Golden State Warriors 5 keys to 2019 Western Conference Finals vs. Blazers

5. Get contributions from the vets

Golden State shuffled out the majority of its bench after last season’s startling lack of depth. The Dubs signed DeMarcus Cousins to further bolster their roster, but with Boogie out after suffering a quadriceps injury against the Los Angeles Clippers, the burden shifted back to the Warriors’ original veteran contributors: Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston.

With Durant out for Game 1 and likely Game 2 as well, Iggy and Livingston will need to contribute and outplay their counterparts if the Warriors want to advance without exhausting Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

In Game 6 against the Rockets, Livingston stepped up big time, putting up 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, while Iguodala put up 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Those kinds of performances are going to need to be nightly occurrences if the Warriors want to end this series as soon as possible. Even with Durant out, Curry and Klay draw enough attention that Iguodala and Livingston should be getting solid looks.

Iguodala has stepped up, more or less confirming that his ho-hum regular season performance was indeed him saving himself for the playoffs. He’s running with .545/.426/.393 shooting splits so far in the playoffs while providing smart defense.

Livingston has quietly been a non-factor all year. Despite shooting 51.9 percent, he took a career-low 3.3 field goal attempts per game on luxury shots — taking only shots he wanted to. Livingston is already down to 39 percent from the field in the playoffs, which frankly isn’t good enough.

Unless the Warriors feel comfortable living and dying with Quinn Cook or Alfonzo McKinnie playing a major bench role, Iggy and Livingston need to consistently produce.