NBA Instant Classic Recap

This guy. Credit: AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

This is more of an open love letter than a blog post.  Watching the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder engage in basketball combat was extraordinary.  There had been a lot of “showdowns” for the Warriors.  There was the Christmas Day Finals rematch with the Cleveland Cavaliers that had its moments, but was wasn’t much in doubt in its waning possessions. The rematch of that game sparked a series of double digit wins over playoff teams, including a 30 burger they hung on the San Antonio Spurs.

But on February 6^th the Thunder sauntered in to Oracle and gave the champs everything they could’ve wanted.  So the rematch tantalized fans’ thoughts with open court genius Russell Westbrook and the slick shooting of Kevin Durant vs the Machine driven by Steph Curry.

And it certainly didn’t disappoint.

OKC jumped on top of the Warriors immediately, going up by double digits in the first. The rest of the game saw the Thunder defending their lead against the ever-surging Warriors.  They lost their halftime lead in the third but Durant’s bombs from outside were enough for the Warriors relent and for OKC to take the lead. In fact, the Thunder had a four point lead with 15 secs left.  After a Klay Thompson layup, OKC had the ball and the lead with 12 seconds left. Then Durant went the full spectrum of the term “goat”. His turnover gave the Warriors a last gasp and they took full advantage.  A surprisingly smooth Andre Iguodola rewarded the fans with overtime basketball from the foul line.

The Thunder let the champs off the mat, and we were all treated to pitfalls of that decision. Russell Westbrook was valiant in his attempt to will his team (without Durant, who had been disqualified for fouls) to victory.  But after a stop on OKC’s penultimate possession, the Warriors had a live ball and around 7 seconds left. 

Now let me say this, I know no one will believe me, but I called the next sequence of events. Draymond Green snagged the rebound and calmly looked for Steph Curry. That’s right, not only does he get the ball and immediately look to outlet, he does so while also having the presence of mind to get it to their best player early in the possession. Curry then proceeds to receive the outlet and slow play it across the halfcourt line.  I sat in stupefied awe of his decision, manely because it was probably the percentage play.  Is Steph Curry better with his feet under him, in rhthym from a really long distance, or hurried into a contested three from a closer distance? I’d take the former over the latter any day—and so did Curry.

There will be plenty of time to laud and decry the performances of the participants, but for now I just want to bask in the glow of a shining example of why this is the world’s best sport.

Jarrett Jack Crunches the Numbers

Jarrett Jack and Harrison Barnes carried the Warriors when they needed it most

Analyzing a team is a combination of art and science.  Despite my love of statistical analysis, I use them to support my thesis.  Metrics should mostly be used to research an existing idea that is ascertained from watching the game, not as the genesis for an idea for what ails a team.  No one embodies that idea more than Jarrett Jack.

The Warriors evened the series yesterday at 2 apiece as the Warriors vs Spurs series went into overtime for the second time on Sunday.  With Steph Curry ailing on a weak ankle and Klay Thompson struggling, the Warriors needed more perimeter offensive help early.  Along with Harrison Barnes’ contribution, Jack kept the Warriors in the game in the first half.  Despite being down by 10 points at the half, without his contribution the Warriors may have given the Spurs a lead that was insurmountable heading into the back stretch of the game.

While Curry had a patented Curry 3^rd quarter (10 points on ¾ shooting) the Spurs still clung to a 62 to 60 lead heading into the 4^th.  Late in the game the Spurs were up 10 with roughly five minutes remaining, and then Jack happened.  Six straight points on two nearly identical high pick and rolls and a pick and roll that Jack dragged through the lane, all leading to a barrage of midrange jumpers from the backup point guard.  They were points when the Warriors had to have buckets.  It helped spark the 25-7 run that the Warriors closed the show with on Mother’s Day.

It was Mother's Day, and Steph Curry was playing. Reason enough.

Jack has been vilified for his poor court vision and propensity to shoot early in the shot clock, or not facilitate ball movement in a classic point guard fashion.  I must admit, there are possessions that make me wonder why he overdrives into a clogged lane when moving the ball seems like the obvious decision, or why he may choose to take an early shot despite a teammate having a hot hand. Moreover, his +/- point differential per 100 possessions (a statistic used to measure the team’s point production in relation to its opponent) is a mediocre +1.2.

