The Warriors beat the Nuggets 126-106 in the second leg of the first round in the West to lead 2-0 on aggregate. After the game, the NBA official website also wrote an article praising the performance of the Warriors, and also believed that they had gained 5 huge gains in this game.
The first gain is that Curry played a very good substitute. In this game, Curry continued to come off the bench, scoring 34 points on 12-of-17 shooting in just 22 minutes and 57 seconds, and he became the first player since the NBA timer era (1954-present) to cut 30+ in the playoffs with less than 23 minutes of playoff time
In response to a question about whether he wanted to return to the starting line, Curry also said, "Now my goal is to make me as influential as possible when I'm on the floor." Compared with the data cut by Curry, this attitude of being a top supergiant but willing to sacrifice everything for the team and even playing as a substitute is more admirable.
The second takeaway is that the Warriors' new 5 small lineup is unstoppable. The NBA official website believes that the current 3-guard lineup of Curry, Thompson and Poole, combined with Green and Wiggins, is the second-largest lineup in team history after the "Death 5" (Durant, Green, Iguodala, Thompson and Curry) that year.
With Thompson and Poole to open up space, but also let Curry like a fish, 2 consecutive games, the Warriors are relying on this new set of 5 small to break the deadlock, directly open the point difference, which is impressive.
The third takeaway is that the Warriors have already made the Nuggets lose their cool. During a timeout in this game, Cousins and Barton argued fiercely, and Jokic was also expelled for not calming down to eat 2 technical fouls, which can also reflect the Warriors' advantage in the series.
The fourth harvest is Poole. Although Poole failed to make it to the shortlist of the fastest improving players, his progress this season is there for all to see. In particular, in the first two playoff games of his career, Poole has hit 10 three-pointers, which has also set a new record in NBA history.
The fifth gain is that the Warriors have a lot of available manpower, and in this game, except for Iguodala, who is not on the roster with neck spasms, the remaining players of the Warriors have been given the opportunity to play. In the future, when Iguodala returns, the veteran's experience will also bring a lot of help to the Warriors.