Warriors’ perimeter defense faces daunting task vs. Cleveland
Warriors’ perimeter defense faces daunting task vs.
In 2010, after a group of venture capitalists purchased the Warriors, the franchise adopted a curious philosophy:
Three-point shooting could be foundational to a championship team.
Not just making three-pointers, but also preventing them.
Golden State has finished among the top five in the league the past four years in lowest opponent three-point-shooting percentage.
After holding teams to an NBA-low 32.4 percent from beyond the arc in the regular season, the Warriors have limited opponents to 32 percent in the playoffs.
[...] with Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday at Oracle Arena, Golden State’s perimeter defense is preparing for perhaps its biggest challenge: a best-of-seven series against a Cleveland team that is even more productive from deep than a Warriors club that helped make reliance on three-pointers a league-wide trend.
A year after Golden State set an NBA season record with 1,077 three-pointers last season, the Cavaliers hit 1,067 for the third-highest total in league history.
The Warriors’ infatuation with three-point shooting is mostly a product of personnel.
Guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, nicknamed the “Splash Brothers” for their long-range exploits, own seven of the NBA’s top 10 single-season totals for three-pointers.
Among the teams emulating Golden State’s success beyond the arc is Cleveland, which has finished in the top five in three-point attempts and makes in each of the three seasons, since James rejoined the fold.
The big difference for the Cavaliers this season?
Cleveland’s three best players spearheaded that uptick:
Channing Frye, in his first full season with the Cavaliers, shot 40.7 percent from deep.
After Cleveland traded for him in January, Kyle Korver — the fifth-most-prolific three-point shooter in NBA history — made 48.5 percent of his long-range attempts.
The Cavaliers needed only 46 attempts to hit 25 three-pointers in a March 3 win over Atlanta, breaking the previous league record for three-pointers in a regular-season game (24) set Dec. 16 by Houston.
Unlike the Rockets, who operate by head coach Mike D’Antoni’s edict to take the first good shot they see, Cleveland subscribes to the Warriors’ philosophy of bypassing good attempts for great ones.
“They like to space the floor, and we like to space the floor,” Golden State acting head coach Mike Brown said.
Though the Cavaliers have made more three-pointers this season than the Warriors, they have yet to match Golden State’s perimeter defense.
Cleveland finished the regular season 18th in the NBA with an opponent three-point-shooting percentage of 36.1 before posting an opponent three-point-shooting clip of 35.3 through the first three rounds of the playoffs.
The last time these two teams faced each other, on Jan. 16 at Oracle Arena, Golden State was much better from deep (15-for-34 to the Cavaliers’ 9-for-34) as it cruised, 126-94.
[...] even with the addition of Korver, the Cavaliers recognize that they likely won’t have the firepower if Golden State is hitting three-pointers in volume.
The hope for Cleveland is to leave driving lanes open enough to force the Warriors to beat them on mid-range jumpers.
The gamble?
Because teams have been overplaying its guards, Golden State has thrived on two-pointers, not three-pointers, to become the first team to open an NBA postseason 12-0.
[...] more than hitting three-pointers in the Finals, Golden State is focused on preventing them.
“They’re one of the best in the league” at three-point shooting, Thompson said of the Cavaliers.
The man who’s arguable the Warriors’ top perimeter defender added, “It’s a great challenge.”
Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
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