Jack’s contribution can’t be boiled down to statistical analysis.  Jack provides an invaluable service for the team, allowing Curry to move off the ball while simultaneously being a legitimate scoring threat from the point guard position.  And in the late afternoon of a contested Game 4, he showed his mettle (and value) to the Golden State team.  He’s their spark, a mixture of toughness and bullheadedness.  He has largely been the overlooked contributor on most teams, even dating back to his college days at Georgia Tech.  He has vacillated between point guard and shooting guard, almost as often as he has changed from reserve to starter on the five teams for which he has played.

His vast experience is an anomaly on a team where several of the star contributors are under the age of 25 with a dearth of big-time NBA minutes.  According to reports, he will opt out of his contract at the end of the year; a contract that is due to pay him 5.4 million.  With a relatively weak draft class, and several teams with ample cap room, the likelihood of inflated contract offers to free agents is virtually a certainty. I’m hoping the Warriors find a way to re-sign him, but with a player option of over 11 million dollars due to Richard Jefferson it could be extremely costly to do so.  So make hay while the sun shines Golden State, because the numbers look like they won’t be in Jack’s favor once again.

Golden State Rolls Despite David Lee's injury

The star of the show poured in 30 points and 13 assists

With David Lee out, there was a lot of speculation as to how second-year coach Mark Jackson would respond.  Many thought that Carl Landry would replace Lee given their somewhat similar skill sets.  Both play the power forward position and are capable of rebounding and knocking down the 15/16 foot jumpshot with some regularity.  Lee is a better playmaker for his teammates, but Landry has proven to be a legitimate replacement.  Jackson, instead, opted to shift everyone down a position.  Rookie Harrison Barnes started at 4 (instead of his usual small forward position), Klay Thompson slid to the 3, Steph Curry to off guard, and Jarrett Jack started at point.  By going small, the spacing improved with having a 3 point shooter at the power forward position. 

The up and down pace established in the first game continued to serve both teams well in the second installment.   Andre Iguodola started the game 5/5, with 12 of the Nuggets first 22 points. The Warriors responded back with a peppering of jumpshots from multiple sources (including several from usual reserve Jack). In fitting fashion, the hometeam finished the quarter up 28-26 in a battle of “whoever has the ball last will win” basketball.

In the 2^nd quarter the pace continued to fit the desires of both teams.  Neither team seemed too concerned with the idea of defense.  Transition buckets were there to be had and the squads took full advantage.  Curry finally started the game well, making up for his poor start in game 1 (his first playoff game of his career) and had 17 in the 1^st half.  A couple of empty possessions from the Nuggets due to turnovers and the Golden State lead ballooned to 10 points. Despite Lawson’s 13 first half points and 7 assists, the Warriors finished the half up 61-53.

 The quick-strike offense continued in the 3^rd.  In the first minute Curry hit a long jumper, dished to Klay in transition for a three, and found Barnes for another 3 point hoop.  That series of plays blew the game open early in the 2^nd half.  The most intriguing thing about this series is that (because of the offensive potency, fast pace, and lackluster defenders) no lead is safe.

Rookie Harrison Barnes was sensational, adding in 24 points from the PF posiotion

In order to slow down the Nuggets scoring and their paint touches (a point of emphasis for Geroge Karl is that he wants at least once in every possession for the ball to be in the paint) the Warriors switched to a 3-2 zone. The Nuggets still had success against the zone because of late backline rotations and cavernous passing lanes.  Another issue that presented itself for the Warriors was Curry tweaking his left ankle.  Curry was able to stay out of the game as the Warriors spread the scoring wealth with Thompson and Barnes scoring from outside and in transition.  At the end of 3 quarters, the Warriors had put up 96 points on 63% shooting from the field (and an insane 65% from 3).

Despite the crazy shooting pace, Denver remained within shouting distance of the Warriors; in no small part due to the Nuggets bench.  Led by Andre Miller and Corey Brewer, the Nuggets bench finished with 62 points.

The most beautiful thing about Curry’s dominating performance may have been his assists (13).  When Denver began to trap him, he passed to the hard rolling big. When he was in the open floor, he found the teammate in transition sprinting to the three point line.  His facilitating helped every Warriors player shoot 50% from the field, and the team cruised to a 131-117 victory.

The Warriors adjusted due to injury.  It will be up to the Nuggets to tighten the screws on defense, because they shot better than they normally do and still lost by 14.  As Faried rounds back into shape, it’ll be interesting to see how much of a factor he will be, given that he may have to be matched up against Barnes—presenting matchup problems for both.  Regardless of the chess match of the two coaches, this will continue to be the most entertaining (if not competitive) series of the 1^st round.