Ghost of Kleine wrote:bwgood77 wrote:Ghost of Kleine wrote:Whether the Warriors showed up or not tonight, You still have a clear blueprint for how to beat them! You dominate the paint, pound it inside and win the rebounding edge! If everything falls right for us, we could feasibly beat Golden state using that scheme. PLAY BIG AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THEY'RE LACK OF SIZE!!! Ayton and McGee or Ayton/ Biyombo with big minutes. But Ayton will have to have his best series of the playoffs for us to stand a chance!
They didn't really play big...I mean JJJ is a lot bigger (at least longer and taller) PF than we have, but he's a perimeter 3 pt shooter. Adams is their only guy on offense in the middle. And he doesn't score.
They beat them with 3 pt shooting and defense. 18 3s made at 44%.
That frontcourt with both Jackson Jr and Steven Adams are both 6'11, So they're significantly bigger than anything Golden state has. Jackson Jr blocked and intimidated a lot of shots and Adam's has given them a dominant big to give them the rebounding edge ( 55 - 37 edge/ offensive edge was 18-4 ). Also the points in the paint were ( 50-36). Similar to Valuncias in that he had timely putbacks, but also kept the Warriors from getting multiple possessions which could've gotten them into a much better rythym.
Shaq, chuck, Kenny and Charles were emphasizing how having Adams has helped them cut down the Warriors ability to score in the paint as effectively. That to a fair degree helps teams stay in the game if the opposition is a dominant perimeter team. Especially if they're struggling. As easy scores/possessions build confidence in struggling shooters. Then they started hitting from the outside more and could compete much better against the Warriors.
The biggest advantage against the Warriors is clearly utilizing size disparity to draw fouls, dominate the glass and points in the paint to offset their outside shooting. And more so if they happen to struggle from the perimeter. Although overall they did outwork the Warriors in most all categories anyways too. But regardless, that's the Warriors weakness (frontcourt size) as your just not going to outshooting them very often if at all. So you have to find easy opportunities to stay close and generate offense.
Adams and JJJ each had 4 pts in the paint.
Adams is just big and tough, and can outmuscle anyone. JJJ scored mostly from 3. I am not entirely sure why the Warriors are starting Kuminga now when they started Looney all year and he has a 7'4 wingspan.
Anyway, like I mentioned above, it was the Grizzlies shooting that made them tough. They did get points in the paint which are easier to come by when you are also nailing 3s because defenses are less likely to cheat off, so Tyus Jones can drive and score or drive and dish....so he can get a lot of points at the rim. Jones had 8 pts in the paint and Brooks had 6.
It's their reserves that score in the paint outside of Jones. Clarke and Anderson each had 6 in the paint. They are not 3 pt shooters so when they come in from the bench it's them, but they are subbing in for the bigs...Kyle Anderson came in for Adams and Clarke for JJJ.
The thing is, it's their starters who built the huge lead with all those 3s and Tyus Jones driving and dishing or hitting 3s himself. He was their primary paint scorer as a starter, with Brooks next.
If you notice, it's the starters who built the lead were all in the +30s and 40s...Clarke was at 20...but Anderson was at 2.
Their starters built the lead shooting over 50% from 3 and the reserves maintained it..but most of the points in the paint from starters were Jones (8) and Brooks (6). Adams and JJJ each had 4 in the paint.
So I don't think size really beat them at all. Adams rebounding was nice and he is tough, but they play hard nosed defense, and the main thing is shooting a high volume of 3s at 44%.
