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The Official NBA Season Thread: Season Starts Now
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dacomeup
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They can’t just stand pat thoughEventually yall will figure out there's just nothing the Warriors can do. Every solution creates another problem
. These playoffs series are fun because it’s like a game of chess and the constant adjustments. High level basketball being played by both sides in this series
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Crazy thing is that in the 3rd they went small and Ad was still altering everything and having them terrified of coming in the paint. I think they might’ve had GP and Moody in that lineup. AD basically makes that handoff screen from Loon/Dray a pull-up jumper because even Steph was getting his floater blocked. It’s tough if AD is engaged and playing like this
I def would just spam PnR with Steph to come out in Game 2. Need a back breaking performance from him. These guys shot 40% from 3 on 53 attempts and loss
Yup, cats talking about free throws what happens when GS has a normal shooting night from 3?
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We have too many players ya'll would have to shut down. Dennis, Rui, Reaves, DLo. It would take an all time bad game from us for that to happen.
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They can’t just stand pat though
Lakers-Warriors contrasting styles sets stage for myriad of adjustments
Well that was fun. Now … let the adjustments begin.
Game 1s are the most interesting game of any series, by far. Not only do they set the narrative of the next six (we hope!) games, but they also dictate the terms of engagement. Matchups, rotations, tactics … all those balls start accelerating downhill once Game 1 is in the books and both sides have had time to chew over the tape.
The greater the stylistic incongruity between the two sides, the more all those considerations are magnified. And man, did we have some incongruity in Game 1. The Warriors launched 53 3-pointers despite the Lakers top-locking their guards in an effort to prevent such outbursts, while the Lakers converted only 6 of their 25 attempts. Nonetheless, even in this modern pace-and-space era of 2023, it was the Lakers who cave-manned their way to a 117-112 victory via domination of the paint and a gargantuan free-throw advantage.
So prominent were the matchup considerations, even at this early stage, that the Warriors felt compelled to play one player who had scored zero points in the previous series … and then later were equally compelled to pull a guy off the court in crunch time who had 20 rebounds through three quarters. Both gambits worked! Meanwhile, the Lakers felt compelled to respond by taking their best Steph Curry defender off the floor at the most important point of the game … and that mostly worked, too.
It almost goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: If you’re hungry for tactical food for thought, this game presented an entire banquet. I’ll walk you through the entire menu in a minute, but first, let’s take a step backward.
Coming in, this looked like a fairly evenly matched series between two teams that finished one game apart in the final standings. Both had elite superstar talent, both had closed the year stronger than they had started and for each advantage on one side, you could come up with a corresponding plus for the other.
To wit, the Lakers won the season series 3-1, but there were key players missing in most of those games, and the Warriors had home-court advantage. The Lakers’ lack of shooting loomed as a huge negative against the Warriors’ shrewd defenders, but L.A.’s domination of the free-throw game (+5.8 per game) stood as a major advantage against the Warrior’s league-worst performance in this category (-5.0 per game).
In fact, you will basically never see a head-to-head matchup in one category in a playoff series quite this one-sided. The Lakers were first in free-throw attempts, and the Warriors were last. The Lakers also permitted the fewest opponent free-throw attempts, while the Warriors were 25th.
Predictably, the Lakers dominated in this area, even more than you might have anticipated: they finished with a 29-6 free-throw-attempt advantage. The foul disparity had locals at Chase Center chanting the usual thing fans chant when they think the officials should consider alternate employment options, but this differential was baked in from the opening tip.
Meanwhile, the Warriors took nearly a thousand more 3-point attempts than the Lakers this season; they led the NBA in attempts while the Lakers were 26th and were second in accuracy while the Lakers were 24th. So it also shouldn’t be terribly shocking that Golden State tried more than twice as many – 53 to the Lakers’ 25 – nor that they converted 21 to the Lakers’ six. It was the first time the Warriors had ever lost while making 15 more 3s than their opponent.
That’s what the numbers said, but there was also the story the eyes told. The Lakers’ challenge would be to keep their best Curry defender (Jarred Vanderbilt) on the floor when he couldn’t shoot and their best shooter (D’Angelo Russell) on the floor when he couldn’t defend. Conversely, the Warriors’ battle was to manufacture paint points and room for their shooting while playing two non-threatening bigs at the same time.
And man, did all those things play out in the opener. The Warriors shot just as well on their 3-point bombs (39.6 percent) as they did on their paint attempts (40 percent); not only did they fail to draw fouls on their forays inside, but also Anthony Davis obliterated most of their chances to get easy points around the rim. He blocked four shots and altered countless more.
