For interested readers, I also had post-game musings after Game 1 and Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.
In Sufism, the concept of fanā refers to the complete annihilation of the self in service of, or in recognition of, God. The dynastic Warriors tenet of strength in numbers isn’t quite the same, but holds some similarities in so far as it is about the collective over the individual as a means to the promised land. The Warriors offense under Steve Kerr has been a moving, whirling machine of passes and cuts.
Ball movement will forever be superior.
The Dallas Mavericks’ cinderella run may be close to an end in the Western Conference finals because Golden State presents a challenge quite unlike what the Mavericks faced versus the Phoenix Suns and the Utah Jazz. Here’s Tim Cato in The Athletic:
The Mavericks’ defensive style requires persistent recovery, constantly trapping and coercing rotations which they believe they can execute better than their opponents can move the ball. This whirring defensive style that constantly frustrated opposing stars and smothered role players looked brilliant in the last two series, but Golden State has more dynamism across its roster to exploit the creases that Dallas concedes.
Dallas successfully blitzed Devin Booker in the previous round, banking on their ability to recover on the back line quicker than Phoenix could exploit any temporary advantages. The strategy has run aground against Golden State in part because the Warriors love nothing more than to spray the ball around. Turnovers have infamously been a problem for the Warriors even at the dynasty’s peak, but it is part of the experience. Golden State is a pass-happy team that bets on enough high-percentage looks coming out of its passing game. That can be a problem against some teams; notice the struggles against Memphis in the previous round. The Grizzlies forced turnovers at a league-high rate in the regular season per Cleaning the Glass and generated a terrific transition offense out of those turnovers. The Mavericks are not the Grizzlies; they were a bottom-ten team at forcing turnovers (post Porzingis-trade), less primed to make the Warriors pay. The Mavericks defense has been predicated on solid rotations more so than pick sixes. Executing those rotations flawlessly over 48 minutes gets exhausting and as I’ve noted before, few teams are better suited to pounce on mistakes than the Warriors.
To see how much this passing is central to the Warriors’ DNA, look no further than their superstar. The Warriors look to be setting up for an empty side pick and roll here between Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins. The Mavericks ICE the play (i.e. sending the ball handler towards the sideline). In a flash, Steph has passed the ball to Draymond Green on the opposite wing, who lazers a pass to the rolling Wiggins:
It may not show up in the box score, but Steph’s pass leads to the pass for the alley oop. The Warriors led the league in these secondary, or “hockey”, assists in the regular season with 4.6 per game. Per NBA Advanced Stats, the difference between Warriors and the second place team, the Boston Celtics (whose passing I wrote about here) was the same as the gap between the Celtics and the 12th place team. That number has bumped up to nearly 5 per game in the postseason, again at the top of the league.
Steph rarely gets as much credit for his court vision as more ball dominant guards with gaudy assist numbers and highlight passes. Nevertheless, watch Steph and it becomes apparent that he can see plays develop a step or two ahead. Here, even as Klay Thompson is driving into the lane, Steph points Wiggins’ pass-to-be towards Kevon Looney:
From there, Steph puts Spencer Dinwiddie on skates with a fake towards Looney to create enough air space to get off a three.
Back on the secondary assists: Role players like Juan Toscano-Anderson have cemented a place on this Warriors team by buying into the system and keeping the ball moving. JTA has found himself outside the Warriors’ playoff rotation, but received playing time after Otto Porter re-aggravated his foot injury in the second quarter. Here, he serves as both an outlet for Steph’s well-covered drive, as well as a connector:
Although Moses Moody misses the three there, these are the types of plays that allow the Warriors to weather road bumps like the Porter injury.
Porter’s injury looms as a mild concern for the Warriors. He has been excellent all through the playoffs and is the perfect player for Coach Kerr’s system. Here’s an example of him seeing a play develop: Porter points the inbounder, Jordan Poole, towards Kevon Looney before setting a screen for the flaring Klay Thompson. With Jalen Brunson marking Thompson like white on rice, Porter cuts to the hoop as soon as his man, Spencer Dinwiddie, follows Thompson as well:
Porter is terrific at angling his screens just so. The cut opens up for Porter because he creates enough separation between Brunson and Thompson to force Dinwiddie to switch. Steph Noh (a must read) pointed out to me that in the Steph layup clip from the last game, Porter switching the angle of his screen was what truly took Luka out of the play.
The basic elements of that play - a cut to the basket enabled by panicked defenders following a shooter - play out repeatedly during Warriors games. Go read Adam Mares from 2018 for a detailed look at the Warriors’ screening and cutting game. That’s where the fanā of the Warriors reaches its apotheosis, leveraging the threat of the stars to open up windows for other players to plow through:
If that isn’t basketball poetry. Some decoy floppy action for Klay Thompon keeps Dorian Finney-Smith and Luka Doncic occupied, while Jordan Poole flares out to the wing right when Draymond Green’s man, Jalen Brunson, goes to double Steph Curry. All of which opens up Draymond for a cut to the hoop off a slick pass from Curry.
No team cuts more frequently than the Warriors per NBA Advanced Stats.1 That’s another reason why the Warriors are so well primed to take advantage of defensive weak spots like Luka Doncic. With Luka dawdling into no man’s land, Andrew Wiggins has all the space in the world to provide the rolling Kevon Looney with an outlet:
In the 2021-22 regular season, Wiggins cut on a career-high number of possessions, a number that has bumped up further in these playoffs. Wiggins’ offensive evolution presents an interesting case study in how a player can both be their true selves and fit within the Warriors’ system. Wiggins still like the mid-range (as he has joked), albeit a little less than in his early Minnesota years. A smaller percentage of his shots come at the rim, but he is making a career-high 72% of his rim attempts per CTG. Here’s his shot chart from Game 3:
By cutting more and cleaning up on the offensive glass (Wiggins had another 6 offensive boards on Sunday), Wiggins has bought into the Warriors’ system and improved his efficiency at the same time.
Oh, and for those times when the system is getting gummed up? The Warriors average 1.04 points per possession on isolation plays these playoffs, tops in the league and on par with Chicago’s league best mark in the regular season per NBA Advanced Stats.
In second place? The Miami Heat. That should be a fun matchup if it materializes.