During the Western Conference finals, the Warriors have opted to use more zone and box-and-1 schemes to try to cover up some of their defensive shortcomings while also attempting slow down Luka Dončić and the Dallas Mavericks.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd has taken notice, and after Dallas' Game 4 win on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center, he made a comment to reporters, saying that the defense being employed by the Warriors was the "biggest compliment" because it means Golden State can't guard them 1-on-1.
Two days later, ahead of Game 5 at Chase Center, Kidd was asked if that remark was a shot at the Warriors or meant to fire up his own players.
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"I think this is the most we have seen of zone," Kidd told reporters roughly 90 minutes before tipoff. "So it's for my guys in the sense of it's a compliment. It really is. You have to do different things to be able to guard. We've seen the box-and-one zone a lot. From foul trouble or not being able to guard, it's just a fact. I didn't make that up.
"I played the game. Whenever you hear a coach saying, we've got to do something we haven't done, it's because we can't do something. That's just a fact. There's no shots being taken. But we have to make shots. If we can't make shots, we can't win."
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Kidd and the Mavericks were able to avoid elimination in Game 4, and they will look to do the same Thursday night in hopes of sending the conference finals back to Dallas for Game 6 on Saturday night.
Golden State Warriors
But if the Warriors can slow down Dončić and the Mavericks' role players -- with whatever defense is necessary -- they will advance to their sixth NBA Finals appearance in the last eight seasons.