Two things the Warriors can do against Lakers in Game 4
Golden State Warriors are down 2-1 against Los Angeles Lakers, but can even series with these two keys.
LOS ANGELES — This Warriors core has experienced just about every type of playoff scenario over the last decade.
Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green have blown a 3-1 series lead and lost in seven. They’ve also swept series, and have flipped deficits into decisive victories. They’ve been both severely doubted and heavily favored.
So, on the eve of Monday’s critical Game 4, it wasn’t surprising to see Curry so calm and cool with the Warriors trailing their Western Conference semifinal matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers two games to one.
Curry was serene Sunday as he answered questions from a sunlit room at the Warriors’ hotel, offering some perspective on the Warriors’ 127-97 loss to the Lakers in Game 3 the night before when his team completely lost its poise.
“You hate you have to keep learning that lesson at this stage of the season. But we did, and it’s about how we respond,” Curry said. “That’s been our MO for a very long time and there’s a lot of confidence in that no matter how frustrated we are that we let it slip yesterday.”
The Warriors can do a few things to even this series before returning to San Francisco.
Here are a few:
Jordan Poole needs to get in on the scoring
The Warriors may not win last year’s championships without Jordan Poole’s scoring. He averaged 17 points shooting 39 percent from 3 and 50.8 percent from the field in 22 games capped off with a Game 6 title clincher in Boston.
He hasn’t been able to replicate that production these playoffs. In 10 games against the Sacramento Kings and Lakers, so far, Poole is averaging 11.6 points on 28.8 percent shooting from 3 and 35.5 percent from the field. His playoff minutes have cut down from 27.5 per game to 22 as the coaching staff has pulled him back for key defensive stretches or when he’s struggled to score. Rushed possessions, in particular, have held him back.
“I have great faith in Jordan,” coach Steve Kerr said. “He’s had good playoff games for us this year, he had a great run last year. We know he can do it. I thought last night the whole group had rushed possessions, Jordan had a couple of them. So did Steph, and so did Klay. It’s a group thing.”
Poole’s best game of these playoffs came in a Game 1 loss where he shot 6-for-11 from 3 that included a miss on a deep potential game-tying 3-pointer. He got going with a mix of D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, and Dennis Shroder guarding him.
The Lakers’ defensive adjustment in Game 3 saw Reaves guard Curry and Jarred Vanderbilt, who had been hounding Curry, guarding Green, and Anthony Davis dropped back in the paint as the help defender, limiting the Curry/Green pick-and-roll options. Curry may decide to work around that by taking on Reaves himself.
But the adjustment could force other shooters to get in on the action. Lineups with four shooters on the floor, which often include Poole, space the floor to potentially punish the Davis drop coverage from beyond the arc. If Poole can get back to his Game 1 self, the Warriors could open the floodgates from 3.
Draymond vs. Davis
The Lakers have a 2-1 series lead against the Warriors. That has a lot to do with Davis’ 2-1 lead on Green.
The defensive matchup — Green guarding Davis — should be a key determinant of this series outcome. So far, Davis has beaten Green in the match-up twice by forcing him out of the game with foul trouble. Green had three personal fouls before halftime in both Game 1 and 3 — he had three blocking fouls against Davis on Saturday — limiting his minutes and impact. In Game 2, Green stayed out of foul trouble and limited Davis to 11 points on 5-of-11 from the field with one free throw attempt.
Green is a few inches shorter than seven-footer Davis, but is one of the most impactful defenders on the superstar because of his wingspan and speed, Kerr noted.
“He’s strong enough to keep bigger guys away from the hoop and quick enough to stay in front at the same time,” Kerr said. “That’s a pretty unique combination, despite his lack of height he plays a lot bigger than he is because of the speed and strength, and his length…He plays a lot bigger than he is.”
The Warriors can win Game 4 at Crypto.com Arena if Green can limit his fouls against Davis. That’ll be a challenge if the whistle is as active as it was in Game 3.