Game 2 NBA Finals: Golden State Warriors (1-1) 109 - 104 Toronto Raptors (1-1)
Cousins made a return to the starting lineup. This, predictably, resulted intrying to get DMC to come high and make him part of their actions and, for those initial minutes, that's how they scored. In both these buckets, Kawhi ends up with is a fantastic look for someone with his rise. It was evident how the Warriors wanted more intensity on defense from the get go and they were able to create some forced turnovers. However, it's ridiculous they'd get caught unaware again by a trailing Gasol. The clip is worth a little more because you see Danny doing a classic baseline cut to get open.
The Raptors continued their amazing halfcourt defense, to no surprise. In this previous clip, besides the way they're ignoring Dray and Iggy, you can already see how Siakam on Klay was very disruptive, particularly if they wanted have the Splash Bros split or if they're looking for a Klay pindown for Steph, an offensive focus that could be an adjustment after game 1. He can chase around a screen well enough and his length allows to cover two players at once if they're close enough or recover to contest. That second one is only a bucket because Lowry's gamble didn't work but Nurse has really been one step ahead this series thus far.
I've previously praised the defense of FVV/Gasol on Steph but, even with that in mind, the minutes with Curry being the only shooter to end the quarter have a painful lack of spacing. However, Dray was out of his mind in this stretch and fueled a 10-0 run. Notes for that PnR defensive duo with Looney and the Livingston find with Fred not mindful of his back when he's on Curry, and the 3 of them had to be on the same page for that. The next time they tried it was too soon after the first and Ibaka, while on the weak side, saw it coming and disrupted it.
Draymond was pushing the pace of the game a lot and the combination of this run with a couple of FVV/Pascal Pick and Rolls turned around the sluggish drought of the first 7 minutes. One point lead for the Raptors.
In the early 2nd, the same way they had Curry switched on to Siakam, they did it to Cook. Klay saved it but was caught by was blown by with the predictable spin to the right. Pascal's gotten really good in mismatches and continued to give him nothing on the other end.
No shot was going in for the Warriors and count Curry in that as well. It's a depressing thing to say but the team needs those Jerebko and McKinnie open 3s to go in, and none did. The Raptors had a 10-0 run of their own coming from those Golden State misses and VanVleet had already made a couple of really hard layups through contact. Another great half for him, continuing his pestering defense and creating a ton as a PnR ball handler.
This is incredible defensive discipline. If this wasn't hurting my team directly I'd build an altar around stuff like this and they do it consistently. They never loose sight of who matters and who they can ignore and it's suffocating. The only reason this wasn't closer to a 20 point game was the Warriors getting a lot to the line and Klay Thompson making every shot he could find - 18 points in the half. We even saw a catastrophic stretch where the Warriors had 3 straight turnovers.
But somehow, a run with Curry coming alive, the game gets back to a 5 point game when halftime comes. I watched it back and it happens so suddenly I can't even tell you what happens. I'm sure the Raptors felt the same.
The opening minutes of the second half looked like a different game. Warriors switched their assignments: Green was now on guard duty, which does allow him be more disruptive in the many PnRs they run, but could very well be only because of injuries. And they trust his reads to know when to ditch Lowry and help inside. We had Andre on Siakam, as well. And they also had Cousins take the ball up, and his passing is his best offensive weapon right now.
Look at the quick switches in the post during this sequence. Incredible chemistry and coordinating by Green. It was the classic feedback loop of misses into fast offense, you feel that flow being generated with each successful possession. A 18-0 quarter by the time the Raptors had their first bucket, 19 seconds away from the midpoint of the 3rd.
Bogut coming in meant Looney wouldn't come back. The injury luck this series has been abysmal... But the worst would still be to come.
The Raptors regained some production through Kawhi Leonard, mostly exploiting Cook/McKinnie and a Bogut that mostly plays drop coverage, but by the time the final quarter arrives it's an 8 point Warriors lead. Toronto had the same number of turnovers as they did field goals in the 3rd.
Regarding the early 4th, they went a lot at Cousins who actually held up much better today than expected. And paired with his contribution on offense, this was one of his games with more positive impact this season. Strange the Raptors didn't attack Cook more, even more so because he made important consecutive 3s. Then Klay went down... I can't even address this right now.
The Raptors defense was being thrown off balance and spaced out by the frantic pace. I promise you Green saw Gasol out of balance and already knew this play was money. Foul trouble was also really hampering the Raptors keeping up the same level of physicality on the Warriors guards. Lowry fouling out was frustrating because it was a stupid gamble for a steal.
There was basically no scoring for a long time. Both teams missed shots that could've changed the game, but most of them were for the Raptors. For this stretch the Raptors changed to a zone defense except on Curry - a "box-and-1" (thanks Jeff) - and they saying they only care about one player but the Dubs were flustered. Although it worked in this situation, even with Klay injured, I feel the Warriors can adapt to this if they see it all the time. It can prove to be a valuable switch to apply when needed.
A point of note late was Draymond being a monster against Kawhi to seal the game. We had a huge shot by Danny Green but it displayed something that had been going on all night. The Warriors were destroyed on the offensive glass, a role reversal of Game 1 (Great rebound by Kawhi btw), and allowing a play like the Danny one happen in such a crucial time is inexcusable.
The last play was heart stopper. The Raptors chose not to foul, the Warriors manage to keep the ball going around and Shaun saves what looked like a certain Curry turnover into a super clutch Andre 3.
Overall, I'm glad the Warriors didn't overreact to the Siakam game and changed the gameplan too much on him and Leonard. A fantastic passing second half for the Warriors that lead them to a lot more points in the paint and the Raptors will rue a lot of missed shots, but they won the 2nd chance points battle 23-0 (!) which you also don't see happening often, credit goes a lot to Ibaka and Leonard's rebounding. Kawhi has been well defended by Iggy and Klay but it's beyond value how he still finds a way to get double digit points at the line every game. You can very well argue they were the better team in 3 quarters of this game (and they certainly were much better the first half) but after Playoff Klay kept it alive, the bulldozing run of the 3rd really defined the result.
I can only hope I don't look back at this series as being defined by 100 injuries.
Other Notes:
"Not many people have said this but one of the problems with the Warriors (...) [is] the depth " - Mark Jackson. Only if you've never heard anyone discussing the team Mark!
We saw a lot of McKinnie on Kawhi this game. It's not good. He could usually get separation with the dribble and if McKinnie met a screen the only chance was if he was bailed out by the help defense. 1.25 PPP according to matchup data from NBA.com (which isn't great but still).
Transition Draymond on both ends: Great defense but still unable to finish at the rim against all this size/lenght. We saw some improvement of the Warriors getting back on defense - great job by Klay closing on Kawhi and trusting the help - but there were still more duds than ideal.
Even before the series began I wanted them to use Klay to attack FVV in the minutes where he plays with Lowry. Here Steph forces a switch and there's no way Fred can contest that. You have to exploit their small guards with h is size.
This might be the first Curry/Green PnR that actually results in the patented short roll into a lob of the series. That's because they've been doing a great job forcing Dray to the rim for tough layups and here Ibaka sells out too much. We still haven't seen any Draymond at center.
(Reddit)
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