OAKLAND – New Orleans was the NBA’s fourth-best defensive team from Feb. 10 through the end of the regular season, a major reason why the Pelicans went 20-8 during that two-month span. Unfortunately, if you watched that defense perform in Game 1 at Golden State, few things went according to plan. Some of the credit for that must go to the Warriors’ excellence on offense, but the Pelicans also made a series of first-half mistakes that contributed greatly to the problem. Golden State piled up 76 points prior to intermission, including a 42-point second quarter that completely changed the game.
“We were doing things that we don’t normally do,” point guard Rajon Rondo said after Tuesday’s shootaround. “Obviously this is a completely different series – we were able to help a lot more against Portland (without getting burned by supporting cast players). This series in particular, we’ve got to pretty much stick to a man, and take the challenge one-on-one defensively, whether it’s iso basketball, or chasing a guy off a screen. You can’t rely on guys to help and switch, because (the Warriors) have been around so long, they have all types of counters.”
On several first-half defensive sequences, the Pelicans preemptively double-teamed a player, including one instance where Draymond Green was swarmed in the mid-post area, even though Green was not an immediate threat to score. Green simply scanned the defense and found a cutter for an easy basket. While the all-out aggressive philosophy may have worked splendidly against the Trail Blazers in Round 1, Golden State is a significantly better passing team than Portland. In fact, the Warriors ranked No. 1 in the NBA in assist percentage during the regular season (68.5), while the Trail Blazers were dead last (49.6).
“That’s what they’re good at,” Pelicans forward Solomon Hill said of the Warriors’ ability to move the ball and locate slashers or open shooters for optimum looks at the rim. “They’ve been practicing that for years now.
“The transition between our first series and our second series is a complete difference. (We were) playing against Portland, which has a couple ball-dominant guys who score heavily. (Golden State) is a team that completely come at you from a whole team standpoint. They’re one of, if not the best assist team in the NBA. (But since Saturday’s Game 1), we’ve had enough time to prepare for it, so we should be able to execute (better defensively).”
Other notes from shootaround at Oracle Arena this morning:
Golden State announced that Stephen Curry has been upgraded to “available to play” in Game 2. Rondo’s perspective on Curry returning: “Another great shooter they have. Instead of two or three (shooters on the court), now they have four or five. It’s just another dynamic scorer, he can score in many ways. He’s one of the best at moving without the ball.” …
As would be the case for any NBA team, New Orleans will be in trouble if the free-throw disparity in this second-round series remains similar to Game 1, when Golden State led that category by nearly a 3-to-1 margin. Hill noted that the Pelicans will need to do much better Tuesday.
“The free-throw count was (32) to 11,” Hill said. “That’s tough. Regardless of who you’re playing, you’re always going to have an uphill battle from that standpoint. We know with the second quarter they had, that was a big difference. That and the free throws. (But we have to) stay aggressive. Some of our guys got in early foul trouble, but we have to come out with the same intensity, the same preparation.” …
Hill on New Orleans’ defensive approach and mindset: “We’ve just got to be comfortable with it. I don’t think we were that comfortable and confident in what we were doing, and that led to them having a huge second quarter. These past couple days have given us time to calm down, relax, look it over and just be confident.”
“We will probably be more disciplined, as far as not switching, but (the Warriors) make you do that,” Rondo added of the battle between NOLA’s defense and Golden State’s offense. “They make you get outside the box as far as what you’re doing defensively. The way they cut without the ball, they cut extremely hard and draw fouls. We’ll be more aware of that. It’s tough to simulate that in practice. You have a week off and think that you know what they’re going to do, but they’re great players.” …
Rondo on the Pelicans getting away from what they do well during the damaging Game 1 second quarter: “I’ve never seen us lose discipline in that aspect. Seven or eight dunks (allowed) and on one possession, three guys were (guarding Andre) Iguodala, then they hit (Kevin Durant) for a backdoor dunk. That’s out of character for us. We were able to watch film, and hopefully clean that stuff up.”