Have you ever seen Star Wars? If so, you know what the Death Star is, if not the Death Star is a weapon that the Empire, or the bad guys, had in the first Star Wars movie released in 1977. It had the capability to destroy planets and struck fear in everyone in the galaxy far far away. Why do I bring up Star Wars you ask, because the Golden State Warriors are that Death Star, and this rendition of the team is Death Star 2. When Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are cooking there is simply nothing you can do, and now there is a third splash brother that splashes like when you jump in a ‘Poole.’ There is another death lineup and the poor Denver Nuggets, who have my pick for MVP on their team, have no chance.
On June 20th, 2019, the Warriors had just lost the NBA Finals to the Raptors and both Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant had suffered injuries that would cause them to miss the entire 2019-20 season (Durant would leave the team 10 days later). They held the 28th pick in the draft and their lack of ability to score when Durant and Thompson had gone down had become exposed. That night, with the 28th pick in the draft the Warriors drafted Jordan Poole, a sophomore guard out of Michigan. Poole was raw but the Warriors liked the talent and potential he had. Whew, they nailed that pick. Poole has emerged as yet another guy that can kill you along with Klay and Steph, through 2 games this postseason Poole has averaged 29.5 points on shooting splits of .65/.58/.92. He has killed Denver through the first 2 games, they simply have not had an answer for Poole. Not to mention the Warriors also have a Big 3 (Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green) of guys who have won 3 championships together. Their depth is incredible, Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney, Otto Porter, and Andre Iguodala are all guys who fit into their role and excel in the role they play.
The Nuggets simply do not have enough offense to keep up with the play of Curry, Thompson, and Poole, especially since they are missing Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. (their 2nd and 3rd leading scorers from a season ago), and I am not sure anyone has enough defense to guard all 3 of those guys. On Monday, the Warriors trailed the Nuggets 43-31 with 7:23 left in the second quarter, then the avalanche began, at the end of the 3rd quarter they led the game 101-81. They scored 70 points in a span of about 19 minutes. That is unfair, there is nothing Denver could do, Golden State turned Denver’s 12 point lead into a 20 point deficit. The Nuggets had no hope of stopping Golden State because when the Death Star is fully operational and it strikes, there is nothing you can do. Assuming Golden State advances, in the next round they will either play the Memphis Grizzlies or the Minnesota Timberwolves. Both teams are young, feisty, and have a lot of confidence. They also both do not have a big who will force the Warriors to play Kevon Looney and Draymond Green at the same time. Karl-Anthony Towns is a great player but I have a lot of confidence that Draymond Green can guard and frustrate Towns throughout a potential series, while Memphis is sending Steven Adams (who the Warriors will abuse if he plays), Brandon Clarke (who is about the same size as Green), and Jaren Jackson Jr., (who is not a dominant post player that can bully Golden State’s lack of size). This lack of a big that will scare Golden State to try and match size with the 2 teams, allows the Warriors to play (and possibly start) Curry, Thompson, and Poole at the same time often, in which neither team's defense is good enough to guard the Warriors. The Grizzlies are the more dangerous opponent for the Warriors because, in large part, they have Ja Morant. Morant will cause matchup problems for the Warriors, he was 3rd in the NBA in points in the paint per game this season with 14.2 points per game. To go along with that the Grizzlies have Dillion Brooks, Desmond Bane, De’Anthony Melton, and Zhaire Williams who all provide different looks on the wing and Tyus Jones who is one of the best backup point guards in the league. However, I think the Phoenix Suns and the Warriors are on a collision course for the Western Conference Finals.
During the regular season, Phoenix and Golden State split each of the 4 meetings, with both teams winning one home game and one road game. Let’s start with the game from March 30th, a 107-103 Suns win. It was the most recent game between the 2 opponents and the only guy missing from the game was Steph Curry, which as it turns out is a big deal. That was Jordan Poole’s night. Even in a Golden State loss, Poole scored 38 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and dished out 7 assists on shooting splits of .50/.47/.90. He had a monster night and helped hide the fact that Klay Thompson shot 5/21. Devin Booker also had an off night, though he scored 22 points Booker shot horribly and also went 5/21, as the Warriors defense was in his grill all night and frustrated Booker throughout the game, something Golden State did in the other two matchups as well (Booker did not play in the Warriors win on December 3rd). The Warriors have not been healthy all year, always missing one of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, or Draymond Green. One thing that Phoenix would need to do is exploit the Warriors lack of size. Deandre Ayton would need to have a dominant series to make sure the Warriors cannot use their new unnamed Death Star lineup (although I saw someone on Twitter call it PTSD and I thought that was cool) which has been killing the Nuggets. The Warriors do not have a guy over 6’9” in their rotation so that would be something that would be vital for the Suns to exploit. There are still some things that both teams need to work out, and both need to get to the Conference Finals before we really dive into the series.
The Warriors are back to being scary, unguardable, and nearly unbeatable. They are so good and so much fun to watch, Draymond Green passing the ball to those 3 guys running off of off ball screens is beautiful basketball. Golden State is back to operating like the machine they were when they won 3 championships, maybe not the forgone conclusion they were when they had Kevin Durant but the basketball is so beautiful to watch. The Warriors are back and the NBA is better for it.
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