Vanderbilt was awesome defensively on Curry but left unguarded in the corners offensively. As the Warriors began a 14-0 run that momentarily tied the game in the fourth, Darvin Ham switched him out for Russell, who eventually made the go-ahead basket on an improvised post-up against Andrew Wiggins. (Don’t worry, the Warriors still won the trade … but that shot was huge.)
And that run? It was the product of a Warriors shift to a smaller lineup that replaced Kevon Looney with Jordan Poole. Looney was monstrously effective, with 23 rebounds on the night, but the Warriors just couldn’t get Davis out of the paint. For three quarters they barely tried, only really daring to attack Davis directly in the fourth quarter once they went small. Only in the fourth, when they played one big with four perimeter players, did they succeed.
That led to perhaps the most interesting gambit of the night: the Lakers’ decision to keep Davis in the game the entire second half. He ended up playing 44 minutes, while LeBron James played 40, leading one to wonder whether the Lakers might have won the battle but lost the war. There will be no extra days of rest in this best-of-seven series, meaning the Lakers need to be careful in how hard they push the minutes of their dominant but brittle stars. With a road win in the bag, don’t be shocked if L.A. throttles down their playing time in Game 2.
Of course, all minutes are not created equal, and one can argue that for three quarters both Davis and James were having an easy night. While Vanderbilt, Dennis Schröder and Austin Reaves chased the Warriors’ guards all over Mission Bay, the Warriors treated Davis like quarterbacks treated Deion Sanders in the 1990s, rarely even daring to throw in his direction.
Here’s a typical play from the first half, where Davis is, um, “guarding” Kevon Looney.
He just sits in the paint playing tag with various Warriors, knowing that each time he touches one he can stand in the paint for three more seconds without incurring a defensive 3-second violation, if such a thing were to be called in a playoff game at all. Not exactly a taxing defensive trip for him.
Here’s another clip that requires a bit more movement from Davis, but you can see the Warriors’ dilemma: Davis is able to hang out in the paint with Draymond Green but still take one step over to block Curry’s floater.
The Warriors scored when the ball deflected to Green, but that play was indicative of the trouble they had in the paint all evening. One can understand their reluctance to put Davis in action, even if it meant neutralizing their own Curry-Green pick-and-roll game (Also: Check out James guarding Gary Payton II. Again, not a lot of wear and tear on those minutes.)
The other half of the Warriors’ effort to deal with Davis was the surprise insertion of JaMychal Green into the rotation, a move that allowed them to match L.A.’s size without sacrificing floor-spacing. He hadn’t made a 3-pointer since March 24, but knocked in two in the first half as Davis sagged off of him in his seven-minute run.
“JaMychal gives us some size on the front lines, some rebounding and he can hit the 3,” said Steve Kerr. “He knocked down a couple 3s for us, which is one way to loosen up their defense a little bit.
“I felt like coming in, we needed another big in this series and that we weren’t just going to play Draymond and Loon.”
Nonetheless, the more interesting part of the tactical games in this series may come when the Lakers have the ball. While it’s relatively easy to see what adjustments the Warriors might be able to make to wrangle a few more points, the logic is a bit harder to conjure from L.A.’s side.
To wit: They aren’t very good from outside, and especially aren’t very good with James mired in a shooting slump that has seen him make just nine of his last 49 3-point attempts. The Lakers’ theoretical best shooter, Malik Beasley, was DNP’d in this one, largely because the Lakers were terrified of his Swiss cheese defense against Golden State’s explosive guards.
Meanwhile, the Warriors still gave the impression they thought they were playing the Kings at times, unnecessarily hugging up on perimeter players in some situations, and one wonders if they may get more daring as the series wears on.
“You go from guarding pick-and-roll all series, and it’s a quick turnaround” said Draymond Green of the Warriors, who were 48 hours removed from grinding out a Game 7 win in Sacramento. “We’ll figure it out.”
Certainly, the film will show opportunities for tactical improvement. Check out Wiggins here, for instance, hugging up on James 40 feet from the hoop rather than sagging off, going under and living with him shooting jump shots. James gets all the way to the rim instead, converting a driving layup that easily could have been an and-1.
Even with that, the Warriors will live with a lot of the Lakers shots that went in on Tuesday. The Lakers might have only shot 6 of 25 from 3, but they connected on 10 of their 20 non-paint 2s, and most of those were pretty heavily contested.
“I think when you start the series, you really have to go through a game to really feel it and watch the tape and figure out what possible adjustments,” Kerr said. “Davis made a lot of midrange shots … those are shots that we have to be willing to give up, because if we can keep them from the rim, and they are taking some challenged two-point shots, I think those are shots you’ve got to live with.”
