Three reasons the Warriors lost Game 4 to Denver
A series sweep felt more than possible, but the Warriors’ Game 4 loss to Denver on Sunday served as a reminder that no playoff win comes easy.
Up a healthy 3-0 with their potential secondround opponent (Memphis or Minnesota) playing at least six games, a sweep would have ensured the Warriors a week-long break between action. Coach Steve Kerr sensed his team’s greed, saying they were
“too anxious to win the series.”
All that angst resulted in a 126-121 loss that saw plenty of fouls and mistakes and a Golden
State comeback that fell short.
“We wanted to get greedy and win two (in Denver), we didn’t do that,” Draymond Green said. “They got one game. They’re a good team with the MVP on their team. They aren’t gonna just lay down.”
Here’s a look at what went wrong.
Warriors defensive struggles
Draymond Green has made life difficult for reigning MVP Nikola Jokic so far this series, holding him to 13-for-36 shooting (36%) through the first three games, according to ESPN.
But Green admitted after Game 3 that he struggled to keep Jokic out of the paint. And while he was able to force Jokic to score over him in the first two games, Jokic adjusted. In Game 4, Jokic used his physicality to his advantage against Green and got him in just enough foul trouble to have him disqualified from the game during crunch time. Jokic finished with a gamehigh 37 points.
Green and Jokic are engaged in an epic chess match, but game-by-game wins in their battle isn’t the issue.
The problem is that the Warriors’ best offensive lineup is not their best defensive lineup.
Something they’ll have to fight throughout these playoffs.
“Our man defense was pretty sh—tonight and that falls on me,” Green said. “I have to be better. I can’t foul out of the game. I can’t start off the game fouling. We had a great trap. I get a foul. I feel like it set the tone and we were fouling the rest of the game.”
While Green’s defense anchors the three-guard lineup, Steph Curry,
Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole are not ideal defenders on the perimeter.
Thompson was one of the best twoway players before his injury, but he’s lost a half-step on defense since his return off two major injuries (understandably).
An imperfect defensive lineup wasn’t an issue against the Nuggets in the first three games because they had no hot hands outside of Jokic. On Sunday, miscommunication on defense gave players like Monte Morris and Bones Hyland space to find their shooting stroke. They combined for eight 3-pointers on 13 attempts.
“Over-helping at times, not helping enough,” Green said of their defensive struggles. “They played with more force on both ends of the floor. Take this one on the chin. Bounce back on Wednesday.”
Golden State commits too many fouls
Green added of the Warriors’ defensive struggles that they “have to defend without fouling.”
“And when you’re playing against a team like this and you give up those back cuts, it allows guys to gain confidence. We did that early and they gained confidence.”
The box score tells us things were pretty even. The Warriors finished the game with 27 personal fouls to Denver’s 31 and the Nuggets attempted 36 free throws to the Warriors’ 32. But the Warriors’ fouls were “bone-headed,” as Curry put it.
Thompson found himself with four personal fouls heading into the halftime break, which hindered a performance he in which he managed his first 30-plus point game since Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, the game in which he tore his ACL. And Green fouled out of the game with two minutes remaining in the game — as the Warriors were mounting an comeback they desperately needed Green’s help with.
All that foul trouble held the Warriors back.
Jordan Poole has his first mediocre game in a while
It’s been a Poole Party up until Sunday.
The 22-year-old’s first close-out game didn’t go swimmingly — he scored 11 points and one 3-pointer made and finished with a minus-6. A blip in a scorching playoffs debut in which he scored 30 points in Game 1, 29 in Game 2 and 27 in Game 3.