Golden State Warriors: 3 takeaways from Game 1 statement win vs. Blazers

3. Steve Kerr gives everyone a shot

A lack of depth has been an issue for Golden State all season long, where it ranked near the bottom of the league in scoring in the regular season and postseason. Whether head coach Steve Kerr simply didn’t trust the second unit or they weren’t talented enough, the Warriors rarely played more than seven or eight players in any single game of these playoffs.

One exception to that notion was Game 6 of the conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets. With the bench thinning even more in the absence of KD, the Warriors trotted out 11 different players in a five-point victory.

In Game 1 against the Blazers, they were at it again. The Dubs brought in six players off the pine that wound up with double-digit minutes. The highest scorer among them was Jonas Jerebko with just nine points, but all of them had a positive plus/minus in their time on the court.

None of these players is capable of easing the offensive burden of Golden State’s top guys. They did a great job against Portland at maintaining the status quo, however, which is all you can really ask for out of guys who have barely played this postseason

The Warriors will always be an elite team, but their offense becomes truly unstoppable when every player is a part of the offense through both scoring and passing. Production from the second unit similar to Game 1 will force Portland to focus on more players, which in turn can create open looks for the guys it should be worried about the most.