The Warriors had little trouble dispatching a hapless and uninspired Rockets team on Wednesday night to close out its first round series. Without the services of soon-to-be two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry, Golden State produced a balanced offensive attack with 12 players registering in the scoring column. The Dubs were paced by Klay Thompson’s 27 points, who did most of his damage in a scintillating third quarter performance that saw him bury consecutive 3-pointers that were just outside of the mid-court logo (i.e. Stephen Curry land). With the victory, the Warriors can now focus their attention on a Round 2 series that will pit them against either a depleted Clippers squad or the sixth-seeded Blazers.
Here are 10 thoughts on the game:
1. While the Rockets folded in absolutely deplorable fashion, giving up multiple wide open 3-pointers and unchallenged buckets in transition while simultaneously bickering at one another after on-court breakdowns, the Warriors team came together in the absence of Curry and had one of their most cohesive and dominating performances of the season. Draymond Green did the usual Draymond Green things: battling Dwight Howard in the post; checking James Harden on the perimeter; finding open guys on the break; and flexing his muscles after scores. Klay Thompson shot Stephen Curry-esque bombs from deep (7-of-11 on threes). And the ball handling duo of Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston combined for 22 points and 9 assists against a single turnover. The win was a total team effort with every player that touched the floor contributing statistically: Rush dropped 15, Bogut beasted Howard inside for 2 blocks, Clark continued his run of quality play with a line of 7-3-1-3, and even Anderson Varejao finished the night with a plus-11.
2. The Warriors’ defensive game plan was brilliant. They packed the paint with multiple defenders to challenge everything inside, forced Harden to settle for contested jumpers while managing to (mostly) not reach on his drives, and they ceded open shots to Ariza, Smith, Terry, and Beverley, who went a combined 0-of-15 from deep. The Rockets shot just 32.6% from the field, and other than Harden’s 35 points, struggled to get consistent scoring from anyone that didn’t just join the team after a stint in China. In one comically inept sequence during the third quarter, the Rockets had 5 shots in a single possession and bricked every single attempt. I’m so glad this series is over so that we no longer have to watch this miserable, self-loathing Rockets bunch.
3. The Warriors’ three primary ball handlers, Draymond, Livingston and Iguodala, had 17 combined assists and only one turnover. When the Dubs take care of the ball, and Klay shoots the way he did, these Dubs are darn near impossible to beat, even without Curry.
4. Steph’s knee is apparently healthy enough for him to pick up Ian Clark in a moment of celebration.
5. Harrison Barnes scored 42 total points in the 5-game series on 29% shooting. In an offense as beautiful as the Warriors’, HB so often looks out of place, whether launching contested jumpers, or holding the ball a second too long before trying (and failing) to take his man one-on-one. Hopefully the Black Falcon finds a way to soar in Round 2 after a few days of practice and with time to reconcile that Steph won’t be around to generate him wide open corner threes.
6. Al-Farouq Aminu scored 30 points for the Blazers in Game 4 and did a not-disastrous job defending a hobbled Blake Griffin. He’s 6′ 9″, shoots 36% from deep, can toggle between both forward spots in a pinch, and averaged 10 points and 6 rebounds during the regular season. He’s not the defender, shooter, or athlete Harrison Barnes is, nor is his ceiling as a player anywhere close, but Aminu can provide about 80% of the production. On this Dubs squad, wouldn’t you rather pay a player like Aminu eight million a year over HB’s soon-to-be 20 million-plus? Not giving HB a huge contract would give the Dubs more wiggle room after Steph’s mega deal in 2017 to resign Livingston, Andre, or Bogut, and, perhaps more importantly, also keep the Warriors’ pay-to-talent structure in line: Steph to Dray to Klay to everyone else.
7. Even though it will be good for the Dubs’ chances of advancing out of Round 2, that was a brutal 24 hours for the Clippers. No NBA fan wants to watch a playoffs without CP3 and Blake regardless of rooting interest. I’d say Clippers fans deserve better but, even though I lived in Southern California for four years, I honestly have never met one.
8. Thanks, Mark Cuban! Keep adding more fuel on the fire. This team could always use a little extra motivation.
9. If it ends up being Warriors-Blazers in the next round, I’d imagine the Dubs would be very slight favorites if Curry were ruled out for the series. But that Portland team has all the qualities of an upset-inducing squad. They play a high variance game (Dame and CJ can go off on threes at any given time), they can sic athletic wings in a switchy defensive scheme on the Warriors’ playmakers, and Dame always kills in his hometown. Right now I’d love for Austin Rivers, Paul Pierce and Jamal Crawford to summon a little bit of that “no one believes in us” magic and somehow drag the Clippers to Oracle for Round 2.
10. Check out our guy Danny Leroux at a new spot, thealthetic.com, for more quality Warriors goodness.
After watching them struggle for so many decades, it’s great to see them at the top. Go Dubs!