With a dunk, three points, and 17 points in 19 minutes, Klay Thompson's night of return can already be described as perfect. Such a special night, and coinciding with such a special opponent as the Cavaliers, the Warriors greeted the splash of water with a victory.
The king returns, the team wins, which is naturally the most beautiful thing on the basketball court. But behind today's victory is the reality that the Warriors have not scored more than 100 points in three consecutive games. As a famous three-point team in the league, as a championship-level team, offense has become a major concern for the Warriors today.
The whole staff is sophisticated
The Warriors play not basketball, but sophistication. Returning after 941 days, there is no doubt that Klay Thompson is the absolute focus of this game. Just after his comeback, Kerr let Thompson into the starting lineup, and Jordan Poole, who has played well this season, was placed on the bench to play the sixth man.
Before the game, Curry and Dream continued to post on social media to create momentum for today's game. Although Draymond Green had a nervous left calf when he warmed up before the game, in order to celebrate Clay's return, he insisted on being there when he jumped the ball. Then voluntarily fouled the court, from Curry breaking the three-point record to Klay's return, the Warriors proved that they were a warm team.
And the Warriors' attitude towards Klay Thompson is not just superficial, after the opening Klay hit a return goal, the Warriors can actually play according to their previous game mode. But from Curry, to Wiggins, Looney, Toscano Anderson, as long as Klay Thompson is present, they seem to be trying their best to find Klay's place, and they have to create opportunities when they don't have chances.
In the first half, Klay Thompson played only 8 minutes but got a total of 9 shots, with Curry out of him getting the most shots. In the words of some Bay Area media reporters, the Warriors did not want to waste every minute of Klay's presence.
Of course, the Warriors' team was complete, Clay was not wasted, 7 of 18 shots, 3 of 8 three-pointers, got 17 points, Clay still handed over an answer sheet that satisfied the Warriors fans.
The Warriors' offensive problems remain
There's Curry, there's Green, there's Clay, and a lot of people say that the return of Klay Thompson will remind people of the Warriors in 2015. But the 15 Warriors are still a bit far away, but the return of Klay Thompson has indeed allowed the Warriors to regain some of the game patterns they are most familiar with this season.
The Warriors haven't been in good shape lately, losing three of the last five games. The team's poor record does have injury reasons, but more importantly, it may be the adjustment of the rotation, and the Warriors are realigning their lineup and looking for the way they want to play.
This season, the Warriors' game magic features are still relatively obvious, they average 39.6 three-point shots per game, ranking third in the league, and their three-point shooting rate reached 36.3%, ranking seventh in the league. But in the past five games, the Warriors have averaged only 32.6 three-pointers per game, ranking 20th in the league, while the Warriors' three-point shooting rate is only 32.5%, ranking 19th in the league.
The Warriors have averaged 19.3 shots per game under the basket this season, fifth in the league. The Warriors don't have a superstar-level interior like Embiid and Thick Brow, and the way they score under the basket mainly relies on counterattacks and passes. So while the Warriors are only 12th in the league to average 5 feet per game under the basket, their shooting percentage is as high as 68.1%, ranking first in the league.
Obviously, the Warriors were able to regain their strong team style, not only because they had Stephen Curry. When the Warriors keep tearing apart the opposing defense and constantly finding open three-point opportunities, that's where they're most threatening. In today's game, the Warriors made a total of 42 shots, higher than their season average. Among them, Curry and Klay Thompson's splash brothers contributed 40% of the three-point shot.
However, adding three points does not mean a wave shot. Don't look at the game against the Cavaliers, the Warriors eventually won the opponent by 14 points, which is relatively easy to win, but in the rotation stage, they did not play well. This time occurred when there were still 2 minutes and 41 seconds left in the first quarter, and Curry's three consecutive points helped the Warriors stretch the score to 9 points at one point, and then Curry went off, and the Warriors were led by Wiggins and Poole.
As a result, the Warriors watched Lefour and Mobley sit on the inside line, not good to break inside, the Warriors bench shot 6 three-pointers in a row, and the result was all iron, of which the Warriors had three three-pointers, which were shot from 30 feet away, which can basically be defined as Hu Still.
