2nd Sunday June
[Game 2] Golden State vs Toronto Raptors 8:00pm
http://www.espn.com/nba/playbyplay?gameId=401134816
Toronto's victory was a total team effort. Kawhi scored 23 and Fred VanVleet scored 15 off the bench. As a team they played outstanding championship defense.
Reminder: The Raptors are the best defensive team the Warriors have had to play during their run
Toronto Raptors have won 5 playoff games in a row
Drayman Green Tonight: 2-9, 6 turnovers, and got cooked by Siakam on the defensive end
This is the second time ever that Golden State lost a game in which Draymond Green had a triple double
Final count was 2 Curry points on 29 possessions as VanVleet as his defender, according to @SecondSpectrum. So, in 2 games this season, 6 points on 68 possessions.
https://twitter.com/johnschuhmann/status/1134303735637786624?s=21
Kyle Lowry ices the game with a dagger 3 w/ 30.8 sec remaining
https://streamable.com/5g42x
Pascal Siakam becomes the first G League Finals MVP to play in the NBA Finals
Pascal Siakam with a huge block on Draymond Green
https://streamable.com/1x0p9
Fred VanVleet with a ridiculous fadeaway two with the clock winding down -
https://streamable.com/pkiu9
Marc Gasol: 20pts, 7reb, 1asst, 2st, 1blk (+10) in 30 minutes of play
Amazing team defence by Gasol
https://streamable.com/el7ir
Pascal Siakam: 32pts, 7 reb, 5asst, 1stl, 2blk, shooting 14/17fg and 2/3 3pt
Siakam Mid Air Pass to Kawhi
https://streamable.com/t62n1
Earlier this week Klay said he would avoid listening to Hotline Bling and other Drake songs during the Finals. Here is Drake doing the Hotline Bling dance after Klay gets a tech (
https://streamable.com/l2vy0
Danny Green gives the Raptors a 12 point lead with a corner three and forces Golden State into a timeout once again
https://streamable.com/zubf9
Patrick McCaw hits a three before the shot clock expires
https://streamable.com/8sdg1
Fred Fred VanVleet somehow gets it up and in over Jerebko
https://streamable.com/tyjco
"I mean, Kawhi didn't have his best game to his standards, but other guys stepped up," said the Warriors guard during his postgame media availability, according to Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star. "(Pascal) Siakam had the game of his playoff life. We did a good job limited Kawhi, but it's not Kawhi Leonard. It's the Raptors." -- Klay Thompson
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/klay-thompson-on-kawhi-not-playing-leonard-raptors-053357015.html
Steph Curry reaches 100 3-pointers made in the NBA Finals, becoming the first player to ever reach the milestone
https://streamable.com/iggi0
Steve Kerr: “Our transition defense was awful...We gave up 24 fastbreak points, turned it over 17 times. That’s the game.”
https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/1134307876116164610
Toronto's halfcourt defense locked in on Golden State's post split action
The Golden State Warriors scored a league-best 102.2 points per 100 halfcourt plays in the regular season.
The Golden State Warriors scored a league-best 102.8 points per 100 halfcourt plays in the playoffs through the Western Conference finals.
The Golden State Warriors scored 83.9 points per 100 halfcourt plays in last night's game against the Toronto Raptors.
Despite being an all-time great offense, the Warriors were flummoxed by Toronto's halfcourt defense. This continues a trend from the Eastern Conference finals, where the Raptors limited Milwaukee (and its 3rd ranked halfcourt offense) to a paltry 84.0 points per 100 halfcourt plays. Toronto was fortuitous against a Milwaukee team that converted its three-pointers and free throws at a rate well below its season average, but the Warriors drilled 40% of their threes and 94% of their free throws in game one. How did the Raptors defense lock down such an explosive offense in the halfcourt?
To try to find an answer, I looked at how Toronto defended Golden State's post split action, one of the Warriors go-to actions to generate efficient halfcourt offense. The post split involves passing the ball to a player in the post and bringing two players to the wing to screen for each other, make cuts, and generally discombobulate the defense until someone is open for a pass out of the post. Golden State players are high IQ basketball seers and masters of motion offense: unscripted off-ball screens and cuts, clever superspeed novel passing, and endless elite creative screens to free up shooters.
Golden State coalesced into a post split nine times in game one. The Raptors were able to shut down the initial post split five of those times.
They first ran it midway through the first quarter. Draymond throws the ball to Iguodala in the post and we see the best and worst of the Warriors improvisational offensive approach. Draymond sets a flare screen for Thompson, but Curry senses a chance to cut to the basket and clogs the lane. When Thompson makes his cut it's well-defended by Green and Siakam (who helps off the non-shooter Draymond). Iguodala kicks it out to Draymond as Thompson finishes his cut with an impromptu screen from Iguodala and Draymond finds him for an open three.
https://streamable.com/7682z
They used it heavily in the second quarter with a Thompson + bench lineup, looking to feature Cousins in the post and use Thompson's gravity.
