Today, the Warriors continued to challenge the Grizzlies on the road, and in the end they lost to the Grizzlies, and the two sides of the series played 1-1. The Warriors lost Payton Jr. in this game. Defensively, it did take a huge toll, with Morant playing without Payton Jr.'s defense, scoring 47 points and helping the Grizzlies win the game in the final minute. After the loss of this game, many fans questioned Kerr's employment in the last minute, believing that his failure to put the center forward on the field in the last moment was actually a very big employment mistake.
Many people think the Warriors should have let Rooney on the court in the final moments. And today Rooney played only 8 minutes in the whole game, and there was not much consumption. In the last moments he had a lot of strength to complete the defense on the inside. Although Green's defensive ability is very outstanding, he is indeed inferior to Rooney on the inner frame, and Rooney's height is there after all, and when he reaches out, he can at least affect Morant. So the Warriors' lineup on the court at the last minute was wrong.
While Poole did very well in the regular season, the lineup that the Warriors should put on when the lineup ended at the final moment was Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, Green, and Rooney. In the final moments, even if Poole got the ball, he did not dare to finish. In the final moments, Poole's defensive end was very vulnerable to targeting, so it was better to let him rest. Today Morant was very determined in the final moments, that is, to decisively attack the basket, and maybe Rooney's presence could play his role as a frame guard. Of course, the Warriors have no better choice than Rooney.
So in the next game, Cole should try to let Rooney play as much time as possible. And Rooney has the ability to defend big and small on the field. Rooney has always had the ability to defend smallers, which has been shown in previous years of series with the Rockets, so Rooney should get more playing time in this series. Cole still trusted Grimm's role as a framer. In fact, when Morant burst into the basket, Green's rim protection role was not obvious.
And in this round of the series Cole should go and enable Moody's. Especially when Payton Jr. gets injured, Moody deserves a certain amount of playing time. After all, he has a basket on the court, and he is also very driven, which can match the strength of the Grizzlies. I don't know what the fans think?