2016 Playoffs

[MrMiyagi]

lol I love how I have jinxing powers.

Start telling everyone how great Bender is and how we're going to draft him.

[Mulhollanddrive]

One of the best non-Finals games I've ever seen.

Though it's a bit depressing thinking we need players better than Curry, Thompson, Westbrook, Durant to beat them in a series at any point in the next 5-6 years.

[Cactus Jack]

One of the best non-Finals games I've ever seen.

Though it's a bit depressing thinking we need players better than Curry, Thompson, Westbrook, Durant to beat them in a series at any point in the next 5-6 years.

I wouldn't say its a lock that Durant/WB stick around.

[bwgood77]

Monumental chokejob by OKC blowing a 3-1 lead. Now they have to close it out in Oracle

There were some unnecessary turnovers down the stretch, but that was hardly a monumental chokejob.. VERY few teams are going to beat a team that is hitting shots like Klay (and then Curry) did last night, especially the ones down the stretch.

[bwgood77]

... disgusting offensive performance by Oklahoma City down the stretch of the fourth quarter. I was criticizing the Thunder's possessions (to myself) as soon as I saw them starting to unfold, and the results were predictably bad—because the process was awful. Dribbling down the shot clock time after time, isolating Kevin Durant in a way that allowed Golden State's defense to load up, shrink the floor, help, and let Andre Iguodala really pressure the ball ... being sloppy with the ball ... why not actually run a Westbrook/Durant pick-and-roll? Why not run Durant through staggered or double-stacked screens?

Curry and Thompson hit some great shots, and the Thunder's defense was not as tight as in its previous two home games, but Oklahoma City really lost this game on offense, especially since the late turnovers allowed Curry and Thompson to get open in transition.

Durant and Westbrook: a combined 20-58 from the field and 1-13 on threes, plus 8 turnovers (against 14 assists). The Thunder recorded 0 assists against 6 turnovers in the fourth quarter.

That was one of the worst, ugliest performances down the stretch of a big game that I have ever seen—maybe the very worst. It was a disgrace to basketball.

Despite all of that, they still likely win if GS doesn't hit some absolutely crazy shots down the stretch though. It's not like OKC was playing bad defense.

[saintEscaton]

Only Roberson was passable on the other end

[YFZblu]

The possessions are so asymmetric to watch - the first two possessions last night consisted of OKC missing shots and grabbing four offensive rebounds before they finally scored. They were manhandling the Warriors - but then, Golden State cruised down to the other end and nailed a three pointer and had the lead.

At this point, imo, there's something to be said about the fact that Oklahoma City has been unable to impose their will against the Warriors in two potential close-out games. Like GMAT said earlier, the Warriors have all the momentum at this point. Last night, Curry even said his team will "enjoy" the win before getting ready for the game on Monday. They're feeling really good, and will have a lot of energy in that arena at home.

[thamadkant]

Klay's amazing shooting night got to Durant's head.

That rushed fadeaway 3.. With 20 seconds to go with Iggy close in him as a reply to Klay's transition 3 was brutal. Evidence of his panic.

They either come back with fire coming out of their mouths or crumble all the way to the ground.

[LukasBMW]

I'd love to see OKC win. It would almost ensure KD doesn't leave.

But I think GSW has a better shot at taking down the Cavs.

The Warriors beat the Cavs twice. Once by 34 points.

The Cavs though knocked off OKC twice.

Sure OKC has gotten better, but I still wonder if KD has what it takes to lead them to a championship.

[lilfishi22]

I'd love to see OKC win. It would almost ensure KD doesn't leave.

But I think GSW has a better shot at taking down the Cavs.

The Warriors beat the Cavs twice. Once by 34 points.

The Cavs though knocked off OKC twice.

Sure OKC has gotten better, but I still wonder if KD has what it takes to lead them to a championship.

How would you rate OKC against Cavs in a 7 game series without HCA?

[bwgood77]

I'd love to see OKC win. It would almost ensure KD doesn't leave.

But I think GSW has a better shot at taking down the Cavs.

The Warriors beat the Cavs twice. Once by 34 points.

The Cavs though knocked off OKC twice.

Sure OKC has gotten better, but I still wonder if KD has what it takes to lead them to a championship.

How would you rate OKC against Cavs in a 7 game series without HCA?

That would be tough. I've thought about it. For some reason it seems like the 2-3-2 format makes it tougher for the road team, because they almost HAVE to take one of the first two, and then it is still awfully tough to win three straight, even at home.