The first time they run it we see Jerebko slip Thompson's screen and Cousins try to slip in a bounce pass but it's well-defended by Siakam. Cook eventually gets a corner three out of the broken play.
https://streamable.com/lrmxu
Next time we again see Cousins in the post with Jerebko screening for Thompson. This time he sets the screen and the Raptors switch the action. For a moment both Raptors follow Klay, leaving Jerebko open to either cut to the basket or receive a pass for three. Cousins kickout is off-line, the Raptors defense recovers, and the possession fizzles out.
https://streamable.com/lf926
Next possession they again go to Cousins, this time with Cook screening for Thompson, but Boogie decides to hoist a jumper over Ibaka before the play can develop. With Powell dropping to the free throw line it looks like Cook will be open for a three, but instead the shot rims out.
https://streamable.com/kjeas
A minute later it's Cousins in the post with Livingston screening for Thompson. The Raptors defend it with a switch and Boogie goes to work, drawing three defenders and finding Jerebko for three. This play highlights something I've thought about with Cousins on Golden State. Cousins thrives with bully-ball -- whether its a faceup and downhill drive or a back down in the post -- but that kind of offense is antithetical to Golden State's style. Still, when given a chance to play his way, Cousins can still make good things happen.
https://streamable.com/8o7m7
Towards the end of the quarter, they turn to the post split with Draymond as the passer. Iguodala screens for Thompson, but it's Draymond who rips through Kawhi's reach to draw a foul. This play's demonstrative of the Splash Brothers' insane gravity: not only do both defenders involved in the screen take Thompson, but Kawhi shifts his body position around Draymond to disrupt the passing lane, leading to the foul.
https://streamable.com/zns60
With Golden State reeling from a 10-1 Raptors run in the fourth, they executed their post split action to perfection. Iguodala gets the ball in the post, Looney slips his screen for Curry, and Iguodala finds him with a gorgeous pocket pass.
https://streamable.com/34vp0
Later it's Draymond in the post with Looney screening for Thompson, but Thompson is called for the offensive foul as he pushes off of Green's physical defense.
https://streamable.com/11lwl
They last ran it off a broken play with two minutes left in the game. Draymond calls for the ball in the post and they instinctively get into their post split action. Curry screens for Iguodala and then fades behind the arc, drawing two defenders and leaving Iguodala open to cut down the lane finish with a floater.
https://streamable.com/yrp2j
Golden State would benefit from having Durant back for these types of actions. Using him as the post passer would give them an efficient isolation option if the initial action is well-defended, unlike in some of these plays where the Raptors stopped the post split and they play quickly fizzled out. And obviously being able to use him as a screener would open up the court and prevent plays like this one where Draymond is ignored on the perimeter.
https://streamable.com/7682z
If Golden State continues to use Thompson + bench lineups, they might consider using Cousins in more of a scoring role in the post than a passing one. Both times he passed out of the post the deliveries were off-target and the play died, whereas he's built a career off of bully-balling his way inside and making plays. Boogie's a good playmaker at his size, but I think this is a case of the subtle difference between passing and playmaking: he's not necessarily an elite passer when it comes to taking advantage of small openings created with these off-ball screening actions; but he is elite at creating big openings for teammates via his scoring talent inside. Letting him do his thing a bit more might be enough to keep the ship afloat in those non-Curry minutes. It's a lot to ask of a big man coming off a tough injury though.
It's probably the strong post passer, not the elite shooter, who is most vital to running post splits. Curry and Thompson are rightfully lauded for their gravity on plays like this, but without Green, Iguodala, Durant, or Bogut making the pass I think this play would be a lot less effective. We saw it when they ran it with Cousins: he's a solid passer for a big but even he couldn't thread the needle.
Toronto, in general, defended these actions well. When they switched the screen they neutralized it completely and with OG Anunoby looking to return soon I would expect to see even more switching on these off-ball screens. That being said, don't be fooled into thinking that switching the screen is an automatic answer for defending post splits. With the Warriors propensity for slipping the screen, calling for a switch can be even more dangerous than defending it straight up (just ask Houston in last years playoffs against Utah). The only real answer is cerebral defense with lots of communication.
One thing worth noting: the Raptors didn't give up a single three directly off of this action. On nearly every post split they either switched the screen or doubled the shooter. This was probably a conscious decision to run Golden State off the line, even at the expense of occasional quick-hitters down the lane, so it will be interesting to see if that pattern continues through the rest of the finals.
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