As the series goes on, the Warriors are likely to find more Laker shots they can live with. Will they sprinkle in more zones, and maybe even some junk defenses like box-and-one? When that happens, can Ham find enough shooters — Russell or Rui Hachimura, or even Beasley — to keep Golden State honest and open the paint back up for Davis?
Ultimately, it feels like the determining factor in this series will be what happens when the Lakers are on offense. Yes, the Warriors probably have to play smaller and faster to open up their offense, with only one big on the floor, and that could leave them more vulnerable to the Lakers’ paint play and foul-drawing.
On the other hand, the Warriors seem to have a highly potent adjustment available to them by just going under screens, sinking back in the paint and daring L.A. to beat them from the 3-point line. That is, if they can deal with Davis, and the transition, and all the free throws and …
You get it. The LeBron vs. Steph stuff is fun and all, but the really compelling theater here is the chess match presented by the contrasting styles. The Lakers claimed Game 1 on Tuesday, but it feels like checkmate is a long way away. This one will go back and forth for most of the next two weeks, as Kerr and Ham exchange adjustments and counter-adjustments.
I can’t wait to see how it plays out.
Well that was fun. Now … let the adjustments begin.
Game 1s are the most interesting game of any series, by far. Not only do they set the narrative of the next six (we hope!) games, but they also dictate the terms of engagement. Matchups, rotations, tactics … all those balls start accelerating downhill once Game 1 is in the books and both sides have had time to chew over the tape.
The greater the stylistic incongruity between the two sides, the more all those considerations are magnified. And man, did we have some incongruity in Game 1. The Warriors launched 53 3-pointers despite the Lakers top-locking their guards in an effort to prevent such outbursts, while the Lakers converted only 6 of their 25 attempts. Nonetheless, even in this modern pace-and-space era of 2023, it was the Lakers who cave-manned their way to a 117-112 victory via domination of the paint and a gargantuan free-throw advantage.
So prominent were the matchup considerations, even at this early stage, that the Warriors felt compelled to play one player who had scored zero points in the previous series … and then later were equally compelled to pull a guy off the court in crunch time who had 20 rebounds through three quarters. Both gambits worked! Meanwhile, the Lakers felt compelled to respond by taking their best Steph Curry defender off the floor at the most important point of the game … and that mostly worked, too.
It almost goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: If you’re hungry for tactical food for thought, this game presented an entire banquet. I’ll walk you through the entire menu in a minute, but first, let’s take a step backward.
Coming in, this looked like a fairly evenly matched series between two teams that finished one game apart in the final standings. Both had elite superstar talent, both had closed the year stronger than they had started and for each advantage on one side, you could come up with a corresponding plus for the other.
To wit, the Lakers won the season series 3-1, but there were key players missing in most of those games, and the Warriors had home-court advantage. The Lakers’ lack of shooting loomed as a huge negative against the Warriors’ shrewd defenders, but L.A.’s domination of the free-throw game (+5.8 per game) stood as a major advantage against the Warrior’s league-worst performance in this category (-5.0 per game).
In fact, you will basically never see a head-to-head matchup in one category in a playoff series quite this one-sided. The Lakers were first in free-throw attempts, and the Warriors were last. The Lakers also permitted the fewest opponent free-throw attempts, while the Warriors were 25th.
Predictably, the Lakers dominated in this area, even more than you might have anticipated: they finished with a 29-6 free-throw-attempt advantage. The foul disparity had locals at Chase Center chanting the usual thing fans chant when they think the officials should consider alternate employment options, but this differential was baked in from the opening tip.
Meanwhile, the Warriors took nearly a thousand more 3-point attempts than the Lakers this season; they led the NBA in attempts while the Lakers were 26th and were second in accuracy while the Lakers were 24th. So it also shouldn’t be terribly shocking that Golden State tried more than twice as many – 53 to the Lakers’ 25 – nor that they converted 21 to the Lakers’ six. It was the first time the Warriors had ever lost while making 15 more 3s than their opponent.
That’s what the numbers said, but there was also the story the eyes told. The Lakers’ challenge would be to keep their best Curry defender (Jarred Vanderbilt) on the floor when he couldn’t shoot and their best shooter (D’Angelo Russell) on the floor when he couldn’t defend. Conversely, the Warriors’ battle was to manufacture paint points and room for their shooting while playing two non-threatening bigs at the same time.
