Warriors stretch the floor on Rudy Gobert, stun Jazz in what could be tasted of first round
Published: April 2, 2022 US time
Publisher: the Athletic
Article author: Anthony Slater
Article translated by de Gaulle
Before the start of the battle with the Jazz, the Warriors' life was not good. The previous game was a four-point loss to the Suns, leaving them with a four-game losing streak and their seventh defeat in their last eight games. This decline seems to continue in their home games against the Jazz. For the first 42 minutes of the game, the Jazz were in control of the game, and with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, the away Jazz still maintained a 16-point lead. Often, an NBA team, especially a relatively mature team like the Jazz, is less likely to squander such an advantage.
If the Jazz maintain that advantage until the end of the game, they can rewrite their record against the Warriors this season to 2-2. Consider that when the two teams met for the third time this season, the Jazz had a 26-point win over the Warriors, far more than the nine-point advantage the Warriors had achieved in the previous two games when they beat the Jazz. So, as long as the Jazz can win this game, they can control the advantage of the two teams' records in their own hands.
In addition, before this game, the two teams were ranked third in the West and fifth in the West, and the difference in the number of wins and losses between them was only 2 games. So, if the jazz, who are behind in the rankings, win, they can further narrow the gap with the Warriors to 1 win. In such a situation, they may be able to squeeze out the Warriors and make them into the top four of the West to grab home advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
But suddenly, the game suddenly changed, and in the 80 seconds of the game, the Warriors hit four three-pointers and completed three successful defenses, cutting the Jazz's advantage from 16 points to only 4 points in an instant. The Warriors who played this wave of attack seemed to be opened up to the second pulse of Ren Dou, quickly snatched the initiative of the game back, and finally won this key home victory 111-107.
In this way, the Warriors became the biggest winner of this game. In addition to winning key games, they have officially locked up a playoff spot. And because of this victory, their record against the Jazz this season has become 3-1, and the Warriors have seized the advantage of fighting with their opponents. At the same time, the Warriors also pulled the win difference between themselves and the Jazz to 3 wins. With only four wins in the regular season, the Warriors only need to win one more game to ensure that they are not overtaken by the Jazz. So the home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, the Warriors have a high probability of winning.
Through this series of comparisons, it can be seen that the outcome of the Warriors and Jazz battle will greatly affect the ranking of the two teams in the regular season and their trend in the playoffs. So, in such a crucial battle, what really happened in the 80 seconds that determined the direction of the game?
This round, which is about 6 minutes and 40 seconds away from the end of the game, is very representative. After the Jazz missed the offense, the Warriors took the rebound and Wiggins dribbled through the half. At this point, the Jazz's offensive and defensive formation was very poor, no one interfered with Wiggins's dribbling advance, plus four other Warriors players pulled away to the sides of the field, leaving the middle of the road completely to Wiggins and Gobert, who was in position with him. Wiggins stopped the ball at the top arc three-point line, and Gobert had retreated to the center of the three-second zone, leaving the Warriors forward with a completely large space before watching him hit an easy three-pointer.
Following the Jazz's defensive arrangement, Gobert should have gone against Draymond Green, who was the only shot on the court without a threat of three points. However, in the process of retreating, the Jazz's players did not communicate well enough, Mitchell was pulled to the bottom corner of the right side by Green, and Gobert's first thought in defense was to return to the basket to protect the basket, after all, in the three-second zone, his defensive power can be maximized. But it is also such a defensive concept that allows the Warriors to get such an easy three-point shooting opportunity.
Gobert has always been a great defensive player, as evidenced by his experience of winning the Best Defensive Player award. However, in the face of the Warriors, a "progenitor" team that has set off a small-ball trend in recent years, the jazz and Gobert's defensive strategy have encountered serious challenges. This challenge will not only occur in this regular season, but may also continue into the playoffs later. Whether it's the Warriors' fourth jazz fifth or the warriors' third jazz sixth, both of these scripts are likely to appear this year.
One of the Warriors' killing moves to restrain the Jazz is to push Green to the fifth position and pose their classic five-small lineup. In the two teams' final regular season game of the season, the Warriors also made an adjustment to the five, pushing Otto Porter to the number four position and placing him at Green's side. Porter's height and his shooting ability make the Jazz players who defend him must also follow him, so the only thing Gobert can go to the defensive position is Green. Although Green does not shoot three points, he is a master of covering his teammates, high positions and organizing offense, which are his weapons to punish defenders.
