Warriors Tie Series 1-1 With Aggressive Defense And Refined Pick-And-Roll Attack

Throughout their dynastic run, the Golden State Warriors – when healthy and whole – have never failed to respond after a surprising loss.

Based on the nature of Boston’s fourth-quarter turnaround, Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals could even be considered the most shocking defeat of the Steve Kerr era. Nine times out of 10, they don’t squander a double-digit lead entering the final frame.

Game 2 had to be played on the Warriors’ terms. If it wasn’t, they were facing an unprecedented situation. Having never trailed 2-0 in a playoff series, the pressure was on them from the jump. Combine it with homecourt advantage being stripped away and how repugnant their defensive effort looked down the stretch, there had to be an answer.

Behind a dynamite third quarter and, according to Cleaning The Glass, the second-stingiest defensive performance of their season, the Warriors prevented a lot of Internet chaos in Game 2. They tied up the series 1-1 and responded to every mistake they made a few days earlier.

Game 1 was undoubtedly a wake-up call for Golden State’s defense, which they take pride in just as much as their glorious motion offense and selfless identity.

After ranking fifth in defensive rating in 2021 during an injury-riddled season, they elevated to second this year. Holding teams to 106.6 points per 100 possessions, Golden State actually posted the best relative defensive rating of the Curry-Green-Thompson era. It was 5.1 points per 100 below the league average — putting them second overall in franchise history, behind the 1963-64 San Francisco Warriors. Coincidentally, those Wilt Chamberlain-led Warriors lost on the Finals stage to … the Boston Celtics.

Outside of 12 minutes in Game 1, the Dubs have buckled down all year and finished the job defensively. But the fourth quarter of Game 1 was just uncharacteristically awful. The players acknowledged it. Kerr didn’t let anyone forget about the level of “force” required in a Finals game.

Everyone knew it.

Still, the group needed to hear it from their vocal leader. Draymond Green, the Warriors’ future Hall-of-Fame mastermind, addressed the team regarding the lackluster defense.

“About five minutes after Game 1,” Curry said regarding Green’s spirited response. “That’s all I needed to see and hear from him, just in terms of what we needed to do.”

The Warriors’ tendency to respond in such emphatic ways is why they’ve lifted three championship trophies dating back to 2015. Any time they get embarrassed or silenced, there’s a guaranteed vengeance on the way. It’s never just a slight jab back to the opponent, either. You better be prepared for multiple haymakers, as that is Golden State’s personal way of regaining the momentum.

Limiting Boston to just 14 points on 23 possessions in the third quarter, Golden State turned a two-point lead into a 23-point blowout heading into the fourth. They had a 60.9 defensive rating in the third quarter alone, following the recipe they created eight years ago when this operation started.

With only 4:25 remaining in the third, it was still 68-62. The Warriors were hanging onto a six-point lead after Boston nailed back-to-back threes.

From that point forward, it was a 19-2 hurricane to close the quarter. With a combination of elite defensive awareness, physicality, and simplifying their offensive approach, Golden State delivered blow after blow. Then, Jordan Poole’s 39-foot jumper at the buzzer likely set the Chase Center record for crowd volume.

Looking back at how the Warriors set the tone in Game 2, what immediately sticks out on tape is how alert, aggressive, and on time their defensive rotations were. Although it was just a two-point lead at the half, the Warriors didn’t allow Boston to dictate the flow.

From Kerr’s point of view, they didn’t require any major adjustments on the strategic side. The vast majority of their issues in Game 1 came down to poor effort, late or non-existent closeouts, and simply not respecting Boston’s role players from beyond the arc.

To open the series, Al Horford, Derrick White, and Marcus Smart combined to shoot 15-of-23 from three. Out of those 23 attempts, 16 were deemed “wide-open” per Second Spectrum’s tracking data. That’s giving at least six feet of space for more-than-capable outside shooters (in Horford’s case, an outstanding playoff shooter).

In Game 2, those three combined to shoot just 2-of-7 from downtown – Boston didn’t even generate a single three-point attempt for Horford after his career night in Game 1.