And man, did all those things play out in the opener. The Warriors shot just as well on their 3-point bombs (39.6 percent) as they did on their paint attempts (40 percent); not only did they fail to draw fouls on their forays inside, but also Anthony Davis obliterated most of their chances to get easy points around the rim. He blocked four shots and altered countless more.
Vanderbilt was awesome defensively on Curry but left unguarded in the corners offensively. As the Warriors began a 14-0 run that momentarily tied the game in the fourth, Darvin Ham switched him out for Russell, who eventually made the go-ahead basket on an improvised post-up against Andrew Wiggins. (Don’t worry, the Warriors still won the trade … but that shot was huge.)
And that run? It was the product of a Warriors shift to a smaller lineup that replaced Kevon Looney with Jordan Poole. Looney was monstrously effective, with 23 rebounds on the night, but the Warriors just couldn’t get Davis out of the paint. For three quarters they barely tried, only really daring to attack Davis directly in the fourth quarter once they went small. Only in the fourth, when they played one big with four perimeter players, did they succeed.
That led to perhaps the most interesting gambit of the night: the Lakers’ decision to keep Davis in the game the entire second half. He ended up playing 44 minutes, while LeBron James played 40, leading one to wonder whether the Lakers might have won the battle but lost the war. There will be no extra days of rest in this best-of-seven series, meaning the Lakers need to be careful in how hard they push the minutes of their dominant but brittle stars. With a road win in the bag, don’t be shocked if L.A. throttles down their playing time in Game 2.
Of course, all minutes are not created equal, and one can argue that for three quarters both Davis and James were having an easy night. While Vanderbilt, Dennis Schröder and Austin Reaves chased the Warriors’ guards all over Mission Bay, the Warriors treated Davis like quarterbacks treated Deion Sanders in the 1990s, rarely even daring to throw in his direction.
Here’s a typical play from the first half, where Davis is, um, “guarding” Kevon Looney.
He just sits in the paint playing tag with various Warriors, knowing that each time he touches one he can stand in the paint for three more seconds without incurring a defensive 3-second violation, if such a thing were to be called in a playoff game at all. Not exactly a taxing defensive trip for him.
Here’s another clip that requires a bit more movement from Davis, but you can see the Warriors’ dilemma: Davis is able to hang out in the paint with Draymond Green but still take one step over to block Curry’s floater.
The Warriors scored when the ball deflected to Green, but that play was indicative of the trouble they had in the paint all evening. One can understand their reluctance to put Davis in action, even if it meant neutralizing their own Curry-Green pick-and-roll game (Also: Check out James guarding Gary Payton II. Again, not a lot of wear and tear on those minutes.)
The other half of the Warriors’ effort to deal with Davis was the surprise insertion of JaMychal Green into the rotation, a move that allowed them to match L.A.’s size without sacrificing floor-spacing. He hadn’t made a 3-pointer since March 24, but knocked in two in the first half as Davis sagged off of him in his seven-minute run.
“JaMychal gives us some size on the front lines, some rebounding and he can hit the 3,” said Steve Kerr. “He knocked down a couple 3s for us, which is one way to loosen up their defense a little bit.
“I felt like coming in, we needed another big in this series and that we weren’t just going to play Draymond and Loon.”
Nonetheless, the more interesting part of the tactical games in this series may come when the Lakers have the ball. While it’s relatively easy to see what adjustments the Warriors might be able to make to wrangle a few more points, the logic is a bit harder to conjure from L.A.’s side.
To wit: They aren’t very good from outside, and especially aren’t very good with James mired in a shooting slump that has seen him make just nine of his last 49 3-point attempts. The Lakers’ theoretical best shooter, Malik Beasley, was DNP’d in this one, largely because the Lakers were terrified of his Swiss cheese defense against Golden State’s explosive guards.
Meanwhile, the Warriors still gave the impression they thought they were playing the Kings at times, unnecessarily hugging up on perimeter players in some situations, and one wonders if they may get more daring as the series wears on.
“You go from guarding pick-and-roll all series, and it’s a quick turnaround” said Draymond Green of the Warriors, who were 48 hours removed from grinding out a Game 7 win in Sacramento. “We’ll figure it out.”
Certainly, the film will show opportunities for tactical improvement. Check out Wiggins here, for instance, hugging up on James 40 feet from the hoop rather than sagging off, going under and living with him shooting jump shots. James gets all the way to the rim instead, converting a driving layup that easily could have been an and-1.
Even with that, the Warriors will live with a lot of the Lakers shots that went in on Tuesday. The Lakers might have only shot 6 of 25 from 3, but they connected on 10 of their 20 non-paint 2s, and most of those were pretty heavily contested.
