At 102-98, the Warriors had a thrilling home victory, eliminating the Nuggets 4-1 on aggregate to reach the Western Conference semifinals, waiting for the winner of the Grizzlies and Timberwolves series.
The Warriors didn't let the suspense of the first round last, turning down the sixth game, but they had some problems in this win that could become hidden dangers in the second round.
In the fifth game, the Warriors opened with the explosive moves that fans were expecting, the new death five direct starter, Curry played four games as a substitute and then returned to the starting five tigers, the Warriors started with Draymond Green, Wiggins, Poole, Klay Thompson, Curry, this lineup played a total of 32 minutes in the first four games of the series, scoring as high as 147.8 points per 100 rounds, and 34.4 points per 100 rounds, in the five-man group that played more than 30 minutes in the playoffs this season, the Warriors' new death five small offensive efficiency was the first.
In the first and second games of the series, the Warriors won 16 points and 20 points, the third game won five points, the fourth game lost five points, Jokic's four-game score was 25, 26, 37, 37, and the Nuggets' three-point shooting rate in these four games was 31.4%, 36.1%, 42.3%, 48.4%. The basic trend is for the Warriors to go from big wins to small wins to losses, Jokic from playing average to slashing 37+ in a row, and the Nuggets from a lack of three-point response to two consecutive long-range shooting accuracy exceeded 40%. The Warriors have the chronic disease of insufficient size in the fifth position, although the dream interference Jokic has a certain effect, but after all, the size difference is very large, the other party is still an MVP-level superstar, the single defense is very difficult, and the Warriors are easy not to pinch, worried about the Nuggets' outside firepower release, the Nuggets in this situation the third and fourth games give a great three-point efficiency, the Warriors are a bit troublesome.
This is also the reason why the Warriors started in the fifth game, they found that first on Looney against Jokic, and then change the dream to interfere with the effect is like that, but the opening stage drags space, so it is better to try to directly take out the strongest offensive lineup, pull the firepower full to grab the start, see if you can close the game with a bang and end the series.
The idea is good, but the actual execution is not good. The advantage of the death five is offense, but there are also shortcomings, and the shrinking size will affect the defense, especially the defense under the basket. Although Kerr was still tight-lipped about the starters in the first two hours of the game, the media had long revealed that the Warriors would start with five small starts, and the Nuggets were prepared, the game began with Jokic and Aaron Gordon taking turns bombarding the Warriors' penalty area, playing less than three minutes to chase dreams, Wiggins and Thompson each had a foul, so that the Warriors may face the danger of too many fouls in the main force early, causing their five small lineups to shrink.
The five starters played 3 minutes and 38 seconds, and the Warriors led by only one point 10-9, and the goal of grabbing the opening game was not achieved, but the size of the confrontation was obviously at a loss. Kerr made a substitution, replacing Pooler with Looney, and the five on the court became Looney + Dream + Wiggins + Thompson + Curry, this fivesome may be the Warriors' next more conventional starting configuration, Poole returned to the role of sixth man.
After the opening plan failed to get the expected effect, Kerr was very cautious about the use of the five small, he tried several sets of rotation configurations, including Looney + Porter + Poole + Curry + Little Payton, Looney + Porter + Wiggins + Curry + Little Payton, Dream + Porter + Poole + Thompson + Little Payton, etc., but the effect is general, the crux of the problem is that it still does not block the Nuggets' attack basket, especially Gordon' point, directly chiseling Wiggins' defense.
Gordon's strength for the Warriors is not only a problem of "blood loss" in the restricted area, but also Jokic's physical savings, About teachers did not sweat much in the first half, a look at the data 12 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists, playing that is called a relaxed freehand. Cole sent Cuminga in the second quarter, intended to increase the level of physical talent, which has a certain effect, but Cuminga is inexperienced in the playoffs and cannot contribute in space, so it can only be used briefly and cannot be put into the decider lineup.
