Kurtenbach: What we learned in the Warriors’ series win over the Spurs

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Kurtenbach: What we learned in the Warriors’ series win over the Spurs
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Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant (35) is congratulated by fans as he exits the court after defeating the San Antonio Spurs during Game 5 of their NBA first-round playoff series at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, April 24, 2018. The Golden State Warriors defeated the San Antonio Spurs 99-91. (Randy Vazquez/Bay Area News Group)
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Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant (35) is congratulated by fans as he exits the court after defeating the San Antonio Spurs during Game 5 of their NBA first-round playoff series at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, April 24, 2018. The Golden State Warriors defeated the San Antonio Spurs 99-91. (Randy Vazquez/Bay Area News Group)

By DIETER KURTENBACH | dkurt...@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: April 25, 2018 at 5:30 am | UPDATED: April 25, 2018 at 12:01 pm
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2018/04/25/golden-state-warriors-new-orleans-pelicans-san-antonio-spurs-score-hgihlgihts-video-nba-playoffs-2018-schedule-times/


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OAKLAND — It might not have looked pretty, but the Warriors advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs with a 99-91 Game 5 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday.

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In the years to come, no one will look twice at this series — the box scores show a gentleman’s sweep that would appear to be like so many five-game NBA playoff series.


But this series was anything but normal. The Spurs made the Warriors earn advancement by playing a rough-and-tumble style that escalated in Games 3, 4, and 5.

The Warriors usually play — and win — with joy, but against these Spurs, they had to win a rock fight.

Eventually, talent won out, but not without some back-and-forth with tenacity. Game 5, in particular, was a nervy affair for the Steph Curryless Warriors.

You can learn a lot playing a team like San Antonio. After a poor finish to the regular season, going up against the Spurs’ physicality and opportunism forced the Warriors to focus and engage for the first time in weeks.

The result was a five-game victory.

But let’s break it down a bit further. Here’s what we learned in those five games:


-The Warriors’ championship-level defense is back

Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green (23) smiles after a call against the Warriors during the second quarter of Game 5 of their NBA first-round playoff series at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, April 24, 2018. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/ Bay Area News Group)

It’s hard to say with impunity if the Warriors played great defense in their series with the Spurs or if the Spurs are just a downright bad offensive team.

I think both can be simultaneously true, but I’ll give the majority of the credit to Golden State’s defense.

Re-establishing the team’s championship-caliber defense was the Warriors’ No. 1 priority coming into the series — everything from this team emanates from the defensive side of the court — and Golden State certainly showed that in the first two games of this series.

But even as the Warriors’ offense sputtered in Games 3, 4, and 5, you could make the argument that the defense remained excellent (save for an early stretch of Game 4).

The Warriors held the Spurs to 41 percent shooting from the floor in the teams’ first-round series, alongside a paltry 28 percent shooting from behind the arc.

Those aren’t just good numbers — they’re elite numbers.

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It’s going to be hard for Golden State to match those benchmarks against the Pelicans, who scored 114.5 points per game in their shocking sweep of the Blazers.

That said, Kevin Durant played defense like he was a Defensive Player of the Year candidate again, Klay Thompson was rock-solid, Kevon Looney was fantastic, Andre Iguodala’s inclusion in the starting lineup only bolstered its defensive credentials, and Draymond Green looked like the best defensive player in the world once again.

There’s always room for improvement, but it didn’t take long for the Warriors to prove that they still have their top defensive gear.

Mission accomplished.


-The offense… that’s another story

Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant (35) reacts after a basket by the San Antonio Spurs during the fourth quarter of Game 4 of their NBA first-round playoff series at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday, April 22, 2018. San Antonio Spurs defeated the Golden State Warriors 103-90. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State was always going to struggle offensively (relatively, of course) without Stephen Curry in the lineup — that should go without saying.

But for the Warriors to struggle as much as they did against the Spurs in the final few games of the series was a bit surprising.

The Warriors’ offensive performances in Games 1 and 2 were solid, but in the final three games of the first-round series win, the Warriors looked nothing like themselves — the ball didn’t move as freely, players were often aimlessly standing, and the Warriors shot only 25 percent from behind the arc.

In short, the Warriors looked nothing like the Warriors at the end of the series.