I think Cleveland would win. I think Cleveland would have a very good chance of beating GS in the finals though, the way they are playing....though if GS wins game 7 tomorrow, they might get their mojo back.

[lilfishi22]

I'd love to see OKC win. It would almost ensure KD doesn't leave.

But I think GSW has a better shot at taking down the Cavs.

The Warriors beat the Cavs twice. Once by 34 points.

The Cavs though knocked off OKC twice.

Sure OKC has gotten better, but I still wonder if KD has what it takes to lead them to a championship.

How would you rate OKC against Cavs in a 7 game series without HCA?

That would be tough. I've thought about it. For some reason it seems like the 2-3-2 format makes it tougher for the road team, because they almost HAVE to take one of the first two, and then it is still awfully tough to win three straight, even at home.

I think Cleveland would win. I think Cleveland would have a very good chance of beating GS in the finals though, the way they are playing....though if GS wins game 7 tomorrow, they might get their mojo back.

I'd have to give the edge to Cleveland. OKC would have gone through a legit murderer's row of teams who are as good if not better than Cleveland so I don't know how much more they have to give in another 7 game series against the Cavs.

I like GSW chances against the Cavs. They have a multitude of players they can throw at Lebron, Love and Irving but I don't know if the Cavs have an answer for the Warriors offense and depth. The big x-factor is rebounding. Cavs are an excellent rebounding team and in the OKC wins against the Warriors, it's been their strong rebounding that's played in their favor.

[GMATCallahan]

... disgusting offensive performance by Oklahoma City down the stretch of the fourth quarter. I was criticizing the Thunder's possessions (to myself) as soon as I saw them starting to unfold, and the results were predictably bad—because the process was awful. Dribbling down the shot clock time after time, isolating Kevin Durant in a way that allowed Golden State's defense to load up, shrink the floor, help, and let Andre Iguodala really pressure the ball ... being sloppy with the ball ... why not actually run a Westbrook/Durant pick-and-roll? Why not run Durant through staggered or double-stacked screens?

Curry and Thompson hit some great shots, and the Thunder's defense was not as tight as in its previous two home games, but Oklahoma City really lost this game on offense, especially since the late turnovers allowed Curry and Thompson to get open in transition.

Durant and Westbrook: a combined 20-58 from the field and 1-13 on threes, plus 8 turnovers (against 14 assists). The Thunder recorded 0 assists against 6 turnovers in the fourth quarter.

That was one of the worst, ugliest performances down the stretch of a big game that I have ever seen—maybe the very worst. It was a disgrace to basketball.

Despite all of that, they still likely win if GS doesn't hit some absolutely crazy shots down the stretch though. It's not like OKC was playing bad defense.

I would not call those shots "crazy," though. (Rex Chapman hit "crazy" shots back in the day.) Curry and Thompson just did what they do on a fairly routine basis. Oklahoma City's defense certainly was not bad, but the Thunder did suffer some lapses that it had not suffered nearly as often earlier in the series, especially in Games Three and Four when their defense had been dominant. Twice in the fourth quarter, as I recall, Russell Westbrook was caught with his hands down (or not up) against Klay Thompson, and Thompson fired three-pointers over Westbrook as a result. Once, Steven Adams' first step against Stephen Curry off the pick-and-roll late in the fourth quarter was backwards, to protect against the drive, which gave Curry the space to fire one of his patented off-the-dribble three-pointers from the right wing. In that situation, especially when nursing a lead late in the fourth quarter, you have to take away Curry's space, run him off the three-point line, and make him score off the drive against a collapsing defense. He may well do it, as he later scored against Serge Ibaka after Ibaka crowded him at the three-point line, but at least in that case he is only scoring two points. He also might miss, as occurred on another switch versus Ibaka late in the fourth quarter. And then, as Billy Donovan acknowledged in the post-game press conference, the Thunder was not switching against Klay Thompson that tightly. The defensive key to Oklahoma City's blowouts in Games Three and Four (and even its Game One win) was how tight its switching coverage happened to be, and that switching coverage was not as tight in Game Six. It was not bad, but it was not on the same level as some of the earlier games in the series.

