Mark Jackson is a positive man. From the early days of this season, Jackson has heaped praise on his team for their hard work, resiliency and us-against-the-world belief in themselves. He’s always called them tough, even when the evidence might have suggested otherwise. On Tuesday night in Denver, the Warriors didn’t just live up to their coach’s words, they made them seem like understatements. Written off by most as first-round road-kill following the injury to David Lee, the Warriors systematically dismantled the Nuggets on their home court — where they had won 24 in a row and lost only 3 games all season. They did it not only with historically hot shooting (64.6%), but with aggressive defense, gritty rebounding and unselfish ball movement. The Warriors always believed they could win this series. With Game 2′s triumphant 131-117 victory, they’re making believers out of the rest of the NBA.
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Things change quickly in the playoffs. Before Game 1, we expected a track meet with two of the NBA’s fastest offenses. 72 hours later, the Warriors have lost one of their few dependable offensive weapons and are trying to build on a surprisingly robust defensive performance. Andrew Bogut was a difference-maker at the rim. Klay Thompson frustrated the Denver wings and rendered them largely ineffective. Of the deep Nuggets’ backcourt rotation, only Andre Miller got anything going (although his heroic performance was enough). If the Warriors can deliver a similar defensive effort, the underdog should once again be in a position to win.
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There are only so many ways you can ask Mark Jackson who he will start Tuesday night at power forward. The media finally exhausted them at Tuesday morning’s shoot-around. Jackson’s position was unchanged — we’ll find out who is starting when the team sends out line-ups this evening. As with Monday’s media session, the Warriors projected a sense of looseness and confidence. Jackson and the Warriors feel like they did a lot of things right on Saturday, and can build on those successes even without David Lee. Time will tell whether the mood was prescient or delusional.
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Charles Darwin once famously observed that “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” With David Lee out for the remainder of the post-season — however long or short that may be — the Warriors must adapt. Although no one anticipates that they’ll replace Lee’s production, they have some intriguing pieces that could allow them to emphasize different aspects of the team’s game. Carl Landry, Draymond Green, Richard Jefferson, Festus Ezeli or maybe even Andris Biedrins? Mark Jackson isn’t giving any hints of his post-Lee plans, but there are a few data points suggesting how he might adapt.
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Thanks to the NBA’s weekend-focused playoff schedule, the Warriors have an extra day off before Game 2. As a result, not much changed between Sunday’s and Monday’s practices. Mark Jackson still isn’t giving anyone a hint on who will start in place of David Lee. The players are still putting on a brave face about continuing to fight in Lee’s absence. If anything was different Monday morning on the Pepsi Center floor, it was the absence of the solemn cloud that hung over Sunday’s session. The Warriors were back to laughing, smiling, joking and generally looking loose. The underdogs are still underdogs — and still hungry for an upset.
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The news of David Lee’s season-ending injury broke about an hour before the Warriors’ media availability, but Lee knew he was done the moment he landed awkwardly on his leg. He heard a pop, lost feeling while he was running back on defense and needed to be helped off the court. Given how long Lee worked to get to the playoffs, it’s beyond obvious to say that he’s crushed by the turn of events. But he was at the Warriors’ Sunday morning practice and — like the rest of the team, from Jackson down the bench — trying to put the best spin on what the Warriors now face. A long shot just got even longer, but the Warriors seemed stoically resolute.
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Welcome to the playoffs, Warriors. The first post-season game for most of the 2012-13 squad provided a quick lesson in what it takes to secure a playoff win. A heroic offensive play isn’t enough; it needs to be followed by a defensive stop. Stephen Curry nearly led a miracle comeback in an physical, hard-fought game. But with 14.5 seconds left, the Warriors had to keep the Nuggets from getting a good look at the basket. They failed. The margin for error as a playoff underdog is zero. Apart from the crushing outcome of the final play, the Warriors made far too many mistakes at other crucial points in the game — turnovers, ill-advised jumpers and misses from point-blank range. For all the encouraging storylines in Saturday’s 95-97 loss to the Nuggets, I worry the Warriors may have squandered their best chance to steal the necessary road victory.
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Playoff basketball is a different beast. From the increased physicality to the strategic twists and turns of seven-game series, there’s not much in the regular season that can prepare a team for the new challenges faced. For most of the Warriors, all of this will be entirely new. The starting line-up has a combined total of 5 playoff games (all from Andrew Bogut). For a team still trying to shed the reputation of being soft and unfocused at key moments, there could be no bigger proving ground.
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To advance past the first round, the Warriors will need to win at least one game in Denver. Easier said than done. The Nuggets are an amazing 38-3 on their home court and have showed absolutely no sign of fading towards the end of the season, despite a variety of injuries. The mile-high advantage for Denver is all too real and reflected in a variety of statistics. To overcome their sea-level lungs, the Warriors are going to need a lot of discipline and even more energy.
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When Stephen Curry arrives in Portland, special things happen. In his rookie year, Curry’s 42-point outburst during the season’s final game announced his arrival to the NBA. Three years later, Curry’s trip to Portland concluded with his two biggest accomplishments as a pro — setting the single-season record for three pointers and leading his team into the NBA playoffs. The former accomplishment is now recorded in the annals of NBA history, but the story of the latter accomplishment is just beginning.
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