Against this backdrop, the Warriors kept arranging for Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole to play with Green. Jazz coach Quinn Snyder faced the Warriors' style of play, insisting on the strategy of replacing people every time they were blocked. As a result, Gobert had a hard time really interfering with the Warriors' two pitchers, watching the two of them shoot 12 three-pointers together in the fourth quarter.
"It's not a very clever strategy," Thompson said after the game, "I don't want to say I don't have the explosive power to hit the basket, but when I get that kind of space, I need to nail my feet outside the three-point line and shoot." ”
For example, with about 6 minutes left in the game, Thompson completed such an offensive round. After grabbing a rebound, Thompson pushed into the frontcourt. Green immediately stepped up and set up a cover for Thompson on the left flank. After Thompson took a step in the direction of cover, he immediately jumped in the opposite direction, throwing away Mitchell, who was defending him. Gobert, who was supposed to be on the defensive, was still a big step away from Thompson and could only watch Thompson shoot a three-pointer.
In the whole game, Thompson scored 36 points alone, becoming the hero of the Warriors. And a well-known pitcher like him, once he finds a feel on the offensive end, he will find and create more shooting opportunities on his own. So in the next round, the Warriors still drew a tactic for Thompson —
Green held the ball in top of the arc, Thompson moved from the bottom left corner along the three-point line to the top of the arc, and Poole simultaneously cut toward the basket. Green gave Thompson a hand-to-hand pass, and then blocked O'Neal, who was chasing Thompson, and Gobert had to worry about the empty Poole on the one hand, and continued to adhere to the strategy of shrinking the basket on the other hand. Thompson thus got a shot in the top arc, and although O'Neal made some interference, in Thompson's view, which found the feeling, such an opportunity was not much different from training shooting. After the three-point shot, the point difference was only 4 points left.
Thompson said he wasn't surprised that the Jazz were so defensive, because it's an old tradition for opponents. "I'm not surprised at all, but I'm grateful they did," Thompson said.
More than a minute later, the Warriors played an almost identical tactical routine, still green and Thompson hand-handed passing in the top arc to catch cover. This time, Gobert was no longer watching from a distance, but closer to the two Warriors players, and O'Neal immediately extended his long arm to interfere with Thompson's shot after bypassing the cover. But Thompson cleverly dribbled the ball again to the left, giving Green a second cover for himself. Although Gobert intended to block the posture, Thompson did not immediately shoot. But after adjusting in place, Thompson leaned forward to shoot the basket, but still hit the target. At this point, the Warriors have narrowed the point gap to 1 point.
Gobert was so targeted, why did the Jazz keep him on the court? The reason is that although on the defensive end, Gobert may become a key target, but in the Jazz offensive round, Gobert's one-pillar on the inside line also makes the Warriors' five small lineup difficult to align. In the whole game, Gobert alone grabbed 20 rebounds, almost half of the Warriors' entire team rebounds (41), including 5 offensive rebounds. Such a large interior advantage makes the Jazz not want to take down Gobert.
Under such circumstances, the Warriors' interior Green has become an extremely critical task. In the final decisive moment of the game, Green used his strong body to repeatedly block the tall Gobert and fight for the team to fight for the key defensive rebounds. In the final quarter, the Warriors suppressed the Jazz's single-quarter score to just 20 points, and in the process, Green made a great contribution.
The goal that changed the course of the game appeared 3 minutes and 32 seconds before the finale, the protagonist was changed from Thompson to Poole, and the best supporting role was Green. Defensively, Porter and Green worked together to protect the rebound from Gobert's hand and hand it over to Poole, who scored 31 points. The Warriors guard dribbled the ball to the front and again used Green's arc-top cover to shake off Conley's defense. Still caught in a dilemma, Gobert watched again as Poole threw a three-pointer. Throughout March, Poole shot 67 three-pointers, the most three-pointers in the natural month, and the three-pointer he threw helped the Warriors take the lead.
"I thought on several occasions he might pounce," Poole said of Gobert's defense, "and that was his style of play at the time, he was a very good basket protector." ”
In the end, with this wave of offensive attack in the fourth quarter, the Warriors reversed the Jazz. Throughout the game, the Warriors shot 48 three-pointers, hitting 20 of them. While three-point shooting is bound to have ups and downs, considering that the Warriors don't have Curry in the lineup for the time being, if the Jazz do meet the Warriors in the playoffs, they really need to think about it when it comes to defending their opponents' three-pointers. For the Warriors, this key victory has temporarily brought them out of the quagmire of losing streaks and can breathe a sigh of relief. However, they can't relax yet, the lone rangers behind them, only 1 win away from them, to retain the third place in the West, the next 4 games are crucial.