This is one of the reasons why the Warriors obviously made 12 more shots in the first half, but only led by five points. In today's game, Curry shot 4 of 11 from three points today, while Klay Thompson shot 3 of 8, and the two guards made a total of 7 of 19 shots. But among the remaining players, Wiggins shot 3-of-0 from three-point range, Iguodala shot 0-of-4 and Bjelica made 0-of-5 shooting.
Outside of the Splash Brothers, the Warriors made just three-of-23 shooting. There is a reason for the feel, but there is also a problem with tactical play. After hitting a 6-0 run in the final 2 minutes and 41 seconds, the Warriors quickly put Curry back on the court. With Curry's return, the Warriors' breakthroughs and empty cuts increased, and the situation immediately changed. In this game, Curry scored 28 points, and the plus-minus reached a game-high of +23.
Obviously, Curry can't play the whole 48 minutes, and when Curry is resting, who will carry the team's offensive banner, which is the problem they urgently need to solve. Many people have pinned their hopes on Jordan Poole, in the previous game, the Warriors spent most of the time as a starting shooting guard, and now that Klay is back, Poole has entered the role of sixth man on the bench, and in the past two games, the Warriors have suffered consecutive defeats, And Poole has only scored 6 points against the Lone Ranger, and only scored 11 points in the last game.
In today's game, Poole played 24 minutes and had 14 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, although 6 of 12 shots, the efficiency was not bad. But this season, the Warriors can average 37.6 points per game on the bench, and this night they only have 35 points, and it stands to reason that with Poole's addition, the Warriors bench should have been better.
Needless to say, the Cavaliers' height of the interior line did affect the Warriors' offense, and this season, their defensive efficiency ranked third in the league. But with just 82 points against the Lone Rangers and 96 against the Pelicans, and not scoring more than 100 points in three consecutive games, it's still a bit unreasonable for a team like the Warriors, whose offensive efficiency ranks in the league's top ten.
The league's strongest defensive win
With just 96 points, the Warriors still won the game, and outside of Curry, Kevin Looney was the warriors' second-largest contributor to the win. He used 18 rebounds on career night to welcome the return of old teammate Klay Thompson, and Looney also scored four steals and one block.
Led by Looney, the Warriors grabbed 22 offensive rebounds today, and enthusiasm is undoubtedly the reason why they won. 22 offensive rebounds gave them a 22-11 second-offense score, while they also caused 18 turnovers, so the Warriors also maintained a 22-9 lead on the fast-break side. Facing a team with a tall interior line, forcing the opponent to make more mistakes while also playing a counterattack, in fact, the Warriors are not too much of a problem on the defensive end.
This season, the Warriors are the league's number one defensive team, giving up just 102.2 points per 100 possessions, ranking first in the league, a figure that is two points less than the second-place Suns. In today's game, they suppressed their opponents' shooting percentage to 42.7 percent and their three-point shooting percentage to 29.2 percent. With the exception of the paint and left bottom corner, the Warriors kept the Cavaliers' offense in other areas below the league average. The only Bjelica who did poorly on the defensive end, on the offensive end of 5-for-0, could not be a match, Kerr also quickly replaced him.
In fact, in the past 5 games, the Warriors' defensive problems have not been big. During the two-game losing streak, the pelicans scored the most points at 101 points, while this season, the Warriors have averaged just 100.9 points per game.
Of course, because of Clay's return, this will be a pain that the Warriors will have to experience in the middle of the season. Perhaps, after the return of Draymond Green, the Warriors' offense will have a different picture. When he's on the floor this season, the Warriors' 100-game offense has reached 111.3 points, and when Dream chaser isn't on the floor, the Warriors' 100-game offense will drop to 108 points.
Or maybe, as the season progresses, Klay will be the answer to the Warriors' offensive questions. He can share in the second team. But what is certain is that with the return of injured players, the second adjustment of the lineup play style, and the healthy Warriors of all members will make you have more expectations for their playoffs.
in Kelsang