OAKLAND — One play, one sequence, one twist or turn of an ankle can alter the
course of basketball history.
The bounce of a ball this way instead of that way. The shot that flirts with the
bottom of the net … yet somehow rims out. Who knows when that pivotal play
comes in a playoff game and, better yet, who is going to make said play in the
heat of the moment.
The unknown and the unpredictable are bound to mingle when you put two 60-win
teams together and dare them to beat each other.
That’s what you get when the NBA’s best offensive and defensive teams square off
in the Western Conference finals in what should a data-driven bonanza for the
Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs — two teams on the cutting edge of
everything going on the league right now.
But after one wild opening game, it’s clear this dream matchup that NBA fans
have been deprived of the past two seasons will not be waged on even ground.
The Spurs’ former NBA Finals MVPs are either out for the entire series (Tony
Parker) or on the brink of not being able to perform at a high level (Kawhi
Leonard), if at all. So it becomes a series of availability instead of just the
ability to rise to the moment at hand.
What looked like a golden opportunity for the Spurs — who led by 25 points
early only to lose Leonard in the third quarter and the game during the 18-0 run
that came after his departure — turned out to be the wake up call the Warriors
needed.
And leave it up to Draymond Green’s twisted but brilliant logic to explain the
mood permeating the halls of Oracle Arena after Sunday’s Game 1 thriller.
“It was actually the perfect Game 1,” Green said. “You get punched in the mouth,
but yet to can still get the win. It’s a bit tougher in Game 2 when you win
easily, 20 or 30 points, and then you usually have a letdown. Now we can come
out in Game 2 on edge knowing how good this team is. This team just came off
something real, where they had to fight in order to take control of that series.
Ours was lighter than that. To play a great team like that and get punched in
the mouth, now we can get have our guard up and try to start a little better.
That’ll be big for us.”
Sweeping through the first two rounds of the playoffs, which allows time for
ample rest, left the Warriors unprepared for the energy and efficiency the Spurs
brought to the floor for the first two-plus quarters of Game 1. Golden State’s
timing was off, its sense nowhere near sharp enough to counterpunch against
Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge early.
The beauty of what the Spurs do is in their relentless execution of their
offense, regardless of who is uniform. With or without Leonard in Game 2 Tuesday
night (his status is up in the air pending MRI results on Monday), the Spurs
will continue come at the Warriors in exactly the same way.
“We know what this team is about,” Kevin Durant said. “No matter who is on the
court, they’re going to play hard every possession and keeps possessions alive.”
Yet, when Leonard exited Game 1 with 7:53 to play in the third quarter, the
Warriors went on an 18-0 blitz to climb all the way out of that 25-point hole.
Without Leonard to manufacture possessions, create for himself and others, it
became clear that it does matter who is on the court for the Spurs.
Coach Gregg Popovich’s crew struggled to finish possessions, so you knew
finishing the game would take a spectacular effort. The groove they were in
early when Leonard and Aldridge were dominating simply vanished.
“Of course, it’s going to be tough,” Aldridge said of the Spurs’ challenge if
Leonard is forced to miss any significant time. “He’s our leading scorer and our
go-to-guy. But guys have to step up and try to take some of that load and try to
be better out there.”
The Warriors insist they changed nothing about their approach when Leonard left
the floor. But the results contradict that in every way. They turned up their
defensive pressure and rattled the Spurs until the final buzzer, banking on
their two superstar scorers (Stephen Curry and Durant combined for 74 points)
down the stretch.
“We didn’t come back to the bench and say, ‘Kawhi’s out, let’s change up what
we’ve been doing.’ Obviously, you’ve seen what this team did in Game 6 of the
last series, so we knew they weren’t going to lay down,” Durant said “They tend
to do the same thing they always do. Move the ball, find the mismatches,
offensive rebound … They’ve got weapons and a team deep teamed they play
together. They’ve got a really, really good system, so we just tried to stick
with it every possession. We battled it our and were able to get it done.”
The Warriors are awake now, wide awake.
If they didn’t have it before, the Spurs now have their full attention — with
or without Leonard in the lineup.
“It’s always fun,” Green said. “It’s a challenge. This is the ultimate …
understand the little details of the game and do that. If you don’t, they make
you pay. So it’s definitely fun playing against these guys. They’re one of the
toughest challenges in the NBA.”
Sekou Smith is a veteran NBA reporter and NBA TV analyst. You can e-mail him
here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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