Between the debate on the suspension of Draymond Green and a controversy over the arbitration between Game 2 and 3, we had almost forgotten that the Warriors could have gotten at least one game at the Golden 1 Center if they had not not fired multiple bullets in the foot. Tonight, they controlled the battle for possessions and limited the offerings to their opponents.
At the start, an unprecedented five with Jordan Poole who is embedded alongside Stephen Curry And Klay Thompsonwhile Andrew Wiggins comes to support Kevon Looney near the circle.
Twelve stray balls and 18 offensive rebounds
In the first two games, the Warriors had shot 17.5 strays and lost the offensive rebound battle by 11 strikes. Last night, they dominated in these two sectors. They lost just 12 balls, three less than the Kings, and scored 22 points on Sacramento’s ball losses.
“Tonight, our objective was not to lose so many balls and to control the rebound” explained Steve Kerr. “In the first two games, I had liked our defense but our stray balls and our inability to take a defensive rebound had put us at odds. »
In the wake of Kevon Looney, who took 9 of their 18 offensive rebounds, the Warriors dominated in the key. They finished at +12 on second chance baskets.
“I hadn’t been good on the rebound in the first two games,” admitted Looney. “I talked about it with Deji (Dejan Milosevic, Steve Kerr’s assistant coach) before the game, I really wanted to focus on that tonight. Be more aggressive, be more precise in my positioning instead of just pushing my opponents. And I think I did the right thing. »
These two advantages allowed them to win the battle of possessions, with 8 shots more than their opponents.
Defend by limiting fouls
All season, the Warriors lacked discipline on the outside. They were the second most foul team in the entire NBA. They made 25 and 26 fouls in Sacramento allowing the Kings to shoot 16 more free throws than them in the first two games.
Tonight, the Warriors only made 19 fouls, 4 less than the Kings, and finished with the same number of free throws (23).
“They were more physical tonight,” conceded Mike Brown. They closed the racket and stayed ahead of us. Instead of shooting over two or even three defenders, you have to be more patient and find their players open. But they forced us to make bad decisions because they were more physical than us tonight. »
Attack the circle to score
In the first two games, the Kings finished at +30 in on-key runs. Tonight, the Warriors tied the game. Their defensive effort and rotation was much more precise, making life difficult for Sabonis and the other Kings. They also changed their approach on the other side of the pitch. After taking 18 shots from long range in the first quarter, or 70% of their shots, and attacking the key without even looking at the circle, their intentions were quite different in the second half.
Steve Kerr’s instructions were clear, ask Kevon Looney to go out behind the 3-point line to set a screen on carrier or away from the ball. This strategy opened up the racket and allowed Stephen Curry, Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins to attack the circle looking primarily to score.
“When Steph (Curry) is on the court, the opposing defense usually needs two or three guys to slow him down, because it’s Steph” underlines Andrew Wiggins after the meeting. ” It opens the game for everyone. Tonight, the ball circulated well, we are more under control, we took our time to read the defense, attack the circle, and find the best shot possible. »
After the break, the defending champions scored 28 of their 40 points in the key, and they also created 3-pointers that were much more open and on pace than in the first half. “It’s a good lesson for us. When you control every possession, and understand how to create space and build open shots, historically that’s good for us.” concludes Stephen Curry.
Interview in San Francisco.
