Sports
Viselike Defense Adds Teeth to Golden State Warriors’ Buzz-Saw Offense (Published 2016) – The New York Times
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On Pro Basketball
The Nets feasted on open jumpers and transition layups, turning one of the N.B.A.’s most unsung defensive units into a flimsy strip of cellophane. It was a remarkable first half of basketball at Barclays Center on Thursday night.
But the Golden State Warriors have been fond of making adjustments this season. They love the concept. They have clearly adjusted to life together in the spotlight. And they have even proved capable of making adjustments on defense, an overshadowed aspect of their dominance — most of the time.
Without Draymond Green, their top defender and self-appointed megaphone, the Warriors regrouped against the Nets, plowing their way to a 117-101 victory. It was not artistic — the Nets led by 16 at halftime — but the result felt familiar: another win for the Warriors, who leaned on defense in the second half and improved to 26-4.
“Just the overall attention span was bad,” Coach Steve Kerr said. “The millennials struggled in the first half. But they locked in in the second half. They put their phones down and started to defend.”
When the N.B.A. season was young, the Warriors looked awful on defense. Through their first six games, opponents were averaging 110 points a game while shooting 44.6 percent. Golden State’s effort at that end of the floor was cause for concern if not alarm.
“Yeah,” Kerr said before Thursday’s game, “it was ugly there for a while.”
But only for a while. It may come as a surprise to those who are justifiably obsessed with the Warriors’ scoring pyrotechnics, but they spend only half of each game on offense. The rest of the time they dabble in the more prosaic business of playing defense — and they do it well, even if Thursday’s struggle underscored the importance of Green, who missed the game to return to the Bay Area after the birth of his son.
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