Five Lessons From Warriors First Round Series Vs Kings
The Golden State Warriors Defeated the Sacramento Kings in Seven Games to Advance to The Western Conference Semi-Finals. Here are Five Lessons We Learned From The Series.
The Golden State Warriors had not experienced a game seven since the 2017-2018 season where the Dubs defeated the Rockets in Houston. Before Sunday’s win versus the Kings, the Warriors had been 2-2 in previous game seven matchups. Starting in 2014, the Dubs lost in the first round to the Los Angeles Clippers, then beat the Thunder in seven in the Western Conference Finals in 2016, but lost to the Cavs in the NBA Finals right after that, and then the previously mentioned 2018 game seven WCF win over the Houston Rockets. We have seen in NBA history anything can happen in a single game, and especially a game seven, and with how this season has gone, I wouldn’t have been surprised by any outcome on Sunday. With the Warriors season, and possibly the last game of the Warriors core on the line, the Warriors blew out the Sacramento Kings. Here are five lessons we have learned from this incredible first round match up.
Stephen Curry Is As Good As Ever
The most points in a game seven in NBA history. The most shot attempts in his fourteen year NBA career. The team’s back against the wall, and he delivered a career night. Stephen Curry is amazingly still in his prime, and is even showing signs of improvement in his game at age 35. Steph had in my opinion an underrated statistical regular season this year. He averaged just under 30 points per game, 6 rebounds and 6 assists while shooting 43% from 3 point range and 50% from the field. Just insane numbers for a small point guard at age 35. He has even stepped that up in the playoffs this year thus far. He averaged 33.7 points per game this series with efficient shooting, decreased turnovers, and great defensive effort and execution. His dominance on the court was in full display Sunday afternoon with a 50 point, 8 rebound, 6 assist, +25 plus minus masterclass. Steph scored 50 points while only making 3 free throws, which means he made 20 field goals, with an array of deep 3 point shooting, diverse mid range finishing, and impeccable touch around the rim. This Warriors collective roster is not as great as it was last season, with another year older and the loss of some key veterans, but the Warriors will go as far as Steph Curry leads them, and it looks like there is no indication of him slowing down anytime soon.
Road Woes No More
One of the most impressive NBA records over the past few seasons has been that the Warriors have won a road game in every playoff series for the past 27 playoff series. This is an incredible streak and statistic, and in my opinion an underrated achievement of the dynasty. Winning road games in general is hard, but especially during the playoffs. Think back to all the wild environments the Warriors have won playoff games in over the past 10 years. Oklahoma City, Memphis, Houston, Cleveland, and now Sacramento, which could possibly have been the craziest crowd they have encountered yet. With a streak like that, it would have been safe to assume that the Warriors would definitely win a road game during this series right? Well, with a regular season road record of 11-30 and some truly disgusting road loses this year I would have not been surprised if the Warriors did not win a game in Sacramento this series. That is what has been so impressive about this group. When the time comes to really lock in, and win a game series defining game 5 on the road, a series ending game 7 on the road, they show up. It is safe to say they have now proven in the playoffs if needed, they can get it done on the road. Let’s see if that travels down to Southern California for the Western Conference Semi-Finals series vs the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kevon Looney & Draymond Green
In a league dominated by headlines and star players, a 4/5 combination of Draymond Green and Kevon Looney is not a combo that jumps off the page. They likely won’t make an All-Star game for the rest of their careers. They likely won’t have huge regular season breakout statistical games. They aren’t on the front page of the opponents scouting report. But what they do is what was on display in this first round series. When the game slows down, when it becomes time to make the winning plays, sacrifice for the betterment of the team, do the dirty work, there are no two better examples of that than these two men. Starting with Kevon, here are a few stats that blew my mind.
“Kevon Looney joins Wilt Chamberlain & Nate Thurmond as the only players in Warriors history to record multiple 20-rebound games in the same playoff series.”. “Looney is the first NBA player since 2008 to have three 20+ rebound games in a NBA Playoff series.” (Warriors PR). Loon also played incredible defense all series long, did a great job as a secondary facilitator on offense, and just dominated the paint, demoralizing the Kings with offensive rebounds. Draymond also had a great series. Obviously getting himself suspended for game 3 down 0-2 was not ideal, but he showed his true value in game 5 of this series. Sacrificing for the better of the team, Draymond came off the bench and had his highest scoring output in any game since the 2020 season with 21 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 block and stellar defense and ball distribution all night. The Warriors would be lost as a team without these two, and they will be relied upon heavily in this next series vs the very large and physical Los Angeles Lakers.
Tale of The Turnovers
Turnover totals in Warriors wins this series: 15, 20 & 18
Turnover totals in Warriors losses this series: 11, 11, 14 & 7
This has always been true within the Warriors dynasty, but when they take care of the ball and do not have careless turnovers, they are very hard to beat. This series, turnovers were especially detrimental. When the Warriors had live ball turnovers, the Kings were extremely quick to the fast break and put on a pace that even the Warriors could not keep up with. When the Warriors slowed down the pace and took care of the ball, the Kings could not keep up with the dynamic shot making in the half court from the Warriors, which then allowed the Dubs to set up their defense, rather than fighting to get back into position after a turnover. Key players to look out for their turnover totals moving forward should be Steph, Poole and Draymond. These are the three Warriors that handle the ball the most, and are involved on most of the plays within the offense. If the three of them are able to set the tone, and avoid careless turnovers, the Warriors will be in great shape to put themselves in a position to win just about any game that they are in. Now if in any game the Warriors have 15+ turnovers, it is hard to see a way the Warriors would be able to win in that situation. Definitely a key to watch for in the next few games.
Warriors Need The “Others” To Step Up
The Warriors are fortunate to have made it through a grueling first round matchup without much contribution from the “others” on the team. The Warriors have five core players (one could argue six including Poole, but I think of him as more of an X-Factor/Other player this season). Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, Green & Looney. This is the five that Steve Kerr trusts. Yes he has played around with starting lineups, rotations, etc, but when the Warriors backs were against the wall in game seven, Kerr started and rode with his five best players. Playing your five best players is not groundbreaking coaching, but with the disappointing play from the Warriors role players all series, he was left with no choice. Ideally, a playoff rotation would consist of nine or ten players. We know the core five, so that leaves us with five spots to fill. Jordan Poole, Donte DiVincenzo, Gary Payton II, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody are to fill the back half of the playoff rotation. The most unlikely of the group had the best first round series, and that was Moses Moody. He played great defense, hustled, hit some shots, and limited his mental mistakes to be an overall positive in the first round. In order for the Warriors to succeed in this series and beyond, they will need large contributions from Poole, Payton and DiVincenzo especially, and would welcome a bounce back series from Kuminga.
The Warriors face the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the NBA Playoffs starting Tuesday, May 2nd. The Warriors lost the season series vs the Lakers 1-3 this season. Time will tell, but either this seven game first round series vs the Kings will prove to be beneficial to the Warriors title chances with lots of lessons learned and experience gained, or possibly have taken too much out of the gas tank for a long playoff run. My thoughts are that in a season that has had so many ups and downs, the Warriors are finally back to what makes them so dominant, and they now understand their strengths, weaknesses, and their path to repeating as NBA champions.