Warriors advance to the NBA Finals
Warriors win (119–117) and win series 4–0
Game 4 was much a similar story to Game 3, Portland blew a huge lead and the Warriors came back into the game to win in over-time. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green again led the way for the Warriors as they became the first team-mates to record triple-doubles in a play-off game. The only other duo to do so this season was Russell Westbrook and Paul George in a regular season Thunder game. The performance of this duo, termed ‘Brady and Gronk’ by Andre Iguodala has been nothing short of marvellous, Curry has paced the scoring assault brilliantly while Draymond has been an all-encompassing force. The Warriors have rode this two-man game for the entire series and it killed the Blazers off. Portland had a really good Game 4 in which they created good offence and played solid defence but they didn’t have enough bodies to maintain leads.
The Warriors going to their fifth straight final is historic, this has not happened since the Russell Celtics of the 1960s. Over the last five years, they have shown an ability to win games when it matters and to elevate their game. In this specific game against Portland, Andre Iguodala did not play which meant that both Alfonso McKinnie and Jordan Bell were brought into the starting line-up. The schemes designed by Coach Kerr have seemingly got the best out of his players in whatever circumstance, in Game 4 the same rules applied. Jordan Bell came into the starting lineup after a tough season and played well, his boxscore of 7/2/1 is not remarkable by any means but his energy and hustle was big for the Warriors. McKinnie is another success story coming from Game 4 as he hit shots at a decent clip and defended smartly in replacement of Iguodala. Game 4 was a trap game for the Warriors as they were missing three key players in the form of Cousins, Iggy and KD and they still won the game. Since the injuries to Durant and Boogie specifically, the team has embodied a next man up mentality in which every player is ready to step in and do their job. A lot of respect goes to Coach Kerr for fostering this culture within his group of guys especially in a tense play-off atmosphere.
There has been so much written about Curry and Draymond Green. Their effect in this series and their roles as the cornerstones for the Warriors has been broken down to the minutest degree but I do not want to focus on that. The Warriors’ victories during the series have been a team effort and to focus solely on two players would be a tad disrespectful to the other contributing players. Kevon Looney has been huge for the Warriors during this post-season which for someone who does not follow the Warriors year round was astounding. Looney’s development from being a raw, springy big man into being a versatile defender who knows how to pick his spots is incredible.
Looney was taken as a project in the 2015 draft by the Warriors and he had a lot of initial struggles in the NBA. He has multiple hip injuries, fitness issues and also a lack of playing time within the Warriors’ rotation who had a solid big man rotation. A lot of young bigs in the league would become disillusioned with their role especially after being the main guy all throughout high school and college. Looney took this time to work on his game, he watched a lot of film and studied Draymond’s defensive instintcs. He improved his conditioning and began to flash his potential in last season’s series against the Houston Rockets. This post-season, he has solidified his potential and became a well-rounded big man. He has sound defensive instincts and is more than comfortable defending guards off a switch, a useful tool to have. His athletic ability means that he is a lob option and can finish around the rim at an efficient clip. Over two years as a regular in the Warriors rotation, Kevon Looney has become the archetype for a modern big man. He plays a low-usage, high efficiency style of play that is just efficient. It works well in a Warriors system that is primarily designed to produce scoring from the guard spots.
Kevon Looney will hit free agency this summer due to the fact that the Warriors refused to pick up his team option for the fourth year of his rookie-scale contract. Looney has played himself into a decent size contract by fulfilling his role to the maximum and being a valuable contributor on a championship-winning team. It would not be wholly unsurprising to see a team like Dallas who would like a low-usage big to fit alongside other talented front-court players.
For the Blazers, they have to consider what the next step of their project will be. The Blazers have a settled core with their players but the loss to the Warriors has to raise the question of whether this team has hit its ceiling. Portland are a talented team but it was clear in this series that they need another shot creator in the starting lineup who can make reads in second ball-handlers situations. Dame and CJ cannot carry the load by themselves, they need additional help but it is hard to find ways of improving the roster. The Blazers do not have any significant tradeable assets outside of Lillard, CJ and Nurkic in terms of players on the roster. The Blazers are also capped out due to Moe Harkless, Meyers Leonard and Evan Turner all being on huge contracts that do not necessarily reflect their value to the team. It is a difficult proposition being posed to Neil Olshey that does not have an easy answers. He could trade away valuable contributors who are known to be positive all-round presences to create space to acquire a big free agent but there is a risk that the acquisition will not be a hit. Moreover, trading away contracts like Harkless will need sweeteners attached to the deal which could handicap the future of the Portland Trailblazers.
The Warriors go to the Finals again looking like the best version of themselves despite all of the injuries that the roster has sustained. They will have roughly a week off for rest which is plenty of time for any niggling injuries to be dealt with. It should be enough time to get Curry and Iguodala healthy, Durant is still an unknown but there is a possibility that he comes back during the Finals series. Golden State have advantages in terms of experience but the ability to rest should not be understated.