“I think when you start the series, you really have to go through a game to really feel it and watch the tape and figure out what possible adjustments,” Kerr said. “Davis made a lot of midrange shots … those are shots that we have to be willing to give up, because if we can keep them from the rim, and they are taking some challenged two-point shots, I think those are shots you’ve got to live with.”
As the series goes on, the Warriors are likely to find more Laker shots they can live with. Will they sprinkle in more zones, and maybe even some junk defenses like box-and-one? When that happens, can Ham find enough shooters — Russell or Rui Hachimura, or even Beasley — to keep Golden State honest and open the paint back up for Davis?
Ultimately, it feels like the determining factor in this series will be what happens when the Lakers are on offense. Yes, the Warriors probably have to play smaller and faster to open up their offense, with only one big on the floor, and that could leave them more vulnerable to the Lakers’ paint play and foul-drawing.
On the other hand, the Warriors seem to have a highly potent adjustment available to them by just going under screens, sinking back in the paint and daring L.A. to beat them from the 3-point line. That is, if they can deal with Davis, and the transition, and all the free throws and …
You get it. The LeBron vs. Steph stuff is fun and all, but the really compelling theater here is the chess match presented by the contrasting styles. The Lakers claimed Game 1 on Tuesday, but it feels like checkmate is a long way away. This one will go back and forth for most of the next two weeks, as Kerr and Ham exchange adjustments and counter-adjustments.
I can’t wait to see how it plays out.
lawdog1
Supporter
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I def would just spam PnR with Steph to come out in Game 2. Need a back breaking performance from him. These guys shot 40% from 3 on 53 attempts and loss
Definitely expecting to see the ball in Steph’s hands more on Thursday. Not sure why Kerr didn’t go to it earlier last night. Maybe the Warriors were gambling on Vando running out gas from chasing him off ball, but it never happened.
MVP
Supporter
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the way y'all typing you would have guessed the dubs lost by 50 last night
dacomeup
Supporter
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Interesting to see him say how obvious the Warriors’ fixes are when the Lakers are still going to force the issue getting it into the paint, especially if they play small AND if they foul like they’ve been doing all season. He seems to be simplifying that a bit
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Make sure ya'll subcribe
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Steph tryna get open last night
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Adjustments always sound like that. We always think of the most ideal situation and responses of people.
Truth is: Steph will likely play a lot better and if lebron continues to struggle with his shot and agility, then if so- Dubs will win.
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Even w/o this playoffs AD has already won a championship averaging 28/10/3 on 57/37/83 splits while also being a dominant defender. the bubble counts for everyone else not named a Laker
.They say the bubble didn't count, before the bubble in the playoffs
30/13/2 on 52/25/85 & still dominant defense
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If Kyrie wasn’t Kyrie, Nets would be moonwalking to the finals right now.
MVP
Supporter
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First playoff loss at home in the Kerr era where they made 20+ threes. Scary hours.
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Minnesota really could have been patient and also had a crunch time lineup with Ant, Jalen, Vandy & Kessler, with Purr and DLo as trade stock.
Goober trade definitely might be the all-time worst trade.
Goober trade definitely might be the all-time worst trade.
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They writing articles about the speech Steph gave before game 7 in round one 
Breh when did the kings become the 96 Bulls
Breh when did the kings become the 96 Bulls
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Cold thing is, it's gonna be hard to fix. They would have to outdo Pelinka to fix that team. In the process, they could lose Ant. And maybe Kat.
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When the Lakers last dynasty ended it was in the semifinals after going 7 in the 1st round to a young Denver squad. Just saying 
Lakers in6 5
Lakers in
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They writing articles about the speech Steph gave before game 7 in round one
Breh when did the kings become the 96 Bulls
Not gon lie that’s when I knew it was a wrap.
Needed a Steph 50 piece and a movie speech before a game 7 to get past the Kings.
The kings are a good team but Barnes stopped playing for the last 3 games and Sabonis/Huerter basically no showed too. That’s 3 starters that barely contributed. Not to mention their best player broke his finger on his shooting hand and wasn’t the same player after.
The warriors needed a 50 piece from Steph and Looney going crazy to beat that. This lakers team is NOT that.
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Iron Man
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yesterday game was more rigged than game 1 against the kings. cant win when its 5v8. dubs in 6
akajae
formerly akajaedeuce
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They made 21 3's shooting 40% and lost, at home, with Looney grabbing even more boards that he did last game
Fouls were the difference here, Lakers shoot 20+ more FT's every game, and it's over
Fouls were the difference here, Lakers shoot 20+ more FT's every game, and it's over
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