Some of that is San Antonio’s discipline and physicality on defense. All of this is likely solved by Curry’s return to the lineup — bringing with him chaos and gravity. But still, you can’t write off the Warriors’ poor offensive performances in the last three games as anomalies.

Right now the Warriors have two offensive threats from outside — three if you include David West’s 17-foot jumper as an outside shot — in Durant and Thompson.

That’s it. And the Spurs were able to key in on both players when they played because they felt no fear in leaving Andre Iguodala or Draymond Green wide open beyond the 3-point arc.

Neither burned them enough to force them to actually start guarding them, either.

Iguodala was 7-for-20 from the floor in the last three games of the series — 35 percent (with the majority of the makes coming at the rim) — and 2-of-10 from beyond the arc over the same time.

Green wasn’t much better — he shot 38 percent on 34 attempts from the floor and 27 percent from beyond the arc (18 attempts) over the last three games of the series.

And, outside of Shaun Livingston, who was tremendous in the series, the Warriors couldn’t rely on anyone on their bench to provide quality offense.

The result: until Curry comes back, the Pelicans can trap, double-team, and overload Durant and Thompson, daring someone else — anyone else — to beat them. At some point, someone might, but until then, the Warriors’ offense will look uninspired.


-Warriors can win in the half court

San Antonio Spurs' Rudy Gay (22) shoots over Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant (35) during the first quarter of Game 4 of their NBA first-round playoff series at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday, April 22, 2018. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

That said, it was positive to see the Warriors win a series where the pace wasn’t to their liking, the opposing defense was disciplined and tough, and the team’s overall offense didn’t have the same verve.

To win that series 4-1 speaks to the Warriors’ defensive prowess and their ability to score in the half court.

The Warriors want to run — they’ll get their chance against the Pelicans, I imagine — but them winning a grind-it-out series means they passed a big test early.

Now they just need to start knocking down shots.


-The depth isn’t what we thought it would be

Golden State Warriors' Andre Iguodala (9) finds a spot in the tunnel to stand before the start of Game 4 of their NBA first-round playoff series at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday, April 22, 2018. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Credit to West and Livingston, who were fantastic in their stints off the bench in this series, and you can’t say enough good things about Kevon Looney, but I’m still waiting for the moment where Nick Young or Quinn Cook does something solid in the postseason.

I might be waiting a while.

Golden State’s playoff motto is “Strength In Numbers” but the Warriors don’t have the numbers I (and so many others) thought they’d have this season and this postseason.

It’s easy to say that the lack of secondary scoring — particularly from beyond the arc — isn’t much of a concern, but with the Warriors’ offensive struggles without Curry, if the same form continues into the next round, it could prove problematic.

The top players can only do so much.


-The center rotation has taken shape

Golden State Warriors' Kevon Looney (5) looks around after he was fouled on his drive to the hoop against the Indiana Pacers in the first half of an NBA game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, March 27, 2018. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Looney was fantastic in the series, standing out as the teams’ top defensive center not named Draymond Green.

JaVale McGee endeared himself to Kerr with his energetic and surprisingly sound play on both the offensive and defensive end.

West was rock-solid in his second-unit minutes.

Green was marvelous when he slid up to play center.

Despite overall issues with depth, the Warriors have to like what they were able to get out of the center position in the first round.

But you might have noticed that Zaza Pachulia didn’t play serious minutes in the series, nor did Jordan Bell.

And I have a hard time seeing either getting run in the next round (if I had to pick one, it’d be Bell.)

The absence of Pachulia was particularly peculiar for this series — the Spurs seemed like a strong matchup for him.

The fast-as-hell Pelicans and a possible Western Conference Finals with the Rockets — that’s not Pachulia’s speed. Maybe if the Warriors play the Jazz…

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Bell, in theory, could see minutes against both New Orleans and Houston (should the latter advance out of the second round). As a smallball center option, he could be useful against fast teams that run high pick-and-roll. That’s what made his absence against the Spurs so jarring, if he does play in the next round, he’ll be going in cold — it’s hard enough to a rookie being deployed against Anthony Davis when he sat on the bench against Pau Gasol.

That said, it looks like the Warriors’ center position is set — for now.