San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
For once, size is bothering Warriors
Time and again throughout their five-year playoff run, the Warriors have taken the old “size matters” cliche and rendered it ancient history. They forced the opposition to play small lineups, in a desperate effort to match their speed, transition offense and 3-point shooting, and they were never outclassed by old-school inside play.
Until now. The Toronto Raptors have a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals partly because they have overwhelmed the Warriors with gifted big man Marc Gasol, the bruising Serge Ibaka, the supremely athletic Pascal Siakam and that punishing small forward for the ages, Kawhi Leonard. Draymond Green, who made his name as the center in the Warriors’ famed “Death Lineup,” has come to realize he can’t handle all of these people at once. Kevin Durant’s besteffort defense has been sorely missed, and head coach Steve Kerr enters Game 5 without a clear idea of whom to start at center. Not with DeMarcus Cousins in a two-game funk and Kevon Looney trying to play through a fracture to the cartilage that connects his sternum to his ribs.
The Warriors have faced a few prime-time big men in past postseasons, notably New Orleans’ Anthony Davis and Utah’s Rudy Gobert, without much concern. The likes of Clint Capela (Houston) and Montrezl Harrell (Clippers) had their moments, as did Gasol and Zach Randolph during the 2015 second-round series against Memphis. The most serious challenge came in the 2016 Western Conference finals when OKC lined up with Ibaka, Durant and Steven Adams — but in the pivotal Game 6, when Klay Thompson’s phenomenal shooting saved the day, the plus-minus numbers showed Ibaka at minus-6 and Adams at minus-12 — and both men were outrebounded by Stephen Curry (10).
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has done some imaginative things in the series, notably his use of the antiquated box-and-one defense to surround Curry, but he’s thrown away all the scouting reports about past Warriors teams. This current version is broken, unsteady and vulnerable to both size and quickness around the basket.
Somehow, that has to change. “I’m just dumb enough to believe we can still win this,’’ Green said after Game 4, and they most certainly can, but the Warriors can’t change their basic identity. They’re going to need deadly, start-to-finish shooting from Thompson and Curry in Toronto on Monday night, with the rest of the team riding that wave. (Soothing memory: The Feb. 6 rout of San Antonio at Oracle, when the Warriors hit 24 of 25 shots from the floor in one stretch.) It’s still the best show in the NBA, but it must rise from the ashes of doubt. There are no asterisks in the NBA playoffs, no “lucky” wins or those that should be questioned. Golden State’s injuries won’t tarnish the Raptors’ championship, should they pull it off, because few felt sorry for the 1989 Lakers (Magic Johnson injured against Detroit), 1973 Celtics (John Havlicek against the Knicks) or 1968 76ers (Billy Cunningham missing the Boston series). Remember, too, that the 2014-15 Warriors benefited from injuries to playoff opponents, including New Orleans’ Jrue Holiday, Memphis’ Mike Conley and the Cleveland pair of Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving (all but Game 1 of the Finals) — not to mention Leonard sidelined for the Spurs after Game 1 of the 2017 West finals.
Humiliation can be the most severe form of punishment, more hurtful to the wealthy than any fine. Such is the case with Warriors minority owner Mark Stevens, whose Game 3 confrontation with Toronto’s Kyle Lowry cost him $500,000 and a one-year suspension from attending games. When the Warriors spend next season at Chase Center — surely a place where billionaires will love to show off their wonderfulness — Stevens won’t have a seat. But it can’t stop there. Momentarily put aside Stevens shoving Lowry from his courtside seat. This was an investor, an official representative of the franchise, allegedly yelling “Go f— yourself !” to an opposing player at point-blank range. That alone should get him driven out of the ownership group for good.
Former Warriors assistant and Lakers head coach Luke Walton awaits the results of an investigation into his alleged sexual assault on Kelli Tennant, a former Los Angeles broadcaster who claims Walton attacked her in his L.A. hotel room in 2014. But things are proceeding as normal in Sacramento. Walton, hired as the Kings’ head coach shortly before the Tennant story broke, is getting to know his players, organizing workouts for potential draftees and working with general manager Vlade Divac in assessing free agents. Guard De’Aaron Fox told Fox Sports that Walton has been “great. He communicates extremely well. He’s already getting me ahead of the curve as far as what to expect next year.”
Not a glowing endorsement: With rumors flying about Irving’s free-agent destination (some say the Knicks, others are predicting the Lakers or Brooklyn), Celtics president Danny Ainge told NBC Sports Boston, “It’s his choice to do what he wants.” Ainge said he won’t second-guess the decision to acquire Irving from Cleveland, because, “There’s always risk in making deals. We’re not afraid of risks . ... And no matter what happens with Kyrie, I’ll never regret that. Just move on to the next deal.”