The highlight of the playoff series is the adjustment of the coaches between the two games and the other game.
On May 5, Beijing time, the Western Conference semifinals G2 between the Warriors and Lakers were like this. In the last game, the Warriors' internal line was exploded, their own internal offense was not opened, the rhythm was completely mastered by the Lakers, and the Warriors lost. But G2, the inside offensive and defensive battle has completely changed its appearance, the Lakers' internal attack is suppressed, and it is not enough to make a large number of free throws, but the Warriors have opened the inside situation while maintaining a super high level of outside projection, and finally ushered in a big victory and equalized the series score.
How exactly did the Warriors do it? This issue of "Insight Commentary" will be interpreted in two dimensions.
How do the Warriors limit the Lakers' interior offense?
After the Lakers won the last game, although the Lakers' interior offense played a dominant performance, scoring 26 points in the box and winning a lot of free throws, I was still cautious about the Lakers' inside advantage. Because at that time, only 19% of the Lakers' offense hit the basket, and 37% of the shots were concentrated in the throwing area. The Lakers shot 7-of-14 from the field, but shot 21-of-34 from the field, shooting 61.8 percent.
This set of data highlights an "abnormality". Because of the large sample, the Lakers' advantage is that they shoot 37.5% at the basket, compared to 19% in G1. In addition, under the large sample, the shooting percentage in the throwing area is only 44.1% in the league season, and the Lakers are only 42.4% in this position, which is not even the league average.
That is to say, to some extent, the Lakers are super level play, and it is unknown whether they can continue. Therefore, if the Warriors want to limit the Lakers' interior offense, it is not complicated, and it is enough to continue to test the Lakers' throwing area with small throws and jump shots, provided that they do not foul.
The Warriors chose this strategy, but changed the alignment, with Kerr removing an unwell Looney and opting for Draymond Green against Davis. Green's one-man defense is extremely strong, as long as he blocks Davis, if Davis wants to hit one, as long as he does not go into the basket, Davis can shoot.
Look at this round, Davis catches the ball as a no-ball receiver in the throwing area, Green interferes in place, and Davis strikes iron. This kind of ball, even if Davis scores, the Warriors can fully accept it, as long as they don't get hit by Davis to the basket.
This round, Green defended Davis with a single back to complete the cut, and his single defense ability was always trustworthy. And pay attention to the position of the rest of the Warriors, and make it clear that it is necessary to shrink the line of defense.
It's the same in this round, anyway, the crosshair in your throwing area is not as perverted as the last game, I just have to shrink the defense, lock the thick eyebrows, Vanderbilt wants to throw, whatever, as long as Davis doesn't catch the ball under the basket, don't grab the offensive rebound.
Hachimura challenged the basket similarly, originally he had a good chance to break through this time, but he could not stand the Warriors' two outside collective contractions blocked Davis' receiving space, Green let Davis and DiVincenzo complete this defense together.
James did explode in the opening three-pointer, and the three-point shot of Hachimura also opened, but any team knows that playing the Lakers, even if their three are separated, there is no need to change the defensive strategy to move the defense out, their lifeblood is always to attack under the basket, no matter what, they must guard the lifeline of the box.
The Lakers can't get on the inside, and there's another period that is particularly evident — when James led the team alone early in the second quarter. During that time, the Warriors changed their rotation, and with Looney on the bench this time, the Warriors didn't need a small lineup. At this time, James could not stand up against Looney, and the Lakers relied too much on three-pointers, which was turned the tide by the Warriors with a counterattack.
Although the technical statistics at the end of the game showed that the Lakers made 1 more free throw than their opponents and scored only 6 points less in the box, in fact, before entering the garbage time of the fourth quarter, the Lakers only made 9 free throws, 4 from Schroder, and the Jamesbrow combination combined only 1 free throw. The Lakers made 4 fewer free throws than their opponents, scored 10 points less from 32 points in the box, and conceded 30 points in the box in the first half, more than in the entire box in the previous game. This leads to the next question, how did the Warriors penetrate the Lakers' interior defense?
How do the Warriors break through the Lakers' interior defense?
Looking back at G1, Looney played the starter, Davis against Looney, James against Green, the Lakers crazy contraction of the defensive line, anyway, Looney and Green did not have the ability to shoot. G2, Cole replaced Looney with Jamekau Green as the starter.
Cole's set of adjustments pushed Davis into a somewhat awkward position. If Davis defends dreams, if dreams are as frequent as Looney at the three-point line and free throw line, then Davis can naturally continue to shrink. But if Chasing Dreams goes crazy to play the shooter as a blocking cover man, or a cover man without the ball, how can Davis defend it?
If Davis plays against Jamekau Green, he has the ability to shoot three-pointers, and it is not realistic to let him go completely.
In the end, Ham's choice was to have Davis in position to chase the dream, and Kerr's choice was to let the dream play the coverer of the blocker and no ball, which made Davis uncomfortable, because he had to follow out, and the Warriors' goal of "moving Davis off the basket" was achieved.
Curry didn't shoot much in this game, because he was constantly blocking with Dreams, and Davis was afraid that Curry's three-point would reach the three-point line, and Chasing Dreams had the opportunity to catch the ball for a layup or instigate a 4-for-3.
For example, this ball, Chasing Dream directly down the layup.
This ball, after Chasing Dream went down, James assisted in interfering with Chasing Dream's layup, but Chasing Dream's iconic pass came, and Jamekau Green hit a three-point shot in the bottom corner.
Someone said, then change the position, don't let Davis chase the dream in the position, change the James to chase the dream, let Davis assist in the basket?
The Lakers really tried, but the effect was really nothing. The ability to chase dreams and instigate more and less may be unparalleled in the alliance. Chase went down to Davis to assist the defense, and Jamekau Green received the ball for a layup.
Throughout the game, not only Curry and Chasing Dream were looking for Davis, Thompson was the same, he constantly used Green's blocking to move Davis off the basket, these three-point Thompson shot, but even if he didn't shoot, Davis was outside, Chasing Dream, Wiggins and others were waiting for the opportunity to grab rebounds, and the Warriors still had a second chance to attack.
Overall, it was a game in which Cole responded, but Hamm did not respond to the game. The fun of the series was here, and Hamm probably didn't expect Cole to be bold enough to replace Looney with Jamekau Green. Next, it was Ham's turn to go back and study the video counterattack.
In addition, this game once again highlights the value of Davis to the Lakers, how can Ham regain Davis' previous offensive and defensive dominance in the next game? This will be the decisive factor.