Golden State Warriors: 3 takeaways from Game 1 vs. Rockets

1. Durant, Kerr reveal weaknesses in Houston’s isolation attack

Harden is the league’s pre-eminent mismatch attacker. He absolutely torches slower defenders by exploding off the dribble or launching into a step-back, and when help comes, no one has cannier timing as a lob thrower.

That does not make him the league’s best isolation scorer.

During the regular season, it does. Many teams have no one to check Harden, and against the teams that did, the Rockets were able to get whatever matchup they wanted. In the playoffs, opposing defenders are better on average. More importantly, teams game plan and adjust with exponentially greater vigor.

Houston was able to manipulate Curry onto Harden all game, but it usually took about 15 seconds to do so. By the time Harden sized him up, took his rhythm dribbles and started to attack, there was no time for anything other than a shot or an immediate lob. No hockey assists, no misdirection, no cuts.

While Harden’s desire for a mismatch greatly limited Houston’s offensive ceiling, Durant’s lack of such needs made the Warriors unstoppable. They were able to go to him right away and have him isolate against whoever guarded him.

A much fuller shot clock opened up a world of options for Durant. He was able to shoot over the top, drive to finish, drive to draw help and pass out of double-teams with time still remaining.

Coaching also played a role in this disparity. Kerr stubbornly forced his team to rely on ball movement and off-ball movement all season, even when pick-and-rolls and isolations would have been plenty fruitful given his talent. Meanwhile, Mike D’Antoni scrapped many of the actions and nuances that made his team so dangerous last year, favoring a slow, deliberate iso-heavy attack.

When the time came for Golden State to simplify things, it still had the structure of cutting and ball movement to fall back on. Kerr initiated the offense with isolation more than usual, but it was just that: a method of initiation.

For Houston, it was the end-all, be-all. When the Warriors took advantage of the predictability by putting Curry on whoever was farthest from Harden, the Rockets did not have some sort of off-ball action to exploit Curry in a different way. When Curry wrestled with the screener to stall, Harden did not attack quickly, but rather waited for the switch.

Legacies are built in the playoffs for a reason. The best opponents bring out your flaws, and those who have more counters and adjustments in their pocket are the ones who deservedly earn elevated stature.

Next: Full two-round 2018 NBA Mock Draft

It is still extremely early in this series. Through one game, Kerr and Durant look better than D’Antoni and Harden.