Additionally, as I mentioned, some of those awful Oklahoma City turnovers late in the fourth quarter allowed the Warriors to get out in transition, which makes matching up with Curry and Thompson especially difficult and allowed them to each bury a three in those situations. Making matters worse, on one of those plays, Kevin Durant had a chance to get to Curry on the left wing, but instead he was watching the ball, hence allowing Curry to catch a pass, use a transition screen, and shoot a three off the dribble in some space. I saw it at the time, and Shaquille O'Neal commented on the play and the mistake on "Inside the NBA" after the game. As Oklahoma City has shown in this series, Golden State actually can be 'defended' (not stopped or smothered on a game-to-game basis, but somewhat contained), especially if a team—like the Thunder—possesses a lot of athleticism, length, and interchangeable defenders. Some teams from the 1990s, such as Portland (especially in the early nineties), Seattle, Chicago, and Houston could have matched up well with the Warriors for that reason. But you also need to have a lot of discipline and a lot of court awareness, and most teams nowadays—maybe because players did not spend enough time in college, maybe because there is not the same attention to detail among players given the multimillionaire celebrity culture that pervades today's NBA—suffer plenty of lapses in those regards. And if you lapse against Curry and Thompson, those guys will kill you. If you are Durant on that play that I just mentioned, you simply get out to Curry and stick with him. You do not worry about who has the ball in the middle of the court—trust your teammates in that regard and make sure that Curry does not get into space and a nice rhythm. You have to know who you are dealing with—yet during the regular season, I would see defenders time and time again leave Curry uncovered on the wings in transition, going under screens against him, big men not flying out at him when his defender went over the screen—all cardinal sins. (For given how Curry can hit very tough shots, you have to take away every easier shot.) Every defense should have its "Curry Rules," much like the Pistons developed the "Jordan Rules" in 1989. And you do not ignore Curry to stop something else—you do not lapse and treat him like a generic offensive player. For instance, in the 1993 NBA Finals, when Kevin Johnson was guarding Michael Jordan, his attention was totally focused on Jordan. He was not leaving Jordan, he was not looking to help out elsewhere, and he was not letting Jordan have any freedom. If necessary, K.J. was face-guarding Jordan and trusting his teammates to do their jobs elsewhere.

Now, in the 1993 Western Conference Finals, Kevin Johnson was usually defending Gary Payton, who at that time was not an outstanding offensive player (indeed, he was a liability as a shooter at the time)—and who was no Michael Jordan in any event. So K.J. was defending Payton tough, but he was also freer to rotate, to help, to serve as a kind of free safety/cornerback deluxe combo package. See the play from 0:38-0:51 in this highlight video from Game Five of that series:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abu3f3dkqOA[/youtube]

(You can also see the play from 1:51-2:13.)

But if that is Jordan or Curry instead of Payton, you do not leave him to rotate over to Michael Cage—you have to know who you are defending. Against Jordan, K.J. had to be simply a Deion Sanders-style cover cornerback—forget the free safety part.

Now, in Durant's defense, he has generally done an excellent job defensively in this postseason and in this series, especially in switching onto Curry, denying him the jump-shot, and forcing him to drive, where Durant could then use his length to block or alter shots. But on that play late in the fourth quarter last night, and some others, the Thunder's defensive coverage was more lapse-prone than in the past games. Again, go back to those Thompson shots over Westbrook: perhaps Thompson hits them regardless, but against Klay Thompson, especially a historically hot Klay Thompson, you cannot suffer lapses where your hands are not up in the first place, and Westbrook let it happen multiple times in the fourth quarter. Even if Thompson is well behind the three-point arc, you have to know who you are guarding and how he is playing. Certainly, you have to close Klay Thompson's air space in those situations. (Ironically, while Thompson shot 11-18 on threes, he went just 3-12 on two-point field goals, indicating that he struggled when he had to try and score off the drive against a contesting and collapsing defense.)

Regardless, the way that Oklahoma City really failed came on the offensive end. To just try and play one-on-one with Durant (mainly) or Westbrook, and often not even make a major move until the shot clock had ticked inside ten seconds and the ball was still out at the hash marks, represented terrible offense—anti-championship offense, really. The Thunder possessed so many other options: Westbrook-Durant pick-and-rolls/pops, Westbrook-Ibaka pick-and-rolls/pops, getting the ball to a curling Durant coming off down-screens, putting the ball in Waiters' hands and letting Westbrook run off down-screens to get some momentum, space, and lag time before receiving the ball—and on and on. In general, the ball should have been in Westbrook's hands more—Durant shot 6-19 from the field in the first half and 4-12 in the second half, so he was not on top of his game—and Westbrook should have been attacking earlier in the shot clock, which would allow Oklahoma City to be more patient later in the shot clock and use more ball movement. But to feature Westbrook and Durant and not even run the pick-and-roll with those two was just ridiculous. Oklahoma City may as well have been playing with two Carmelo Anthonys down the stretch, and witnessing that debacle was truly disappointing—just as someone who wants to see good basketball. Even with Curry and Thompson getting their groove back, the Thunder should be in the NBA Finals right now.

