Golden State Warriors: Keys to a 2nd Round Victory
By Jamie Faue
Key #2: Reduce The Amount Of Points In The Paint
Apr 25, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; A pass goes out of reach for New Orleans Pelicans forward Athony Davis (23) as Golden State Warriors guard Andre Igudala (9) and forward Harrison Barnes (40) defend during the first half in game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Points in the paint are a common occurrence for the Memphis Grizzles. Between Gasol, Randolph and explosive drives to the hoop from Courtney Lee, Vince Carter and Mike Conley it seems like Memphis is scoring in the paint on every play. In their first round series with Portland, Memphis scored 235 points in the paint — an average of about 45 points in the paint per game.
Keeping Randolph out of the paint is crucial, because this forces him to take jump shots, which are not his strong suit. While Gasol, Lee, Carter and Conley can all hit shots from anywhere, the percentage of those shots that goes in is far less than it is closer to the rim.
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The Grizzles overall shooting percentage from five feet to nine feet out is 36.5 percent. And on shots taken further than 15 feet away, the Grizzles have shot less than 40 percent. Where as, their shooting percentage near the basket (less than five feet) is about 54 percent.
Most teams’ shooting percentage near the rim is typically pretty high, but the Grizzles love to penetrate and get easy looks. By forcing Memphis to take jump shots, Golden State would be taking them out of their usual playing style and forcing them to move the ball around more out on the perimeter.
If the Warriors can find a way to force Memphis to shoot jump shots, the Grizzles’ offensive rhythm will be disrupted. Of course, unless Beno Udrih and Lee decide to play like All-Stars — like they did against Portland — then this key is useless.
However, key contributors such as Jeff Green and Tony Allen have struggled with their jump shooting so far. Which means that a lot of weight has been put on guys like Lee and Udrih to score when going inside to Gasol and Randolph isn’t an option.
Next: Push the tempo