Chris Mullin, Monte Poole and Bonta Hill break down the Warriors’ upcoming playoff series against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
The Warriors are daring, not by choice, to go where they’ve gone only once before, into the postseason not knowing when or if Stephen Curry will be available.
Though they succeeded under these circumstances four years ago, ousting the San Antonio Spurs in five games as Curry watched from the sideline recovering from a sprained left knee, besting the Denver Nuggets in 2022 will be considerably more difficult.
Yet it’s absolutely within Golden State’s reach.
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Curry’s absence -- he’s uncertain for Game 1 on Saturday -- obviously narrows the overall talent gap, but Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic, likely to repeat as league MVP, enters the series as the best available player. After The Joker, however, the Warriors run deeper and have more weapons.
That makes the Warriors the better team, on paper, and it’s why they are favored.
It’s not their surest path to victory.
That would be their proficiency with little things, correctable factors they had trouble correcting over the second half of the regular season. Fundamentals, like blocking out, taking care of the ball and getting back on defense in transition. Staying focused, as in studying and retaining information regarding the habits of Denver’s personnel.
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In general, the Warriors can succeed if they understand the concept of the playoffs as a different game. One in which each possession, offense and defense, matters.
“A big part of game-planning is messaging about what the playoffs are really about,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Tuesday. “And how have to approach things and handle them.”
Even without scoring aces Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., neither of whom is expected to appear in the series, these Nuggets are better than the Spurs of 2018. Tim Duncan was retired. Manu Ginobili was 40, Tony Parker was 35 and both were backups. The closest thing the No. 7 seed Spurs had to Jokić was LaMarcus Aldridge, never an MVP candidate.
The Warriors, on the other hand, are less imposing now than then, when they won 58 games and were the No. 2 seed in the West.
With Andre Iguodala starting in Curry’s place, backed up by Quinn Cook, the Warriors got what they needed from at point guard while having a decided advantage elsewhere with the likes of Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and the center combination of JaVale McGee and David West. The Spurs, transitioning from one era to the next, were ripe for the “gentleman’s sweep,” and that was the result.
Succeeding this time, with Curry possibly sidelined for one or more games with a bone bruise and sprain in his left foot, is about Klay being Klay as the Warriors get production from Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole, the former having five games of playoff experience and the latter having none -- but an innate comfort with big moments. It’s about Gary Payton II disrupting the Denver offense, while Iguodala picks apart their defense.
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It all begins, however, with the Warriors being the team with the fewest -- fewest turnovers, fewest fouls, fewest defensive miscues. It’s basic stuff, but without they are lost.
“Biggest thing for us is we can’t give up the easy stuff,” Kerr said. “You could see in the regular season there were plenty of back cuts for layups; we’ve got to eliminate those. We can’t have the wandering on the floor after a timeout and Jokic grabs the ball and throws a full-court pass for a layup where we’re not paying attention. We’re going to have to be really, really sharp.”
The problem with that is the Warriors haven’t had many sharp games since the first week of January. They’ve had sharp quarters. Sharp halves.
It’s quite the leap to go from sharp moments to a sharp series of games.
That’s where the veterans come in. Kevon Looney, Draymond, Klay and Andre have combined to play 458 postseason games. They know of the heightened intensity and the importance of structure and timing. They know the playoffs like they know their own pillows.
“We’ve got to grind games out,” Looney said. “And pay attention to details.”
Do that, and they’ll be fine. Because the rest of what they need will fall into place.