Spoiler:
"bwgood77"
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. Adam's 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%.
Of course, you're right that their 3 PT shooting was a major factor in their win over the Warriors, as well as their overall stellar team defense too. But the bigger frontcourt also employed by the Grizzlies also made it very difficult for the much smaller warriors to get easy buckets in the paint, around the rim, on penetration and prevented them from being able to get into a better offensive rhythm off easy scores. And the points in the paint at +14 and the rebounding edge +18 rebounds, (+14 offensive rebounds)!!! obviously was a legitimate factor as well. I also don't think that it was a mere coincidence that Adams' return and the subsequent bigger frontcourt lineup made the series more difficult for the warriors and to a degree and helped the Grizzlies play much more competitively against the smaller Warriors. Basically, it could easily be argued from watching the game that the Warriors didn't even bother showing up and didn't care at all. And that they're just looking to close out the series on their home floor. Still, as it pertains to us (and many other teams for example), you're simply not going to beat the Warriors in a shootout. And to even stay close and sustain a chance (given their normally absurd shooting) you have to find easy ways to score and counter their elite perimeter game. Otherwise, you face getting blown out by their shooting aside from some anomalous aberration wherein they have an off night from the perimeter. Aside from Green, what strong or elite frontcourt defenders do they have that can really stop and engaged Ayton?? Their biggest frontcourt on the roster are:
Wiseman- 7'1 (isn't playing)?
Bjelica- 6'9 (can't really guard the post any better than Saric honestly).
Looney- 6'9 (Looney really can't guard Ayton successfully) **IF Ayton is fully engaged and aggressive???
Green- 6'7.
Wiggins- 6'7.
We cannot legitimately keep up with the Warriors 3 PT shooting. And clearly, we aren't yet good at defending the perimeter either. But the distinct advantage that we do have is in our size advantage in the frontcourt, which can get us easy buckets (especially with Ayton's efficiency) and the clear size disparity. The ability to force fouls on the warriors, and to control the rebounding, which would be critical in limiting multiple offensive opportunities for them. Because IF they do somehow struggle at times from the perimeter, the last thing you really want to do is give them multiple opportunities to get in a good rhythm. Again, our best bet to keep up against the Warriors' very potent perimeter offense outside of having multiple outlier high-level shooting performances to offset their shooting HAS TO BE in generating easy offense and limiting their offensive opportunities, and drawing fouls on their players to try and suppress their momentum and force them to play less aggressively. We need a fully engaged "monster" playoffs version of Ayton to create significant gravity on their defenders, to free up and get our shooters going (hopefully)
Meanwhile, Booker and Paul can kill the Warriors from the midrange when their defenders are forced to collapse on our bigs more. And once we're in a great rhythm offensively (as a result from easy scores around the basket and midrange) we can now extend that to our threes.
