3 Key Adjustments the Warriors Need For Game 2

Game 1 of the NBA Finals came as a bit of a shocker. While it was a punch in the jaw for the experienced Warriors, it serves well as a reminder that this is the highest level of basketball competition across the world. The Celtics are a very good team, and they play together as a team very well. They have a cohesive defense that rivals the Warriors’ own at its peak, and an offense powered by skilled scorers that can punish teams for lapses.

That being said, Game 1 was very winnable. The Warriors made mistakes down the stretch that allowed the Celtics to get back in the game, and eventually take it over. They cannot put themselves in those positions again, and while a lot of it has to do with Steve Kerr, the players themselves need to ensure they’re doing their part to put it all together. More underperforming like they did in Game 1, and this series could get out of hand very, very quickly.

So, without further delay, here are the 3 key adjustments that Golden State needs to make if they want to ensure a Game 2 victory.

1) Adjust on the fly
Steve Kerr is an excellent coach. Make no mistake about that. But as stated earlier, he’s also a reason the Warriors didn’t match up well against Boston down the stretch. Some of their lineups did not work, and a lot of it is because of Kerr trying to keep it simple. There is such a thing as too simple, however, and he needs to recognize that. A Looney-Green lineup is going to have trouble keying in on a spread offense, and is going to suffer with the ball most of the time because they can’t space the floor. Some guys should be getting more minutes, given there’s only a max of 6 games left (more on that later). Committing to keying on Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum is going to get the Celtics open looks from outside, which is what killed the Warriors in Game 1. These are all things that the Warriors have been doing all year, and while they’ve worked, the Finals are a whole different ballgame, and you have to mix things up a bit. All of these are tactical adjustments, and it falls to Kerr to make them.

2) Bring the energy on defense
Al Horford hit 6 threes last night. Most of those were because Draymond Green just was not guarding him, or gave him too much room which led to a long close-out. This was a big theme not just for Green, but for the whole team in the Mavericks series, it was obvious last night, and while it stems from strategy to a certain degree, the players on the court need to make better efforts to recover to their man when they help too hard. The Warriors cannot let everyone get hot, and they do that by sticking closer to their shooters. If it opens up the floor for Brown and Tatum to operate, then that’s something they’re going to have to live with. The energy was solid in the first three quarters, but the Dubs looked gassed and like they didn’t have it in them to close it out. That energy needs to show up on the defensive end, because that’s where this series is going to be won, and that means closing out better, helping but not over-helping, and making the right plays.

3) More Steph Curry
Through the season, Kerr has messed a lot with Curry’s rotation. Finally returning to his 12-6-12-6 has been the most effective, but now the Warriors are in situations where they’re playing pivotal moments with Curry on the floor. That’s not acceptable if they want to win. The Warriors aren’t a bad team without him, but Steph elevates them to a whole other level, from a below-average offensive rating to one of the league’s best. He’s held up very well on defense, finally getting the recognition he’s really always deserved. Curry is the engine that runs this team, and he needs to be on the floor as much as possible if Golden State really wants to win this thing. Bumping him up to a 12-8-12-8 should do the trick of getting him out there more without disrupting his rhythm by pulling him mid-quarter. He’s even made it clear himself that he wants to be out there more, and the team definitively needs their best player because he warps Boston’s gameplan.

(Photo credit: Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)