When the first half of the battle ended, the two teams were tied, there were two sets of data to make the Warriors have a sense of crisis, the Nuggets made 20 free throws, the Warriors only made 7 free throws, the Nuggets won 10 29-19 on the rebounds, the Denver Basketball Corps gave enough aggression, if it were not for their three-pointers 3 of 14 pulling crotch, the Warriors would probably fall behind at halftime.
If the first half of the opening five small is not so successful, the second half of the opening five small is a failure, the Nuggets hit a 12-6, forcing Kerr to replace Pooler with Looney, but the physical savings of Mr. Joo in the first half began to realise, and he led the team to extend the lead to 10 points.
Kerr gave the ability to adjust to match the NBA's historical fifteen coaches, he put up a four-league defensive lineup, using Thompson to position Jokic, when Joe Teacher burst to the inside line to shrink the defense line to give the bag clip, this is a test of the Nuggets' three-point response, the Nuggets' performance is a continuous long-range shot, the Warriors Curry has "named" Jokic for two consecutive times to hit three points, Joe Teacher also carried a foul crisis, and the Nuggets' good game took a sharp turn.
It was a touching game for the Nuggets, with their injuries adding up, and this one injured Rivers Jr. again, and Jokic suffered from leg discomfort in the second half. Cousins, who has a history of serious injuries, gave a 19-point contribution in the case that His teacher was targeted by the Warriors' defense and had foul trouble, which is a very surprising but sad story, 19 points is the highest score in a single game in Cousins' playoff career, he did not play the playoffs when he was in his physical condition, and finally played the playoffs.
Jokic fought to the end, he was plagued by fouls and leg discomfort in the second half of the 18 points, the whole game 30 points, 19 rebounds and 8 assists, has been trying his best, but the helpers around are too limited, about the teacher is difficult to clap.
The Warriors gave a championship-level operation in the fourth quarter, Kerr's four-game cut off the Nuggets' lead, Curry used the block to "train" the Nuggets' big man, and 20 of his 30 points came from the second half and 11 from the fourth quarter, although the free throws were still sometimes comedic.
Thompson took on the heavy responsibility of keeping an eye on Jokic and Gordon in the fourth quarter, which was a big challenge for Klay, who also experienced serious injuries, and he gave a matching performance that satisfied the Warriors, while Payton Jr.'s key goal in the fourth quarter made the old Payton sitting on the sideline proud.
The Warriors played a coach to deal with in place, the stars broke the game, the supporting role stepped forward, and finally harvested this series, but also exposed the problem, the new version of the death of the five small in the face of the Nuggets' fierce attack basket failure, this battle The Nuggets won the Warriors 12 points in the penalty area score, the Nuggets' rushing play point hit the Warriors' body weakness, the Nuggets were seriously attrition due to injury losses and three-point misalignment in 6 of 29 shots, failed to continue the momentum of the previous two long-range shots.
After the first round is just the beginning, the Warriors will face the winner of the Grizzlies and Timberwolves series in the second round, the Grizzlies are currently 3-2 on aggregate, and the "Bears" and "Wolves" are both fierce, especially the Team in Memphis. The Grizzlies are the most defensively efficient Western Conference team in the playoffs, with the league's number one penalty area score, and their physical confrontation on the offensive end of the basket and the defensive end are very explosive. If the Warriors had met the Grizzlies, it would have been a somewhat difficult series.
Seven years ago in the Western Conference semifinals, the Warriors encountered the Grizzlies, that series was a muscle stranglehold, the Warriors were once 1-2 behind, using the strange move proposed by assistant coach Adams, to empty the Grizzlies' best one-on-one defender but poor projection Tony Allen, to pinch the Grizzlies offensive strength point, forcing Allen to shrink his playing time significantly, and then establishing space conditions conducive to the Warriors' offensive play, and the Warriors were able to win three consecutive games. That season, the Warriors eventually won the championship, which was the Warriors' first crown in the Curry era.
Grinding is a step to success, if the Warriors can meet with a new generation of "bears", or collide with minnesota's "wolves", they will bear a fierce physical rush, will test the hardness of defense and the pertinence of the offense, whether to reuse the five small, if used at what time, how to effectively "name" the opponent's big man, these are tests for the Warriors, but also opportunities.