Warriors face different problem in AD after stopping Sabonis originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors, with one center who stands 6-foot-9, are going from one star big man to another after taking down the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the NBA playoffs. The two players couldn’t be more unalike.
Domantas Sabonis was penciled in as a problem for Kevon Looney and the rest of the Warriors going into what wound up being an epic seven-game series. But the 7-foot Kings center was stuck in his tracks on both sides of the ball. Looney far outplayed him.
Sabonis faces an offseason of questions as Looney is being heralded for being one of the most underrated players in basketball. Over seven games between the Warriors and Kings, Sabonis’ combined plus/minus was a minus-49, an average of a minus-7. Looney’s combined plus/minus was a plus-36, an average of a little better than a plus-5.
Beginning Tuesday night at Chase Center, Looney and the rest of the Warriors are in for a much tougher, much different matchup facing Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis.
“I think you have to get a dose of realism,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Monday after practice. “You get in that game and, you know, watching film, like, ‘Ok, Davis is going to be at the rim. We got to be aware of his defensive presence.’ But then when you get out there it’s real. You can see it on tape, but you got to feel it in order to understand how to attack.
“With shot blockers in general, if you have the angle, you try to get into their body so you don’t let them free to jump up and smother your shot. But we have to be smart offensively and not just go in and try to throw wild layup attempts over the top of them, because that’s what fuels their fastbreaks half the time.”
Behind a skill set that doesn’t exactly include high-flying leaping ability, Sabonis had six blocked shots against the Warriors. He also fouled out once, had five fouls twice and totaled 28 fouls in the first round.
Davis in the Lakers’ first-round series win against the Memphis Grizzlies opened with seven blocked shots. He wound up swatting 26 in six games, an average of 4.3 blocks per game. The center/power forward who stands slightly under 7-foot tall also only fouled 15 times in the series. Against the Warriors in the regular season, he was a lethal shot blocker as well.
In four games, Davis had eight blocked shots and was whistled for only eight fouls. Both his blocked shots the last time these two teams faced each other were from Jonathan Kuminga layup attempts.
That’s only one side of the ball, too.
Kerr’s defense gave Sabonis the Russell Westbrook treatment and completely sagged off, daring him to shoot. Though Davis only went 1 of 7 from 3-point range against the Warriors in the regular season and was 3 of 9 against the Grizzlies, he certainly can be a threat as a jump shooter while also using his size and athleticism down low.
He dropped 39 points in the last Warriors-Lakers showdown on March 5 and averaged 22.8 points and 10.5 rebounds against Golden State. So, what’s the plan to slow him down in the Western Conference semifinals?
“That’s why we got Andrew Wiggins, Draymond [Green] and Loon,” Gary Payton II said Monday. “I probably won’t see AD as much. Probably best to keep one of those guys on him. But just be disruptive, help out on those guys, rearview contest and just try to muck it up there.
“Continue to find shooters and be careful when they spread it out.”
Looney was matched up with Davis for 23 minutes in the regular season. The Warriors center caused three turnovers and blocked Davis once. Davis in turn shot 43.8 percent (14 of 32) from the field and 25 percent (1 of 4) on 3-pointers.
Green saw him for 17 1/2 minutes. He also caused three turnovers, and Davis shot 47.4 percent (9 of 19) when guarded by him. Davis also missed his only 3-point attempt.
Wiggins might be the missing ingredient and could be a major factor in slowing The Brow down. He only played in two of the Warriors’ four games against the Lakers and defended Davis for just one minute and 20 seconds. In that short span, Wiggins caused one turnover and Davis made one of his three shots.
Returning from a two-month absence for a family matter, Wiggins averaged 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.0 steals in the first round. The springy 6-foot-7 forward had two games where he had four blocks. To Payton, this is the same Wiggins who served as perhaps the Warriors’ second-best player throughout last postseason, second to just Steph Curry.
“Oh absolutely,” Payton said. “When it’s time, Wiggs turns it on.”
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Anchored by Davis, the Lakers might have the best interior defense left in the playoffs. The Warriors are going to have to shoot better from deep after putting up a 32.8-percent clip against the Kings. When they hit the offensive glass, the game was in their favor.
The same will hold true when summoning Davis and the rest of the Lakers. Looney and Green held it down, frustrating Sabonis much of the time. It’ll take the two of them this time around, as well as Wiggins, along with help from Payton and maybe even Kuminga.
One star big man was hindered, hampered and held in check to start the Warriors’ road to repeating as NBA champions. Their next tall task is a new challenge that should take a group effort to take down.
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