While advancing 4-1 and celebrating winning the series after three years, the Warriors will also see the shortcomings exposed in this series.
G1G2, the Warriors won the Nuggets by 16 points and 20 points respectively, the new version of the three guards five small ones came out, the Nuggets are completely powerless to resist, this round of the series does not look like there will be any more waves. As a result, the rhythm of G3 is chaotic, Curry can't play 20 minutes per game, to add his time you have to subtract others, but who would be willing to cut the shooting 58.8% three-point shooting rate, averaging 29.5 points per game?
Kerr has happy troubles, Poole rises, the Warriors' backcourt personnel deployment becomes difficult to choose, and since the three-guard lineup has played dominance, it can only try more to be present at the same time.
So Kerr got off Looney early in G3, on Curry, and the three-back lineup attacked away, but did not explode. The power of the three-back was reproduced in G4, but it did not take long enough, but when Cole took Curry back to the starting lineup in G5 and started to swing the three-back, the five-small dominance was lost.
It's hard to say that the failure of the three guards in the G3G5 is informative enough, if you take out the G5 second half, the Warriors were pulled apart by the Nuggets to take out a closer look, you will find that the three-guard lineup created a good opportunity on the offensive end, but some of the balls that should have been scored did not score. After 5 games, the three-guard lineup totaled 39 minutes, won the Nuggets by 23 points, won 21.4 points per 100 rounds, or the lineup with the most wins for the Warriors, with an offensive efficiency of 141.2, which can be described as breaking the sky, but the defensive efficiency is 119.8, and this end is indeed enough. G5, this lineup was taken away by the Nuggets in 7 minutes, losing 21 points, which is not the point, because in G5, most of the time, the Warriors are losing rebounds, the key is 5 fouls in 7 minutes, really can't afford to consume.
When the three defenders are swinging, it must be a learning. The regular season personnel have not been neatly organized, so there is no opportunity for Kerr to try and make mistakes, and trial and error must be carried out in the first round. At present, in the period when there is a certain amount of consumption on both sides and the rebound concentration is higher, the backhand out of the three guards will be better than the first three guards. But if you enter the key ball stage, the point difference cannot be opened, and the opponent is full of impact, and the Warriors are more worried about the defense, does Kerr dare to use this lineup to fight?
This is something that will inevitably come with in subsequent series. From the perspective of G5's employment, the diversified lineup combination may be a more realistic route. Kerr reversed the decline in the third quarter with Tang Shen's 1-stare 4-link to Jokic, which is also the embodiment of the Warriors' changeable defensive strategy this season, which is another representative of Kerr's playoff adaptation. In the fourth quarter, Poole made two consecutive defensive mistakes, and the feel was average, Wiggins and Gordon wrestled, so that Kerr used Payton and Potter more, and he wanted the former to defend across the board, and the latter to be bigger and better rebounding. Those strains paid off, with Payton making a crucial fatal three-pointer in the fourth quarter, and the Warriors not conceding a single rebound in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors don't have a really unique lineup, which is different from the previous generation of Warriors. Whether it is a classic five or a Hampton five, it can almost deal with various situations, but the three guards and five small, or the five small handcuffs, can't do it. The good news is that without Jokic, chasing dreams is relatively not so uncomfortable, and part of the reason why the Warriors can't hold rebounds this round and always lose under the basket is that chasing dreams is against the strongest center in the league, and when your best assistant defense players are lacking, it is really difficult for you to do a good job of basketball defense.
The bad news is that the Warriors' next round opponents, whether bears or wolves, will have far more impact than Denver.
G5, the Warriors came up with an 8-man half-rotation, Iguodala was injured, Andbelica withdrew from the rotation, which is not low in intensity. It is also foreseeable that this will be the rotation of personnel to be used in the next series. Payton Jr. and Potter will be two extremely valuable supporting roles in the next series, the Grizzlies and Wolves both have high-level outside handlers who need Peyton Jr. to match, while Porter has a larger size and stronger rebounding, and the Wolves have the strategic significance of copying the Clippers, and the Grizzlies taking forwards against Downs. The functionality of these defensive ends is obviously something that three defenders and five small ones can't come up with.
The test for Kerr's manpower is even greater, and he needs to use a more reliable defensive lineup to help the team survive — think of the number of fouls in this round of The Hoods and the Warriors only have two inside lines — and then unleash all the firepower when the time is right. Neither Payton nor Porter are players dragging offense, but when faced with higher-level assists — the Grizzlies — they test their projection more. In the first round of the series, Payton scored 6-of-8 from three points, which was not easy to maintain, but his strong finishing ability did not work against more dynamic young teams. Porter's 2 of 13 three-pointers, lost his touch after the regular season, which is not OK, the Warriors not only need his rebounds, but also need him to shoot three-pointers, after all, he is not really Zhang Dashuai.