After Sunday’s win, Curry mentioned the immediate difference he noticed in their defensive principles.

“The level of focus to start the game,” he said when asked about cooling off the Celtics. “We looked back at Game 1 and between Marcus, Al Horford, and Derrick White, there were like four or five shots they got in the first half that were uncontested. They’re professionals. They play this game just like we do. You understand, if the shoe is on the other foot and we’re getting those type of shots … that carries over to the rest of the game. You start searching (for shots) a little more. You start feeling more comfortable.”

Having Gary Payton II back in the fold was instrumental for Golden State’s defensive strategy. After missing a month of action with a fractured elbow, he played 25 minutes in his first game back.

It unlocked the Warriors’ ability to roll out one of their deadliest lineups by surrounding Curry and Green with the trio of Payton, Andrew Wiggins, and Otto Porter Jr. Based on how Klay Thompson has struggled shooting to begin the Finals and Poole’s defensive limitations, this five-man group gives them an effective combination of defensive pressure and switchable pieces while maintaining competent shotmaking (Curry, Porter, and Wiggins).

This is a perfect example of A) the type of defensive problems that particular lineup can present, and B) how dialed in Green was throughout the game:

With Payton guarding Tatum in the above clip, he calls up Robert Williams for a standard 1-5 pick-and-roll. But, this means Draymond is going to be the one switching out. Green essentially forces Tatum to retreat to halfcourt and reset the possession. As he attacks Green’s inside foot, the Warriors are already rotating on the back end. Otto Porter slides down to protect the paint, while Curry is “helping the helper” and cutting off Tatum’s passing lane.

Golden State’s commitment to shrinking the floor, providing help in appropriate spots, and staying active in the passing lanes caused the Celtics to get sloppy. Boston turned it over 18 times in Game 2, leading to 33 points for the Warriors.

Eleven of those 18 turnovers came in the first half. It’s a miracle Boston only found itself in a two-point hole at halftime, but that spoke to the brilliance of Jayson Tatum’s pull-up shooting out of the gate.

“I think turnovers are often a byproduct of physicality and intensity,” Kerr said. “I thought we brought that from the start. Draymond had plenty to do with that, so did (Payton), so did (Wiggins). I thought our whole team was physical and intense, and you know, we did a good job of trying to make things difficult for them.”

Boy, did they make it difficult.

One of the easiest adjustments to see on tape was how often Golden State elected to keep Green on Jaylen Brown in Game 2. After spending less than 10 total possessions as the primary defender against Brown in the first game, Green more than doubled that in Sunday’s win. He spent 21 possessions on the Celtics’ best penetrator, holding him to just 2-of-7 shooting in the minutes he stayed glued to him.

If Boston tried to run ball-screen action to get Draymond switched off, the Warriors would utilize their show-and-recover techniques to deny the switch completely. Here, Nemanja Bjelica is being pulled into the action at the top. He steps out just enough, and allows Green to recover back to his man:

No matter what, Green and the Warriors were not going to allow Boston to feast on matchups they desired.

Golden State went back to their defensive roots and kept their assignments in front.

Green might be the Warriors’ defensive quarterback and lethal weapon with his unparalleled IQ and motor, but nobody epitomizes what it means to accept defensive challenges – and the importance of “buying in” – more than Curry.

In a normal basketball universe, Curry isn’t supposed to be a quality defender. Given his smaller size and just the sheer number of times he’s going to be attacked because of it, the defensive results are supposed to be below-average. That’s just typically how it goes at the NBA level, where wing-led offenses will not hesitate to torture the smallest defender on the floor.

Curry is the exception.

Time and time again, he surprises opposing teams by, in fact, not being a poor defender. It’s just not about Curry playing at a passable level, though. The Warriors never settle for mediocre results on either end of the floor. They strive to do everything at an A-plus rate – when they can’t, they will make up for the lack of quality with a relentless, gargantuan effort and simply bank on outworking you.

Curry had nothing to be ashamed of defensively in Game 1, considering most of the breakdowns weren’t on him. But that didn’t stop him from looking like a machine in Game 2, embracing every challenge Boston presented him.

