Clay's fatal foul + fatal turnover sent a chance Wagner scored five straight points for revenge warriors
At 90-94, the Warriors lost to the bottom of the East in their second game after Curry's injury (after the game, they came to the bottom of the East with this victory) and have decided not to qualify for the playoff Magic. Counting the game in which Curry was injured for less than 14 minutes, the Warriors have lost three straight.
Against the Magic, the Warriors fully demonstrated the problem of offensive weakness, shooting 29% of the first quarter, 0 of 7 three-pointers, only 17 points in a single quarter to dig a hole, the third quarter was fierce for a period of counter-scoring, leading by 14 points at most, but in the fourth quarter that decided the outcome, it was powerless again, and only scored 16 points in the first quarter to give the victory out.
The opportunity is given to you, or it does not work, it is no longer rutted. Obviously, without Curry's Warriors, the offense is struggling a bit.
Curry missed nine games last season, with the Warriors winning 9-2 and losing 7. So far this season, Curry has missed eight games, and the Warriors have lost 2-6. While the Warriors have a better record this season than last season, they are no less dependent on Curry than they were last season.
Regarding the tactical system, it is sometimes rendered as a god, and even becomes a symbol of the basketball era, such as the triangle attack of that year. When Dennis Rodman first arrived at the Bulls, learning the running position and passing of the triangle attack, he had a look of indifference, and he was so angry that he roared at the assistant coach Winter: "Dennis, you practice well, this set of tactics is not easy to understand." ”
Rodman shook his head disapprovingly: "Triangle attack, isn't it just passing the ball to Jordan?" ”
Rodman's statement is right or wrong, but there is no need to argue, no matter how great the tactical system, it needs players to execute, and the ability of players determines the ceiling of tactical effectiveness.
The same triangle offense, in Jordan, Pippen, O'Neal, Kobe Bryant there is the dynasty standard, and then to the Knicks is a mess, the player's combat strength is the basic disk, with this foundation, combined with the coach's tactical use, locker room management and "psychological massage" and other supporting measures, you can approach success.
The Warriors were like this, focusing on high blocking and low backs during Mark Jackson's tenure, and Kerr switched to passing when he took office. The advantage of Kerr's system is that it is very smooth when playing well, the hand is not sticky to the ball non-stop, the multi-point blossom is not easy to predict, and it is more "mysterious" than Mark Jackson's playing style.
Kerr's tactical system can make players on the court have higher offensive participation, everyone has a chance, is a model of team basketball, but this set of playing style also has a "foundation", Green's high serve, Curry's "library has gravity", both are indispensable, the Warriors were a bit embarrassed during Green's injury suspension, and now they are in a difficult situation during Curry's injury, which is the consequence of the shaking of the system foundation.
In terms of offense alone, when Green is away, Curry will change his playing style to a traditional point guard, and can also fill the tactical loopholes, although this will affect Curry's personal offensive output, but it can make the Warriors' overall offense not fall apart. But in Curry's absence, the Warriors couldn't find a suitable stand-in, or more precisely, a league-wide player who would attract a curry-level defensive ability.
As the Warriors assistant coach said, even if Curry runs to the player's tunnel, the opponent will send someone to chase him, and letting Curry go is a defensive choice that any team regards as a taboo.
During Curry's time this season, the Warriors scored 115.8 points per 100 rounds, and the Jazz, the most efficient team in this season's offensive efficiency, was 116 points per 100 rounds. Curry is not on the court, the Warriors' 100-game score dropped to 108 points, and the Blazers, who are currently ranked 25th in the league's offensive efficiency list, are 108 points per 100 rounds.
Curry's impact on teammates can be illustrated by Wiggins, who shot 49 percent from the field and 42 percent from three-point range during Curry's presence this season, and Wiggins shot 42 percent and 33 percent from both fields when Curry wasn't on the floor. Dribbling offense is Wiggins' relatively weak sport, his strength is no-ball kills, this style of play requires space, and Curry is the strongest space provider in NBA history.
