This year's playoffs , the warriors vs nuggets first-round series , were originally considered to be a "dragon fight" before the start - because in the eyes of the outside world, Jokic, who played MVP in the regular season, must be able to "teach" the Warriors with obvious flaws in the interior.
Unexpectedly, in the context of Poole's outbreak and Thompson's "dream back to the peak", the series showed a one-sided trend. In the end, the Warriors easily "swept" the Nuggets with a large score of 4-1 and advanced to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.
It is also after the Warriors "gentleman swept" the Nuggets, the outside world believes that this year with the blessing of Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, Green, Poole and others, the team not only has a great chance to reach the Western Conference Finals, but also has a great chance to reach the Finals, and even win the championship trophy...
Warriors vs Grizzlies Series: Start with one win and one loss, but not optimistic about promotion?
Warriors vs Grizzlies G1, although the game was hailed as a "5-on-8" game, the league tried its best to force the Warriors to lose. But in the end, with the key play of Curry, Payton Jr., Wiggins and others, the Warriors still beat the Grizzlies 117-116 to take the lead of 1-0.
Thought to be such an "unfair" environment in G1, the Grizzlies failed to beat the Warriors, and they are likely to be won by the Warriors twice in a row to take a 2-0 lead. And once the Warriors return home with a 2-0 lead, it will be even more difficult for the Grizzlies to have a chance to qualify.
Obviously, the Grizzlies are aware of this, so the series G2 has a clearly stronger desire to win than the Warriors. Especially after Payton Jr. retired from injury, Morant broke through the "limit" - 15 of 31 shots in a single game, blasted 47 points, 8 boards and 8 assists, and successfully led the Grizzlies to beat the Warriors 106-101, successfully preserving a home victory.
Originally, the result of one win and one loss on the road is already a task for the Warriors. However, in the case of the injury of Payton Jr. and Green, the Warriors are no longer expected to be able to advance. After all, Peyton Jr. is the first line of defense against Morant, and G2 is the lack of his defense that Morant can "erupt".
Green is the Warriors' transit, defensive core, if Green is absent from the game or personal strength is seriously affected, then the operation of the Warrior system and defensive intensity will have a big impact.
Morant erupted, Payton Jr. and Green were injured, and it seemed that the situation began to fall on the side of the Grizzlies. So after G2, many people think that Morant is very likely to continue to play "explosive performance" and lead the Grizzlies to become the ultimate winner and successfully advance to the Western Conference Finals. However, is this really the case?
In fact, even if you really can't prevent Morant, the Grizzlies will have a hard time eliminating the Warriors to advance
1, the Warriors' overall three-point shooting rate, it is impossible to be depressed all the time. Series G1, Curry 5 of 12 three-pointers, Poole 10 of 5, helped the Warriors in the average offensive state, still maintained an overall three-point shooting rate of 36.8% (14 of 38 shooting).
G2 Curry, Poole and Thompson were collectively inaccurate outside the three-point line, and only performed 3 of 11, 2 of 12 and 1 of 6, respectively. This also directly led to the Warriors' overall three-point shooting rate, which fell to 18.4% (7 of 38).
In the first two games of the Warriors vs Grizzlies series, although the three-point shooting rate of Curry, Thompson and Poole, compared with the three-point shooting rate of 41.2%, 42.8% and 45.2% in the first round, because the Grizzlies' targeted defense has declined a lot. But in fact, with the adjustment ability of Curry, Thompson and Poole, they will definitely be able to find their touch again in the series.
And as long as one of them feels warm, they can break the Grizzlies' defensive formation. At the same time, let the other two three-pointers, the more smooth and more accurate the shots.
2) Even if he can't get back to the past defense, Thompson won't always be in the doldrums. Since Thompson's return, due to the large personal ups and downs of the data performance, and the team's record ups and downs, Thompson has always occupied a starting position, which is regarded by many people as the "cancer" of the Warriors...
But with the first round of the playoffs this year, Thompson averaged 22.6 points, 3.8 boards and 1.4 assists per game, 49.6% shooting rate + 42.8% three-point shooting rate data, the outside world had to change its mind for Thompson. After all, the Warriors also relied on his efficient and stable output on the offensive end to be able to win the Nuggets in the first round.
Today, in the first two games against the Grizzlies, Thompson has struggled quite hard, averaging 13.5 points, 1.5 boards, 3.0 assists, 28.9% shooting and 23.3% three-point shooting. Judging from the performance of these two games alone, Thompson is completely unworthy of the team's starting position.
But you know, Thompson is a player who has been seriously injured twice in a row and has not played for more than two consecutive seasons. Now that he wants to restore his peak Thompson state in a short period of time, it is indeed a bit "difficult for a strong man". However, "skinny camels are bigger than horses", the last two games are definitely not Thompson's regular performance, he also has the ability to play better...
3, even if the Warriors can't prevent Morant, he can't always "erupt". In the Warriors vs Grizzlies series G2, the Grizzlies were able to win mainly depending on Morant's 47+8+8 stats. Especially after payton Jr.'s high probability series reimbursement, the outside world believes that the Warriors' biggest disadvantage is that no one can limit Morant's play very well.
It is likely that Morant will continue G2's performance in the subsequent series, thus leading the team to win the series. But you know, even if the Warriors can't completely limit Morant's play, he may not be able to bombard the 47+8+8 data on the field like G2.
After all, if Morant has the strength to average about 47+8+8 per game, then this year's regular season Grizzlies will not be second in the West, and Morant is not 27+6+7. So as long as the Warriors don't let Morant "shoot training", he simply can't break out on the field...
In summary, although in series G2, the Warriors let Morant score a super performance of 47 points, 8 boards and 8 boards + 48.4% shooting percentage, this is not the main reason for their loss (the rest of the Grizzlies, none of them scored 15 points). The reason why they lost G2 is mainly because of their own offensive and mentality problems.
This, coupled with the overall misstep, gave the Grizzlies too many opportunities to defend and counterattack, otherwise the Warriors would not have lost the game at all. And from the current situation, compared to the warriors with a balanced lineup, it is still difficult for the Grizzlies to win four promotions, after all, the Warriors' overall three-point shooting rate cannot always be sluggish, and Thompson cannot always "pull the crotch"...