[GMATCallahan]

That would be tough. I've thought about it. For some reason it seems like the 2-3-2 format makes it tougher for the road team, because they almost HAVE to take one of the first two, and then it is still awfully tough to win three straight, even at home.

I think Cleveland would win. I think Cleveland would have a very good chance of beating GS in the finals though, the way they are playing....though if GS wins game 7 tomorrow, they might get their mojo back.

Remember that the NBA switched back to a 2-2-1-1-1 format starting with the 2014 NBA Finals ...

[bwgood77]

Spoiler:

... disgusting offensive performance by Oklahoma City down the stretch of the fourth quarter. I was criticizing the Thunder's possessions (to myself) as soon as I saw them starting to unfold, and the results were predictably bad—because the process was awful. Dribbling down the shot clock time after time, isolating Kevin Durant in a way that allowed Golden State's defense to load up, shrink the floor, help, and let Andre Iguodala really pressure the ball ... being sloppy with the ball ... why not actually run a Westbrook/Durant pick-and-roll? Why not run Durant through staggered or double-stacked screens?

Curry and Thompson hit some great shots, and the Thunder's defense was not as tight as in its previous two home games, but Oklahoma City really lost this game on offense, especially since the late turnovers allowed Curry and Thompson to get open in transition.

Durant and Westbrook: a combined 20-58 from the field and 1-13 on threes, plus 8 turnovers (against 14 assists). The Thunder recorded 0 assists against 6 turnovers in the fourth quarter.

That was one of the worst, ugliest performances down the stretch of a big game that I have ever seen—maybe the very worst. It was a disgrace to basketball.

Despite all of that, they still likely win if GS doesn't hit some absolutely crazy shots down the stretch though. It's not like OKC was playing bad defense.

I would not call those shots "crazy," though. (Rex Chapman hit "crazy" shots back in the day.) Curry and Thompson just did what they do on a fairly routine basis. Oklahoma City's defense certainly was not bad, but the Thunder did suffer some lapses that it had not suffered nearly as often earlier in the series, especially in Games Three and Four when their defense had been dominant. Twice in the fourth quarter, as I recall, Russell Westbrook was caught with his hands down (or not up) against Klay Thompson, and Thompson fired three-pointers over Westbrook as a result. Once, Steven Adams' first step against Stephen Curry off the pick-and-roll late in the fourth quarter was backwards, to protect against the drive, which gave Curry the space to fire one of his patented off-the-dribble three-pointers from the right wing. In that situation, especially when nursing a lead late in the fourth quarter, you have to take away Curry's space, run him off the three-point line, and make him score off the drive against a collapsing defense. He may well do it, as he later scored against Serge Ibaka after Ibaka crowded him at the three-point line, but at least in that case he is only scoring two points. He also might miss, as occurred on another switch versus Ibaka late in the fourth quarter. And then, as Billy Donovan acknowledged in the post-game press conference, the Thunder was not switching against Klay Thompson that tightly. The defensive key to Oklahoma City's blowouts in Games Three and Four (and even its Game One win) was how tight its switching coverage happened to be, and that switching coverage was not as tight in Game Six. It was not bad, but it was on the same level as some of the earlier games in the series.

