The seriousness of Andre Iguodala’s injury
Iguodala’s left knee has become one of the most important factors of this year’s Finals. He’s shooting just 11.1 percent from three and barely above 40 percent from the field this postseason. Defensively, the Warriors have been better — much better — without him on the floor. During the postseason, they’re giving up a 102.6 defensive rating with him on court, which drops to 95.7 with him out.
Some of that has to do with who he’s sharing the floor with and the fact that he’s been off when opponents have waved the white flag and gone to the end of their bench. But the same disparity isn’t there with the rest of Golden State’s stalwarts. Green, Thompson and Curry — the latter by virtue of playing with the former two — all have seen the team do much better defensively with them on the floor. (Curiously, Durant is in Iguodala’s camp).
To say the Warriors need Iguodala at his best in this series is an understatement. He’ll be their go-to for restraining James defensively, as in the last two Finals. He has to fight through every screen to save Golden State from switching and try to contain him well enough to keep help from coming. If not, then James will pick the defense apart with one of those passes that nobody else can make, zipping it across the court to the open man whose defender is half a second late on a rotation.
Offensively, Iguodala is usually the worst shooter on the floor for the Warriors in his normal state. Defenses give him open threes because they have little choice, and he usually hits them at a respectable enough rate. In the postseason, however, he’s 3-of-26 — 11.5 percent — on shots where the defender is more than four feet away.
The Cavs dared Harrison Barnes to hit those shots last season, helping aggressively off him, and it worked. Iguodala has to prevent the same strategy from having success this time around.