January 16th - New Orleans Pelicans @ Golden State Warriors - 21-23
We have won 4 out of our last 5. Our record is creeping closer to .500, and we've gone 1-1 on this road trip so far, which isn't optimal but is at least reasonable. Tonight we play Golden State on the road. They have a record of 30-14, which is good for 1st in the West. They have won 5 of their last six, with their only loss coming by a single point against Houston. Golden State are really good, so let's look at exactly how:
Offensive Rating: 1st
Defensive Rating: 16th
Rebounds per game: 9th
Assists per game: 1st
Steals per game: 21st
Blocks per game: 1st
2pt Percentage: 4th
3pt Percentage: 3rd
So yeah. If anyone has missed the last 5 years of the NBA, that's basically them every season. They're really really good, and I don't need to tell anyone that. They are one of the few teams more offensively talented than us, and their defense (while not top shelf like it's been in years past) is still leaps and bounds ahead of ours.
One good thing we have to our name in this matchup is that their team leader, the real head-of-the-snake is Steph Curry, who is a small guard. We have a guy who is really really good at defending small guards. Obviously with Curry's shooting ability and handles, there isn't anyone who can really lock him down with any consistency, but Jrue is as good as anyone in this regard. Steph Curry is averaging 29.5ppg, which is basically the same as what AD is averaging, and he's doing it shooting 49/46/92. Which is insane efficiency, and he's doing that on basically 12 threes a game. So... yeah. That's that. He can be exploited on defense as he is not gifted on that end of the floor, and he does have a tendency to make silly mistakes with turnovers, so there is something in his game to work on, but he's as close to an automatic 30 points as exists in the league right now.
Next up is Kevin Durant. We still have nobody to guard KD. If we put Jrue on him, that actually works reasonably well, but then we have to rely on someone like Moore or Payton to guard Steph. That's not impossible, and it may be worth trying at some point, but I think anyone can see the problem in that. KD is averaging 28/7/6 on 51/38/91 shooting, so he's damn close to a 50/40/90 season too. Everyone knows he's an offensive weapon of historically good proportions, but again, he can be psyched out mentally and he does have a tendency to get frustrated and break up the flow of the offense if he is really pushed. The problem is that it takes a lot to push Golden State, and while we can do that offensively, I'm not sure if we have the defense to do it too.
After that it's Klay. Averaging 22 points on only 36% from three, Klay is the weakest point in Golden State's big three. He's not been having a terrible year, of course not, but he's having his worst year in a little while, especially from beyond the arc. You don't really want to give up anything, but if you really have to, he's the guy you'd want to give the shot to. Which is tragic, in a way.
THE GOOD NEWS: Beyond those three, Golden State has no players averaging double figures this season. Their bench is not great, at all. They get almost all of their scoring from their big three, just like we have at some points this season, so we aren't going to be killed by their second unit like against Denver or Toronto. Part of that is because GS is playing deep into their bench, but part of it is also because they don't have those go-to scorers like they have historically. Livingstone has been less than magnificent this season when he's played, which is only 33 games. Iguodala is 35 years old and showing it, not able to give his all every possession anymore. Draymond is still good, but his three point shot has dropped even further: he's shooting 23% from three this season, and his defense is not as masterful as it has been historically, as he's fouling more than ever.
Golden State are amazing. They really are. But, they aren't invincible. We can win this if we can treat them like we treated OKC in December: play hard, intense defense, and get even a little from the bench and this becomes truly winnable. It would be huge for us if we could do this.
Let's go and #DoItBig
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Originally Posted by 6warddude