Additionally, as I mentioned, some of those awful Oklahoma City turnovers late in the fourth quarter allowed the Warriors to get out in transition, which makes matching up with Curry and Thompson especially difficult and allowed them to each bury a three in those situations. Making matters worse, on one of those plays, Kevin Durant had a chance to get to Curry on the left wing, but instead he was watching the ball, allowing Curry to use a transition screen and shoot a three off the dribble in some space. I saw it at the time, and Shaquille O'Neal commented on the play and the mistake on "Inside the NBA" after the game. As Oklahoma City has shown in this series, Golden State actually can be 'defended' (not stopped or smothered on a game-to-game basis, but somewhat contained), especially if a team—like the Thunder—possesses a lot of athleticism, length, and interchangeable defenders. Some teams from the 1990s, such as Portland (especially in the early nineties), Seattle, Chicago, and Houston could have matched up well with the Warriors for that reason. But you also need to have a lot of discipline and a lot of court awareness, and most teams nowadays—maybe because players did not spend enough time in college, maybe because there is not the same attention to detail among players given the celebrity culture that pervades today's NBA—suffer plenty of lapses in those regards. And if you lapse against Curry and Thompson, those guys will kill you. If you are Durant on that play that I just mentioned, you simply get out to Curry and stick with him. You do not worry about who has the ball in the middle of the court—trust your teammates in that regard and make sure that Curry does not get into space and a nice rhythm. You have to know who you are dealing with—yet during the regular season, I would see defenders time and time again leave Curry uncovered on the wings in transition, going under screens against him, big men not flying out at him when his defender went over the screen—all cardinal sins. (For given how Curry can hit very tough shots, you have to take away every easier shot.) Every defense should have its "Curry Rules," much like the Pistons developed the "Jordan Rules" in 1989. And you do not ignore Curry to stop something else—you do not lapse and treat him like a generic offensive player. For instance, in the 1993 NBA Finals, when Kevin Johnson was guarding Michael Jordan, his attention was totally focused on Jordan. He was not leaving Jordan, he was not looking to help out elsewhere, and he was not letting Jordan have any freedom. If necessary, K.J. was face-guarding Jordan and trusting his teammates to do their jobs elsewhere.

Now, in the 1993 Western Conference Finals, Kevin Johnson was usually defending Gary Payton, who at that time was not an outstanding offensive player (indeed, he was a liability as a shooter at the time)—and who was no Michael Jordan in any event. So K.J. was defending Payton tough, but he was also freer to rotate, to help, to serve as a kind of free safety/cornerback deluxe combo package. See the play from 0:38-0:51 in this highlight video from Game Five of that series:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abu3f3dkqOA[/youtube]

(You can also see the play from 1:51-2:13.)

But if that is Jordan or Curry instead of Payton, you do not leave him to rotate over to Michael Cage—you have to know who you are defending. Against Jordan, K.J. had to be simply a Deion Sanders-style cover cornerback—forget the free safety part.

Now, in Durant's defense, he has generally done an excellent job defensively in this postseason and in this series, especially in switching onto Curry, denying him the jump-shot, and forcing him to drive, where Durant could then use his length to block or alter shots. But on that play late in the fourth quarter last night, and some others, the Thunder's defensive coverage was more lapse-prone than in the past games. Again, go back to those Thompson shots over Westbrook: perhaps Thompson hits them regardless, but against Klay Thompson, especially a historically hot Klay Thompson, you cannot suffer lapses where your hands are not up in the first place, and Westbrook let it happen multiple times in the fourth quarter. Even if Thompson is well behind the three-point arc, you have to know who you are guarding and how he is playing. Certainly, you have to close Klay Thompson's air space in those situations. (Ironically, while Thompson shot 11-18 on threes, he went just 3-12 on two-point field goals, indicating that he struggled when he had to try and score off the drive against a contesting and collapsing defense.)

Regardless, the way that Oklahoma City really failed came on the offensive end. To just try and play one-on-one with Durant (mainly) or Westbrook, and often not even make a major move until the shot clock had ticked inside ten seconds and the ball was still out at the hash marks, represented terrible offense—anti-championship offense, really. The Thunder possessed so many other options: Westbrook-Durant pick-and-rolls/pops, Westbrook-Ibaka pick-and-rolls/pops, getting the ball to a curling Durant coming off down-screens, putting the ball in Waiters' hands and letting Westbrook run off down-screens to get some momentum, space, and lag time before receiving the ball—and on and on. In general, the ball should have been in Westbrook's hands more—Durant shot 6-19 from the field in the first half and 4-12 in the second half, so he was not on top of his game—and Westbrook should have been attacking earlier in the shot clock, which would allow Oklahoma City to be more patient later in the shot clock and use more ball movement. But to feature Westbrook and Durant and not even run the pick-and-roll with those two was just ridiculous. Oklahoma City may as well have been playing with two Carmelo Anthonys down the stretch, and witnessing that debacle was truly disappointing—just as someone who wants to see good basketball. Even with Curry and Thompson getting their groove back, the Thunder should be in the NBA Finals right now.

