Within two days, the Golden State Warriors looked like a dramatically different team.
Stephen Curry didn’t make almost every shot he took. Draymond Green didn’t bully his opponents like he wanted. The Warriors didn’t exert as much control over the game’s pace, the whistles or schemes.
As the Warriors slogged through a 117-112 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of their second-round series on Tuesday, they also received various reminders that their opponent also looks dramatically different than who they faced in the first round.
The Sacramento Kings fielded a high-octane offense fueled by a fast pace and stellar outside shooting. The Lakers have an efficient offense fueled by a disciplined half-court sets and ball movement. The Kings had a traditional big man (Domantas Sabonis), while the Lakers have a versatile big man (Anthony Davis). While the Kings revolve everything around their young point guard (De’Aaron Fox) and complementary players, the Lakers revolve everything around their generational superstar (LeBron James) and complementary players.
That led to a captivating Game 1 between two championship contending teams. It also led to numerous issues for the Warriors to fix.
Lakers take advantage of interior strength
Davis seemingly did everything he wanted to with 30 points, 23 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. Davis handled Golden State’s double and single coverages just fine. He punished the Warriors at the rim, from midrange and at the free-throw line. If only foul trouble didn’t limit Green (four) and Kevon Looney (three). Then Green could have played more physical with Davis. Then Looney could have added to his 23 rebounds. But it almost didn’t seem to matter. Davis played an almost perfect game.
Curry had 27 points, but the production included inefficient shooting from the field (10-for-24) along with more turnovers (five) than assists (three). It’s surely unrealistic to expect Curry to replicate a playoff career-high 50 points as he did in Golden State’s Game 7 win over Sacramento. But both Warriors coach Steve Kerr and Curry himself abstained from centering the offense on him taking over as he did in the close-out win over the Kings.
Curry missed all four of his shots in the second quarter with L.A. forward Jarred Vanderbilt as the primary defender. Though he scored 14 points through the entire final period once the Warriors fielded a small lineup, Curry couldn’t finish the job. He attempted a 6-footer that Davis swatted away while L.A. maintained a 114-112 cushion with 1:08 remaining. With the Warriors trailing 115-112 on the Warriors’ final play, the Lakers swarmed Curry behind the perimeter. After darting the ball to Green, he found an open Jordan Poole before misfiring a deep 3 with nine seconds left.
Warriors’ long-range plan negated
Golden State couldn’t even take advantage of its strengths.
They shot 21-for-53 from deep, while the Lakers only went 6-for-25 from the perimeter. In today’s NBA, it would seem mathematically impossible the Warriors could lose such a game. They still did. The Lakers improved relatively from distance in the second half (5-for-17) than the first (1-of-8). Yet, James (1-for-8) and D’Angelo Russell (1-for-5) still struggled from deep. The Warriors left plenty of 3s uncontested in hopes to keep Davis contained inside. While that strategy led to L.A. missing numerous shots, it didn’t actually prevent Davis from dominating.
That also led to the Lakers receiving many more trips to the free-throw line (25-for-29) than the Warriors (5-for-6). While Curry made his only one foul shot, Davis (8-for-8) and Dennis Schroder (9-for-10) practically lived there. The Warriors might feel frustrated the officials didn’t allow them to defend the Lakers with enough physicality. But Golden State also didn’t attack the basket both because of its superior outside shooting and to avoid Davis’ inside presence.
It didn’t help that Klay Thompson finished with 25 points by initially shooting well in the first half from the field (7-for-14) and from 3 (4-for-7) before completely misfiring in the third (1-for-8) and in the fourth (1-for-3). Or that Poole soiled his 21-point performance on a 7-for-15 clip. He missed a floater while the Warriors trailed, 115-112, with 41.1 seconds left. He then missed a rushed 28-foot 3 that could have tied the game with 9.1 seconds remaining.
None of these developments should necessarily be alarming. Golden State was trying to get a feel for a new playoff opponent. Kerr presumably held a few things back for a future adjustment, including possibly playing second-year forward Jonathan Kuminga. Kerr also didn’t want to lean heavily on Curry in the first game and tire him out just as the playoff series started.
Still, L.A. showed it has the talent and championship experience to challenge the Warriors. Obviously, the Warriors have the same qualities as they seek to defend their NBA title. But for better and for worse, the Warriors have plenty of areas to address to prove they can challenge the Lakers.
Mark Medina is an NBA Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.