The NBA regular season is a long and grinding journey but as the playoffs draw closer, one question still plagues the minds of players, fans and analysts alike. Who can beat the Golden State Warriors in a seven-game series?
Led by their silky point guard Stephen Curry, the Warriors still hold the best record in the NBA currently with 50 wins and five losses. Furthermore, Curry himself leads the league in scoring, currently averaging 29.7 PPG while shooting 45.5 per cent from three point range. The splash brothers certainly are making a lot of noise, undoubtedly still fuelled by claims that they’re paper champions due to Cleveland’s All Star PG Kyrie Irving, along with Kevin Love, missing a large portion of last season’s finals series.
Golden State’s most recent defeat came against the Portland Trailblazers where they were blown out by 32 points. Off nights during the season are a given as no team – no matter how well the team is shooting or how healthy each player is – can be on all the time.
Take nothing away from Portland. They are led by their rising star Damian Lillard, who blazed away.
Lillard himself dropped 51 points on the current champions along with a resounding six steals. What was most disturbing about this blow out defeat and the other four losses that the Warriors have had so far this season was the poor scoring contribution from the team’s role players.
Anyone who has been a part of Championship-winning team will say that in order to win everyone must deliver when they are called upon. Curry and Thompson are undoubtedly the two best shooters in the NBA but if they are off the mark on any given night, Golden State’s role players’ ability to pick up the slack isn’t sound as previous multiple championship winning teams.
What is also alarming is that four out of the five losses that the Warriors have been suffered have been defeats by more than 10 points.
Off the other teams in the NBA there is currently a very select group that would realistically have a shot of defeating the Warriors in a seven-game series. However capitalising on Golden States role players’ occasional inability to aid the likes of Curry and Thompson certainly won’t be enough defeat them four times in a series, much more needs to be achieved.
Matching and beating the Warriors with guard on guard play is easier said than done but currently is the preferred tactic among analysts. This is something that would suit the Oklahoma City Thunder, led by their All Star duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Durant is currently third in scoring as he is averaging 27.7 PPG and Westbrook is currently second in assists per game with 10.2 to go along with 24.0 PPG. In order for the Thunder to beat the Warriors in a series, a facilitator is required because if Durant and Westbrook both go on the offense too aggressively the Thunder will get exposed and ultimately be undone by the Warriors fluent fast break play.
Draymond Green has also been a key contributor to the Warriors success so far this season. Yes he is averaging just shy of a double double per game but it is his energy and versatility on the court that make him formidable. He has shown that he can play out of his natural position.
Nullifying him is a task too great for the Thunder and the Clippers, perhaps only the Spurs and Cleveland have a chance of limiting his contributions.
Slowing the tempo of the game is another potential way to defeat the Warriors. Undertaking this tactic best suits the San Antonio Spurs, as the style of play during the playoffs is already slower and more tense than during the regular season. That, coupled with the Spurs overwhelming experience in the playoffs and their most recent All Star Kawhi Leonard make the Spurs the Warriors’ greatest challenger in the wild Western Conference.
Now of course should the Warriors once again make it out of the Western Conference and into the NBA Finals, the overwhelming favourites to join them there are the Cleveland Cavaliers.
A chance at redemption is no doubt what LeBron James and Co desire the most. If this finals rematch in the finals was to occur and for last year’s result to be reversed Cleveland would have to mix things up a little.
That means that that Kyrie Irving and LeBron must share the role of point guard. LeBron can dictate the tempo of the game and impose himself on the Warriors in situations where the splash brothers begin to pull away. James also currently averages 6.6 assists a game compared to Irving’s 4.3, however in order for the Cavaliers to get the better of the Warriors both James and Kyrie must be present and be fully fit.’
Come the playoffs, the biggest threat to Golden State’s attempt to repeat as champions will firstly be the San Antonio Spurs. Their playoff experience coupled with the leadership of coach Gregg Popovich make them the only realistic threat in the Western Conference. In the East, providing no serious injuries occur, the Cavaliers should be making another finals appearance and they now under the leadership of Coach Lou who as a player won two championships with the Lakers.
They the finals know how and experience to force Curry and his merry men to show just how much Warrior he and his team have in them.
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