Those intentional fouls hurt too because Roberson sat with 5 and that could have played a large part in Klay hitting some of those 3s. Also, the minutes of KD and Westbrook may have taken their toll. I wish OKC had gotten to the finals as well, but I'd be a little surprised if they went down without a fight. Nothing with the Thunder in the last two series has been very predictable...people's expectations keep getting turned on their head.

Though I do think GS has a better chance against the Cavs.

[bwgood77]

That would be tough. I've thought about it. For some reason it seems like the 2-3-2 format makes it tougher for the road team, because they almost HAVE to take one of the first two, and then it is still awfully tough to win three straight, even at home.

I think Cleveland would win. I think Cleveland would have a very good chance of beating GS in the finals though, the way they are playing....though if GS wins game 7 tomorrow, they might get their mojo back.

Remember that the NBA switched back to a 2-2-1-1-1 format starting with the 2014 NBA Finals ...

OK, I thought they might have switched it back. I'm sure if they Spurs were up 3-2 and had game 6 at home in 2013 they don't blow that game. Of course it would have been tougher to be up 3-2 having only played two games at home to that point.

[GMATCallahan]

Those intentional fouls hurt too because Roberson sat with 5 and that could have played a large part in Klay hitting some of those 3s. Also, the minutes of KD and Westbrook may have taken their toll. I wish OKC had gotten to the finals as well, but I'd be a little surprised if they went down without a fight. Nothing with the Thunder in the last two series has been very predictable...people's expectations keep getting turned on their head.

Though I do think GS has a better chance against the Cavs.

I expect Oklahoma City to play competitively tomorrow night; I just do not expect the Thunder to pull out the game in the fourth quarter in this situation. You never know, but doing so will be extremely difficult.

You know, bw, watching this series through the first four games reminded me somewhat of what the Suns did to the top-seeded Lakers in the 1990 Western Conference Semifinals (and I went back and studied Games Three through Five of that series in 2012) ... except that the Suns closed out the series in Game Five at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles. And the difference between Phoenix's offense and how Oklahoma City played at the end of Game Six was monumental.

If Durant and Westbrook were fatigued ... all the more reason not to play "hero-ball" or be overly reliant on them at the end. Put the ball in Waiters' hands some, let Durant feed off Westbrook's explosiveness rather than trying to create himself against an elite defender ... or just make some adjustments. The debacle proved analogous to watching a pitcher in baseball who kept hanging his slider yet kept turning to his slider: dude, use another pitch.

[GMATCallahan]

OK, I thought they might have switched it back. I'm sure if they Spurs were up 3-2 and had game 6 at home in 2013 they don't blow that game. Of course it would have been tougher to be up 3-2 having only played two games at home to that point.

I agree with your point about the 2-3-2 format, and you put it well: unless you are talking about one of those obviously lopsided match-ups, the kind that often occurred in the years after Jordan retired from Chicago, winning three games in a role on this stage, and against this level of competition, is extremely difficult. Therefore, the supposed advantage of playing three straight home games is negated.

Regardless, 2-2-1-1-1 makes more sense for basketball. 2-3-2 is really a format for baseball, where playing at home is less consequential and you do not want or need as many off-days. (Of course, best-of-seven samples in baseball are generally too small to be intellectually meaningful, anyway.)

[thamadkant]

I seriously fail to comprehend why any team let Klay and Steph a chance to look at the rim around 30 feet.... you know they just need a glimpse of the rim at that distance. The moment they square up to the rim, you know they already know where to shoot it. They practice this against players like Green and Iguadala EVERY day... hence normal defenders are nothing to them.



When Thunder was allowing Steph and Klay to drive pass their man and attempt a layup or a circus floater in traffic, they are likelier to miss, because they arent use to those.




Quick long distance shots are the NORM to Steph and Klay... driving inside into traffic IS NOT.... thats why they either get blocked, miss or they do wrap around passes to the corners, which are easier to pick off. Thunder covered that well in Game 4... making Warriors do what was uncomfortable to them... then in Game 5 and 6... especially 6.... they just forgot.

Klay Thompson lingering around the 3pt line, you know he will launch a shot, why not stick side by side to them and give them a lane towards the paint, where they will likely launch a shot in traffic.

[YFZblu]

I seriously fail to comprehend why any team let Klay and Steph a chance to look at the rim around 30 feet.... you know they just need a glimpse of the rim at that distance.

I understand where you're coming from, and I don't entirely disagree - though, imo, asking why teams "let" Klay and Curry shoot threes is akin to asking why teams "let" Russel Westbrook get into the paint night-in-and-night-out.