He was able to stick with guards, keep the ball in front, and force the shot clock to tick away. If there was a switch and he found himself against a bigger body, namely Al Horford below, he battled and took every hit. Two of these Boston turnovers included championship-level defense and recognition by Curry:

As Green pointed to after the game, Curry will never receive mainstream praise for his defensive work. But the Warriors are certainly not complaining if it goes under the radar, as teams will continue attacking what they perceive as a weak link.

“He never does,” Green said about Curry getting credit for his defense. “I’ve been talking about it for the last couple years, just how much he’s improved on that side of the ball. Teams used to call him into every action and just try to pick on him. That doesn’t work anymore. He sits down and guards. We’re all there behind him if he does need help. But he hasn’t been needing that often, and it’s great.”

Perhaps back in 2016, Curry was targeted in nearly every pick-and-roll set because he was indeed much smaller than the average point guard. With help from various strength and conditioning programs and constant work alongside the team’s weight trainers, that is no longer accurate.

“I’ve spoken about how much stronger he is,” Green said. “He’s able to hold his ground so you’re not able to bump him off his spot. That’s been huge for us. I’m not shocked he’s playing that type of defense.”

Curry has improved the physical nature of his game without letting it affect his speed. That was also important. With a large percentage of his offensive possessions relying on breaking free without the ball, it wouldn’t have been wise to bulk up too much. There is a happy-medium Curry has found with his body at age 34.

What we’re seeing now, on the defensive end, is impressive. In NBA circles, you always hear about a player not being willingly to adapt offensively in the modern league. For Curry, he’s gladly taking on the challenge of adapting defensively, even if the narrative behind his defense always stretched too far.

His defensive pressure and attention to detail was never a liability in the Steve Kerr era. It might not have been elite, but there is a lot of middle ground for players to stand. Now, at the back end of his prime, he’s just flat-out good on defense.

“Over the course of my career, it’s been a physical development that happens over time,” Curry said. “Obviously, a lot of work has gone into that. But at the end of the day, from my rookie year to now, it’s always been about effort. And just the care factor — overcoming physical limitations, matchups, or whatever it is. If you try hard, good things will happen and you’ll continue to get better. It’s always been a point of emphasis. I’m just better at it now.”

Gary Payton II, who might be the best perimeter defender in basketball, knows a thing or two about defensive placement. When he’s in the same lineup with Curry, he never has to worry about his teammate missing a rotation.

Aside from the defensive masterclass Golden State treated everyone to, the other bright spot in Game 2 was how often the Warriors elected to put the ball in Curry and Poole’s hands and let them control the offense.

In the third quarter, they didn’t get too cute and trust their off-ball movement to create openings. Against a switching defense, sometimes you just need a little sauce. Curry provided that, coming off this down-screen and using speed to his advantage. Both Horford and Brown are in his vicinity, but his pull-up three remains the best:

On this possession, Kerr instructs both Green and Payton to set consecutive ball-screens for Curry. This puts the defensive in a terrible position, especially if Green is going to channel his inner-49er and block every Boston defender from closing out:

To end the third quarter, the Warriors were riding Poole and letting him operate in ball-screens. Notice how Curry is the decoy and sets a cross-screen for Looney to come up. They want to attack Derrick White off the dribble and get into the paint. That’s exactly what happens, as Poole draws two defenders and dumps it off to Looney:

The story of the first two games is Boston’s inconsistent drop coverage. In the first half of Game 1, it could be classified as some of the worst defense Curry and the Warriors have seen in the playoffs. He was stepping directly into wide-open looks out of deep drops.

In the second half of Game 1, the Celtics adjusted, played tighter on the perimeter, and held Curry in check for the final two quarters.

Game 2 was practically the inverse. It wasn’t until the second half that Curry started breaking free and found success with his off-the-dribble game. Boston has yet to put together a full game of outstanding defense on Curry.

Then again, the Celtics still achieved what they needed – a split in San Francisco was at the top of their priority list heading into the series. It will be up to Ime Udoka to find a way to snap their third-quarter offensive woes and ensure there’s more resistance on Curry’s pick-and-rolls in TD Garden.