Curry was injured on March 17, the left foot ligament sprain two weeks after the review, the review is not a comeback, basically the beginning of April to update the injury, then the Warriors still have 5 regular season games, if the injury recovery is very good, Curry may be able to catch the last two or three games, find the state for the playoffs, if the recovery is not so ideal, I am afraid it will have to wait until the first round of the playoffs, the Warriors and Curry will not take risks. That is, in the last 19 days of the regular season, the last 10 games, the Warriors have the possibility of facing Curry "full" in absentia.
The question now is, if Curry waits until the playoffs to return, how far will the Warriors fall in regular season rankings? The Warriors are now third in the West, and they are two wins behind the second-place Grizzlies in the West. Warriors play the Grizzlies this season is 1 win and 2 losses, they will play the Grizzlies on March 29, even if the Warriors win, will chase the record against the Grizzlies into 2 wins and 2 losses, and the final regular season record is equal to the Grizzlies, the Warriors ranking is difficult to surpass the Grizzlies, because according to the ranking rules, the two teams have the same regular season results, the record of the confrontation is not equal, the first place in the division is high, the Grizzlies are 5 wins ahead of the Lone Rangers in the Battle for the Top Spot in the Southwest Region, with a high probability of locking, and the Warriors have determined that they are not eligible for the first place in the Pacific Division. This position has been secured by the sun.
The warriors need to consider more at the moment is whether they will be caught up by the Jazz and lone rangers, resulting in a fall out of the top four in the West, their win difference with these two competitors is 2 and 3 games, still in the leading position, but the Warriors' next schedule is not friendly, they are in the stage of five consecutive games on the road, playing magic is the first game of this wave of road trips, and the remaining 4 opponents include the first Heat in the East and the second Grizzlies in the West. After the road run, the Warriors returned home to play the Suns and Jazz in a row. The Warriors look good in the last four games of the regular season, the opponents are the Kings, Lakers, Spurs and Pelicans, but there are 3 away games in 4 games, the only home is the Lakers who are desperate to secure a playoff seat, the Pelicans are also a team in the play-off area, the Spurs just beat the Warriors on March 21, and the Spurs also have the possibility of entering the playoffs, if they do not choose to mess up, the final stages of the regular season are also a game of death.
April 3 home game against the Jazz will have a great impact on the Ranking of the Warriors, if you win, this season against the Jazz is 3 wins and 1 losses to lock up the advantage of the hand-to-hand record, if you lose the game, the Jazz will become 2 wins and 2 losses, the Jazz are now the first in the Northwest Division, once the Jazz lock the top of the Northwest Division, their regular season results as long as they are tied with the Warriors, they can exceed in the rankings.
If the Warriors fall to the fourth place in the West, they may meet the Lone Ranger in the first round, the Warriors will play the Lone Ranger 1 win and 3 losses this season, the series will be quite difficult to play, even if they can advance to the top, they have to peel the skin, and the second round has a higher probability of touching the sun, there is no home advantage, can the Warriors continue to go? If the Warriors fall to fifth place in the West, the home advantage in the first round will be lost, and the situation will be more difficult to control.
Another possibility that cannot be completely ruled out now is that the Warriors fell free fall into the playoff area, but this situation is slightly extreme, the Warriors currently have a 5.5-game advantage over the seventh place in the West, and the probability of falling out of the top six is not very large.
The Warriors' current ideal progress is to sit on a three-pronged two, hold the third place in the West before Curry's comeback, try to preserve the home advantage in the first round, and postpone the possible playoff encounter with the Suns to the Western Conference Finals, which can provide Curry with a higher fault tolerance rate after returning to the game.
Although Curry's personal trainer Payne revealed that Curry has amazing physical resilience and rich rehabilitation experience, he believes that Curry can be full of fire in the playoffs, but this optimistic prediction does not represent the actual situation, the foot is Curry's traumatized position, and considering his age, it will take time to recover from injury, and it will take time to find out after the injury.
The Warriors can't expect Curry to come back quickly in the regular season to save the world, they can only hope that Pooler, Klay or Wiggins can have a stronger offensive output, collectively fill the firepower gap caused by Curry's absence, this thing is easier said than done, Curry is the foundation of the Warriors system, the foundation is not there, what can the branches do?
Curry looked at the loss of Paul, still soaring, straight to the Sun, 60 wins, perhaps with a hint of envy.