Explain One Play: Closing without Steph or KD

It was a wild game in Brooklyn. As GSOM’s Daniel Hardee wrote:

Offensive pyrotechnics notwithstanding, Warriors lapsed into a drowsy funk. Defensively, they allowed 42 points in the quarter. Allowing back to back games with 40+ point quarters is horrendous, especially when the second game is against lowly Brooklyn. The Dubs fueled Brooklyn’s transition game with five turnovers, and Curry closed the quarter with his fifth foul.

The Nets shockingly clawed back from the grave. They whittled away at the lead as the Warriors offense went ice cold. When Curry fouled out on a layup attempt with three minutes to go, the Nets were within five points, 107-102.

And that’s where our breakdown picks up. We look at the plays in the last three minutes of the game. Usually of course this is Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant time. GSW usually relies on one of them to make an excellent scoring play, or to have the others finish off a great look caused by their gravity.

Tonight it was a lot like the Blazers and Rockets series from the 2016 playoffs, when Curry was injured and only had elite weapons from Klay Thompson shooting and Draymond Green defending and playmaking. In those games, the recipe involved tough, swarming defense and disciplined motion offense to keep pace until Thompson could ignite to create some separation.

Tonight had a similar recipe, but Coach Steve Kerr complicated things by throwing Kevon Looney into the closing mix. This led to excellent on-ball defense through his footwork and long arms, but also as you’ll see, repeated mix-ups as he struggled at times to coordinate with his teammates.

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