In Game 6 of the series, at home, the Warriors lost their best chance to advance to the Western Conference semifinals. Before the game, the Warriors had a 91% chance of knocking out the Kings, and the 3-2 lead, especially on their home court, had no reason to lose, but today they played their worst game since the playoffs.
The King opened with some of his own self-help, such as when Rooney blocked, Sa Jr. would choose to delay the ball carrier to empty Rooney, and the King chose to let Rooney handle the ball, and then forced the Warriors' first mistake of the ball.
The Kings opened with an 8-0 run, and Kerr came back with his own solution after the Warriors returned from a timeout. Give up letting Rooney block, Poole gave Curry the first block, the block and dismantling were not yet formed, Curry directly pulled in a three-pointer, and then scored 2 more points to stabilize the situation. That's the value of superstars.
The Kings' main change today is to give Ryan time to Terence Davis in the bench, giving up some of his rim protection and rebounding ability, expanding space on the offensive end and mobility on the defensive end.
Cole doesn't play with you either, you play in the small lineup, I go straight to the back four. During this time period between the two sides against the small lineup, neither team played well, and the King's basket was still inaccurate, but the Warriors' four-guard lineup Poole was the main point of attack, and then the Warriors trailed.
The change of formation of the coaches on both sides of the ball is very frequent and very interesting. The Warriors trailed by 7 points in the first half, and in the second half, Kerr took Poole in the starting lineup and replaced him with a double interior lineup of Chasing Dreams, and the Warriors swinging Rooney + Chasing Dreams.
But while the lineup guaranteed the rim and rebounds, the Warriors' offense began to stall. So Kerr began switching back to a small lineup, this time a back four who dreamed of playing center. Today Cole experimented with various combinations of small lineups, with Wayne Rooney and Chase taking turns playing center, and even Wiggins played center in a round or two.
In the face of the Kings' small lineup, Wiggins played a lot of misalignment today, in fact, Wiggins is the key person to crack the Kings' small lineup, but he has limited efficiency today. Moody played really well today, but Cole played too little in the first three quarters. As for Kuminga, he didn't go on a minute before garbage time.
The key reason for the Warriors' loss today is that they lost the defensive intensity that was good at home, and today's Warriors' defense has no intensity at all, and the retreat can even have multiple leaks.
The Warriors' small roster is worthy of any team in the league, but it's all based on the premise that their small lineup can also maintain a high level of defensive intensity. But today, the Warriors lost their defense, and you could say the Warriors' defense wasn't online all season.
When you can't play a decent defense, and then face an offensive powerhouse like the King, you can't win. Even if the King's Sa is basically half destroyed, and even if Fox still has a finger injury, the King's attack can still have many outbreak points.
Monk's three consecutive 3-pointers in the third quarter were crucial, as if he was back on his first two home courts. Rookie Murray quickly broke the rookie wall after shooting his crotch in the first three games, and he played very well in these games. Even Hult, who has always pulled his crotch, has recovered his three-point crosshair.
The Warriors' defensive decline, and I think a big part of it is that they can't keep up, especially against a young team like the Kings. Two guards can run at high speed for a few rounds without breathing, and your Warriors don't have that kind of physical strength.
The deeper the series, the more prone the Warriors' fitness becomes problematic. Curry is no longer young, he has been trying to get rid of the Kings for almost the entire game, and when he was young, Curry played so well, but now he can't.
The Warriors' side may be the most physically fit, with Poole scoring 7 points on 2-of-11 shooting, and at one point 0-of-6. In the end, the empty dunk of garbage time did not go in, and the whole person was empty.
Curry missed three rare free throws in this game, and the last time you saw Curry in the playoffs miss three free throws was probably never. When Curry missed a free throw today, he said helplessly to the basket: "Why? ”
When Curry misses a free throw, when the G6 soup is no longer magical, when the dream beard is gray, when Poole is still very good, we seem to glimpse a glimpse of the end of the Warriors dynasty. Now they're driven to Game 7, and the tide is reversed in an instant, and it's the Warriors' turn to get bogged down.
Stealing seven is always the most beautiful word in the playoffs, but for the Warriors, the word stealing seven, in this context, is particularly dazzling. Will the Warriors be able to get through this time?