SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors this season grew accustomed to rude introductions on the road. They got one at home Tuesday night.
Welcome to the next level of the NBA playoffs, where it immediately became apparent that the beasts the Warriors are confronting in this round are considerably bigger and meaner than those they subdued in the last round.
One beast in particular, as Los Angeles Lakers center Anthony Davis announced himself as a problem that will be difficult to solve.
Golden State’s 117-112 loss in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals was mostly a product of Davis owning the paint at both ends. He scored a game-high 33 points, snagged a game-high-tying 23 rebounds, recorded five assists, blocked four shots and discouraged countless drives to the rim.
“He's a great player, great rim protector and his shot was going tonight,” Draymond Green said.
“You can go through tape, and you can talk about strategy, but you have to feel the game and the personnel,” coach Steve Kerr said. “AD had a great game. Obviously, he dominated. He blocked four shots and altered some others.”
Davis applied his prodigious skill and 7-foot-6 wingspan while also taking advantage of Golden State’s evident fatigue. While LA last played on Friday, clinching their first-round series over the Memphis Grizzlies, the Warriors were playing their third game in five days.
Golden State Warriors
Even when the Warriors, who trailed by as much as 14, tried to summon another late-game homecourt rally – they totaled 13 comeback wins at Chase Center in the regular season – they didn’t have the stamina to complete the goal.
After a 64-point first half, during which the Warriors shot 42.1 percent from the field, including 43.3 from deep, the offense dwindled to 48 points in the second half, shooting 38.8 percent overall, 34.8 from distance.
Kerr didn’t blame fatigue, saying he thought the Warriors still were fresh, citing a feverish run in which they wiped out a 14-point deficit in four minutes, twenty second, pulling into a 112-112 tie on a Curry triple with 1:38 remaining.
Golden State never scored again, missing its last four shots over the final 1:08.
“A lot of it is Anthony Davis,” said Klay Thompson, who was 7 of 14 and 4 of 7 in the first half but only 2 of 11 and 2 of 9 in the second.
Whereas the Kings, who took Golden State to seven games in the first round, pressured the 3-point line, LA tried to force the Warriors to invade the paint, where Davis would be waiting. The Warriors tried a few times but over the course of the game learned a lesson.
“They know they want to take away our 3s, even though we got 50 (53, actually) of them up,” Curry said. “They want to try to put pressure on the perimeter, funnel everything into the paint and allow (Davis) to disrupt a lot, and closing space pretty quick.
“It's kind of deceiving. You feel like you have a good look to get over the top and he gets a fingertip on it. You've got to respect it. That’s how he makes an impact on that end of the floor.”
Unlike the first round, when the Warriors took advantage of the defensive shortcomings of Sacramento center Domantas Sabonis, Davis is an absolute menace on defense.
“You can't be stubborn thinking you can just keep going in there,” Curry said. “You've still got to be able to drive and put pressure on the rim, but you can do it in a creative way.”
Which means Kerr and his staff will spend Wednesday creating adjustments to counteract Davis’ towering presence. Though they would like to keep him off the line, where he was 8 of 8, they’re almost willing to live with his offense.
That hurt, but not as much as his work in the middle of LA’s defense.
“That's what this team has been doing now for the last few months,” Kerr said. “They have been one of the best defensive teams in the league for a reason and (Davis) is a huge part of that.
“He had a great game. And we'll watch the tape and we'll see where we can find better ways to attack.”
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Expect more drive-and-kick attempts, more overall ball movement and smarter pick-and-roll decisions. The Warriors got a good look at the wall, which is the first step to scaling it.