In the second round, Green + Payton + Porter will inevitably be emptied in large numbers, and they will have to give some response. In the first round, the three of them combined 12 of 32, shooting 37.5% from three points, and in terms of their chances, they can be a little more accurate.
Oh, and also, guys' free throw percentage is still outrageous, and the next round will often be free throws.
The warrior's test has just arrived.
The Nuggets still haven't brought suspense back to Denver. Malone hoarsely shouted out, as if the general had been told that no reinforcements would come, leading his warriors to fend off the enemy charge for the last time.
How tragic!
The Nuggets weren't easy, no Murray, no Potter, hurt Rivers Jr., and hurt Hyland again. Jokic kept touching his thigh, he needed it to hold on, and for this team, he was that thigh, so he insisted on hitting all two-pointers in the fourth quarter.
The Nuggets' three-point shooting percentage is 20 percentage points lower than the Warriors', and in a series of under-the-dog, this gap should have been spent in the third quarter, but the Nuggets held out until the final minute, until Payton's fatal three-pointer and Curry's three-point combos arrived, and they did not let the Warriors fans' hanging hearts firmly in their stomachs.
Since G3, the Nuggets have had some changes. The Nuggets began to realize that they could not defend the Warriors, that set of three-guard lineup is the Nuggets' existing configuration is absolutely unrestricted existence, if you want to make the game have some turnaround, you have to rely on the offense to fight back, and if you want to fight back, you have to grasp the relative advantage firmly - what is the Nuggets' relative advantage? It can only be body shape.
Jokic needless to say, the fourth position is also the Nuggets, Aaron Gordon's crotch-pulling performance at the beginning of the series, if it continues, he has no meaning in this round - but he did not, it was his G5 first quarter impact that allowed the Warriors to quickly get fouled, and with the subsequent rebounding attack, it shook Kerr's platoon to a certain extent, and had to use Looney, Potter and Payton for a longer time to press Poole on the bench.
The three guards can't come out, and the Nuggets can defend.
Cousins is another warrior-wracking presence. Before the start of the series, I thought that the advantage of the connection section would be in the hands of the Warriors, and as a result, after this round, when Cousins was on the floor, the Nuggets also won 3 points, his combined possession rate of 32.6%, the true shooting rate of 74.4%, and the team's offensive efficiency was 120.7 when he was on the court, which exploded the Warriors defense and also posed strong evidence for his continued development in the league.
Congratulations to Kao Shen, after two serious injuries, he also returned.
In this series, from being questioned by the world about the gold content of the quasi-two consecutive MVPs, to pulling the game scene to the balance of power little by little, Jokic proved that he was at what level of existence, and proved that even in the face of the most restrained historical backcourt main attacker and super high-quality space - in addition to dream-chasing, Wiggins, who had the worst shooting skills, shot the worst regular season three-point shooting rate of 39.3% - he still had a way to respond. Jokic averaged 31 points, 13.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game, shooting 64.3 percent from the field, and 9-of-12 two-pointers in the fourth quarter of the last three games. The pressure he put on the Warriors is well known to Warriors fans.
Like Cole said, fortunately, the back of the game, do not have to face Jokic.
Jokic will probably stay in Denver, where he's grown into one of the league's best players, and the Nuggets have found a way to play around him, but haven't been able to make the people around him reliable enough. Jokic will bring back stronger teammates and build a more difficult offensive system to crack, giving all opponents a headache.
After three years, the Warriors won another round of the series. Thompson's 2 minutes were too long, but he returned without disappointing the fans, averaging 22.6 points per game, 45.8% from three-point range, and key defenses, no different from his past. The first round of Poole's career series, with perfect first three games, despite some difficulties with G4G5, the overall performance was still amazing enough. He wants to maintain confidence, G5 does not use him in the end, the problem is not him, but the need for lineup matching, and Curry is too strong. Curry, who averaged 28 points and 5.4 assists in 30 minutes per game, shot 64.1 percent from the field, with a convincing plus-minus of +11, and the number of dreams is a staggering +15. Wiggins still didn't shoot 60 percent from the free throw line, but he shot 7-of-13 from three-point range, stealing the team's most seven front boards. Cole has a little repetition, and taken together, the command of this round is remarkable. Overall, the Warriors are still satisfactory.
A hibernation, a new beginning, a good start, very good.