Golden State vs Portland Trailblazers Game 3
Golden State Warriors win Game 3 (110–99) and take a 3–0 series lead
Game 3 in Portland felt like the last stand for Portland, going down 3–0 is almost an impossible deficit to overturn. It just does not happen especially against a team of Golden State’s calibre who are exceptional offensively and defensively. Portland seemed on course to make it a series until the third quarter rolled around. The Blazers have accumulated a thirteen point lead which in theory is a defendable lead however for the second game in a row, they pissed the advantage away. The Warriors came out firing in the third quarter and the game went away from the Blazers for a second consecutive game. The Warriors have been exceptional in taking away Portland’s ability to create quality looks off the dribble and have shell-shocked the Blazers into a vulnerable spot two games in a row.
The psychology of the Warriors third quarter runs is one of the most peculiar considerations in the league. For five years, the Warriors have shown this ability to have an outstanding third quarter where they blow their opponent out of the water and sit their main guys for the last quarter. The knowledge that a team can reduce a double-digit lead in a matter of possessions and minutes is frightening, in Game 2 and 3 the Blazers have seemingly been rattled. The Warriors got a few quick baskets in Game 2 and suddenly Portland seemed desperate. The ball fell to Lillard or McCollum to create something out of isolation while the rest of the team stood static, a complete lack of movement. For an offence that relies on player movement and ball movement, it will result in a dreadfully inefficient shot and a rebound that the Warriors are only too happy to gobble up and kick down court for a lay-up or pull-up Klay three. The Blazers got burnt by this run in Game 2 and it cost them a chance to keep the series close and potentially put the pressure on the Warriors. It would be expected that in Game 3, the Blazers would come out resolute and expect the run to take place.
This didn’t happen, the Warriors beat the Blazers mentally again as they hit a quick scoring run to start the third. The Blazers become visibly tense and everything on the court seemed to tighten up, there was much less movement and more isolations. Portland slipped defensively as their defender were reeling from the hay-makers that Steph Curry and Draymond Green were throwing. The result of this being that the Warriors held the Blazers to just thirteen points and scored twenty nine points. The sixteen point swing eliminated the lead and left the Warriors in a position to control the game throughout the final quarter.
The Warriors’ defence has been the highlight of this series in terms of taking Portland’s offence to pieces and then busting the Blazers’ confidence into a million little shards. The Warriors have been exceptional in containing Lillard and McCollum when they are handling the ball and stopping them from running any of the offence that they are comfortable. All credit has to go to Coach Nick of Basketball Breakdown who noticed the little details that indicated the Blazers were harassed by the Warriors on their offensive sets. It was miniscule details like a screen being set a few feet too high or the rollman making a movement that is different to what the guard anticipated when he made the read. Those little details which came from the Warriors running soft doubles at Lillard or McCollum made all the difference as the Blazers sputtered offensively into isolation-heavy offence. Iso-heavy offence works when you have talented operators like Harden or Durant who can get a bucket on all types of isolation posession. Lillard and McCollum are not quite at that level when it comes to success in isolation.
It seems strange to say about a team that has already won three championships but their defence is arguably the best that it has ever been during five years of high-level basketball. The reasons for this are evident, the Warriors have three all-defensive team candidates in the form of Klay, Dray and Iggy who understand their roles so well and perform their duties with the knowledge that the other guy will be in the correct spot every single team. The talent and experience together has bred a wing/forward trio that seemingly play with one brain but it genuinely feels more than that. The only possible reason for this has to be Draymond Green. Draymond said at the start of the series that he believed was one of the greatest ever defensive players, with his play in this series he is satisfying this claim.
It has been said many times that he is the skeleton key for the Warriors’ defence, the one piece that can make the Warriors devastating defensively. His ability to read the game and ability to switch 1–5 cannot be overstated, it makes him incredibly versatile and therefore hugely valuable. However, it seems like the skeleton key has been re-cut and improved so the Warriors are even better defensively. Draymond obviously trimmed down at the start of the play-offs but he has found another gear defensively in which he makes the right play consistently and forces tough shots. His pro-active defence has made it tricky for the Blazers to generate offence and has led to Warriors offence. He had four steals last night in a game where he had a triple-double as Green feasted in transition opportunities.
Transition buckets are the most efficient shot in the NBA. It is a possession in which an offence is charging at a defence that is yet to set up, often in 4v3 situations. Draymond is a superb passer and finds the open man every single time in transition which generates easy points for the Warriors. His new-found aggressive scoring has balanced his game and now forces defenders to respect him as a scorer. Over the regular season and in last season’s play-offs, we have seen defenders focus solely on the other player in transition as they know that Green will pass the ball and does not shoot that much. By being a more aggressive scorer, it opens the opportunities to dish the ball and he has taken advantage of this. He had 20/13/12 and four steals in Game 3 in what can be considered a vintage Draymond performance. For the Warriors, they needed Green to step up and be a leader alongside Steph Curry with the injury to Kevin Durant. Losing Durant meant that there was a dearth of play-making and scoring. Curry took on the majority of the scoring burden while Draymond became the point guard, responsible for getting everybody involved. It just works for the Warriors.
A lot of credit has to go to Steve Kerr for his coaching in this series. He has found the right plan to break the Blazers’ offence and has got meaningful minutes from the Warriors bench contributors. The Warriors have a thin bench rotation with the various injuries to their All-Star talent. It was expected with the acquisition of Cousins that he would be ran with the bench unit, obviously that planning has gone out of the window. Iguodala being moved into the starting line-up furthered diluted the bench unit but somehow the Warriors have got great production from the bench in this series. The system of constant movement and finding the open man has been big for the Warriors in making sure that the bench is consistent in its contributions. The so called ‘Whimsy Lineup’ empties the Warriors bench bar Jacob Evans and let them play. It works as each player fit into a unit that can shoot, play defence and make plays. For the Warriors, the experimentation of Kerr has meant that Jordan Bell has been dusted off and meaningful minutes have been produced from a player who looked to be in Kerr’s dog-house.
For Portland, it looks like their season is done. I don’t see them dragging themselves out of this hole, Golden State does not allow a team off the ground once they have the boot to their neck. In the end, it has been a litany of injuries that has taken Portland’s chances to pieces. The loss of Jusuf Nurkic cannot be ignored, the Bosnian bruiser was a strong interior defender who was a legitimate third option offensively for the Blazers. They replaced this production with Enes Kanter who was playing on a separated shoulder and whose defensive lapses eventually caught up to him. Even Damian Lillard has suffered separated ribs which must make it incredibly difficult to breathe without feeling any pain. Terry Stotts’ men have fought fantastically during their play-off run but they have nothing left to fight with as their players succumb to injuries. Portland will be back next year and even better for their play-off experiences.
Looking forward, it looks likely that we will see a Milwaukee vs Golden State Finals series. In my previous piece, I touched on the fact that the Bucks have a better that is superior to the Warriors’ reserves. However, it must be noted that the Warriors are a veteran team who have been to the NBA Finals for four consecutive years. It is a team that understands the pressure that the Finals will bring and the value of each and every posession. The Warriors are primed for the pressure because they have experienced it before. There could also be further animus for Stephen Curry specifically. He has not won a Finals MVP in his career, this could be one of his final chances to do so providing that the Warriors lose key pieces due to retirement and free agency. An experienced champion that is highly motivated is nothing to sniff at, the Warriors present such a tough task for Milwaukee. It will be hugely interesting to see how the Bucks handle the Warriors’ decimating third quarter runs, will they crack like so teams before them? Whatever it is, the likely series will be hugely entertaining.
