Warriors Look to Game 2 With Caution, Draymond Weighs in on Inside the NBA
After a dominant performance in game one against the Mavs, the Warriors look to reproduce how they played and bring the same energy in game two. After Wednesday night’s matchup Draymond Green joined the Inside the NBA crew where he was asked about the mindset coming into the Mavs series and what their two main focal points were. He responded, “We wanted to make it tough on them on the defensive end and defend without fouling so we could get out in transition.”
And they did make it tough for the Mavs to score as they went ice cold from deep in the second half. Dallas ended the game shooting 22.9% from deep and only 36% from the field. But we shouldn’t expect them to shoot that poorly in game two as Wednesday night’s game was clearly an off night for Luka Doncic and company.
Speaking of off nights, the Splash Brothers couldn’t find their rhythm until the second half of the game but Draymond wasn’t worried. Regarding the offensive side of the ball Draymond said, “We didn’t want the ball to stick, not target one guy the whole game because when you do that everything will come out in the wash.”
Both of the two things Draymond mentioned happened in game one. But as NBA fans know, Doncic works well under pressure especially in the playoffs. Shaq asked Draymond how the Warriors need to respond if the Mavs come back in game two with a new fire and aggression. He said, “We gotta come out there and take that first punch, it’s important that we take care of the ball and then we can set our defense.” So in Green’s eyes, the keys to game two are taking care of the ball and getting out in transition. Along with getting stops and containing Dallas’ shooters which is easier said than done.
Curry knows this and after the game he told sideline reporter Allie LaForce, “It’s gonna take that same effort three more times to beat this team.” The Warriors can’t afford to take a game off like they did against Memphis or Denver. This Dallas team has proven themselves to be true contenders by taking down the Jazz and the number one ranked Suns.
But the Warriors know what it takes to get to that level and sustain excellence for multiple years. When asked how they stay so consistent and make the finals for so many years, Draymond said, “Number one it’s selflessness and our leader (Steph Curry), we all follow him, he is the most selfless guy around and everyone has to take on that.” And he went on to say, “You have to understand the attention to detail, know that this time of the year you can’t afford to make mistakes.”
This mentality is what made the warriors so great in the past few years and why they see so much success in late May and early June. If they apply this way of thinking to game two then they should win again. Although I think the score will be much closer this time around as Dallas can adapt their gameplan and playstyle as they see fit. To sum things up, I would expect the Warriors to defend their home court and go up 2-0. The real test will be in Dallas to see if they can win on the road in a hostile environment as they have done in years past.