minutes at center early, there are two potential preservation benefits of starting him.
First off, the Warriors can blitz the Spurs, build a lead, play from ahead and avoid having to play Green down the stretch. Secondly, even if they do need him late, increasing Green’s minutes at center increases the chance to make it a short series. Playing four or five games instead of six or seven will do far more for Green than will fewer minutes at center in those games.
This decision would be easier if not for Iguodala’s health. Even if he returns for Game 3, his knee will remain a concern throughout the playoffs. Given that his importance skyrockets against LeBron James in a potential Finals matchup, limiting his minutes this round is a near-must.
By going small more often, a strain is placed on Iguodala, as well as Livingston. Of course, the aforementioned wing depth helps here, and is ultimately why Green should start if Pachulia can’t go.
3. Intent
Following Game 1, the big discussion was not the largest blown lead of Gregg Popovich’s tenure, the Warriors’ 25-point comeback or even the sucky nature of Leonard’s injury. Rather, it was whether or not Pachulia meant to injure Leonard.
Intent, however, is a theme of this series in so many more ways than one. In the first half of Game 1, the Spurs came out intent on taking control. They did a bunch of little things right, because they are the Spurs, but the overarching theme was their focus on style and pace.
They played big, with Aldridge, Gasol and David Lee combining for 39 of a possible 48 frontcourt minutes in the first half, despite Dewayne Dedmon being their theoretical “best matchup” against Golden State.
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They pounded the rock, crashed the glass, took maximum time when at the free throw line and called timeouts whenever they sensed a hint of Warriors momentum.
The Warriors did not have that same intent. They matched San Antonio’s size, rather than playing their best lineups. They took the shots the Spurs wanted them to take. They went away from trusting each other on offense and defense.
From halftime of Game 1 through the end of Game 2, the Warriors have regained their intent, and the Spurs have lost theirs.
It started before Leonard got hurt. The Warriors stopped turning the ball over, started aggressively pursuing the kind of looks they wanted (Curry hit three threes between halftime and Leonard’s injury) and turned up the intensity on defense (San Antonio’s prayers were being answered at an unsustainable rate).
The Warriors’ intent carried them to a win, and it carried over to Game 2. San Antonio lost its intent—it was destroyed on the glass after Leonard’s injury, abandoned principles more frequently on defense and stopped valuing possession—and has not gotten it back since.
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Entering Game 3, the Spurs face two big questions: Whether or not Leonard returns, and whether or not they get their intent back. They need both to win against this Golden State team.