Looney must avoid foul trouble with Draymond suspended originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
SAN FRANCISCO — Many of the same problems that hurt the Warriors mightily in the regular season hampered them in their two straight losses against the Sacramento Kings to open the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Among them is the Warriors’ propensity to rack up fouls and watch their opponent stroll to the free-throw line. Though the Warriors have only been called for three more fouls than the Kings, 51 compared to 48, Sacramento has attempted 16 more free throws than Golden State, 61 compared to 45, through the first two games of the series.
The Warriors were outscored overall by 11 points over Game 1 and Game 2. The Kings have made exactly 11 more free throws than them.
Fouls and free throws again will be significant keys to victory for both teams. How and when either teams get into foul trouble could be the difference. For the Warriors, defending without fouling has to be at the forefront of center Kevon Looney’s focus in Game 3.
Size never is on the Warriors’ side. Now that they’ll be without Draymond Green on Thursday night after being suspension for his Game 2 ejection, their frontcourt is even thinner than usual. Looney is invaluable for the Warriors, and his need to be on the floor is about to jump leaps and bounds.
“I can’t be out there fouling like I was last game as much, because we don’t have Draymond to back me up. [JaMychal Green] and [Jonathan Kuminga] are going to have to play a little more and we can’t all be in foul trouble,” Looney said Wednesday when asked how Green being gone for the game changes his role.
“It changes in that perspective. … I don’t think my minutes are going to change too much. I just got to go out there and play a little bit smarter.”
How much the Warriors are hurt when Looney is having foul issues was evident from the start last game.
Looney was hit with his first foul Monday night not even three minutes into the game. He was called for two in the first quarter, keeping him off the floor until 6:44 left in the first half. The Warriors held a 23-17 lead after the first quarter.
It was 41-30 when he came back, with the Kings in the lead.
In that span, the Warriors were out-rebounded by three (5-2), and the Kings went 9 of 12 from the field.
Kuminga played the first 3:56 of the second quarter. He was a minus-10 and didn’t come off the bench the rest of the game. JaMychal Green was whistled for a foul 50 seconds after entering the second quarter and sat the rest of the way. He didn’t play at all in Game 1 and received four DNPs (Did Not Play) in four out of the Warriors’ final five regular-season games.
One major change from the first game of the series to the second was the play of Kings star center Domantas Sabonis. The 7-foot-1 left-hander had loads of trouble while defended by Looney (6-foot-9) and Green (6-foot-6) to begin the first round. He finished the game with only 12 points, going 5-of-17 from the field, his worst shooting night of the season.
Going into the half, Looney’s plus/minus of plus-14 led both teams. Sabonis, who was 4 of 12 from the field at the time, had the lowest plus/minus between both teams with a minus-10. Looney played 32:13 in that game.
Then two nights later, he was held to 22:56 and had to watch Sabonis score 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and 8-of-12 shooting from the free-throw line.
Rebounding also has been a huge factor thus far. The Warriors have been out-rebounded by nine, but the Kings have 11 more offensive rebounds than the Warriors and have scored 14 more second-chance points than them. Draymond’s absence will be felt there, too.
Looney led the Warriors in rebounding each of the first two games — 11 in the first and nine in the second, and will be needed to win that battle.
“We got to just focus in on the details,” Looney said of the rebounding battle. “Boxing out every time. Sometimes we box out and four guys box out and one doesn’t and [the Kings] end up with the ball. We got to be a group effort.
“All five guys got to go to the glass, all five guys got to box out. We got to play with force and take care of the small things. I think we know that. We rebound for spurts, and sometimes we have lapses. We got to put that together for all 48.”
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Steve Kerr called the series opener in Sacramento an “incredibly physical game” on Saturday night. Game 2 felt even more physical, too. That’s something Looney looks forward to continuing.
He took the high road when asked about Sabonis’ physicality and several moves that have been questioned as dirty. Much of Looney’s success with the big man in Game 1 was matching his physicality and fighting for extra possessions.
Behind what’s sure to be an arena-rattling home crowd Thursday night at Chase Center, Looney knows he has to be part of the formula when it comes to the Warriors serving the first blow and getting in the win column, no matter how pretty or gritty that might be.
“I think it’s been fun,” Looney of the physicality between the Warriors and Kings. “I like to play physical. I got some fouls playing physical, but other than that, it’s been fun. It’s good, playoff basketball, that’s what you look forward to — that physicality, the up and down and the pushing and shoving.”
“It’s been fun, it’s been exciting and hopefully we can win the physicality matchup next game, and win rebounds and finish.”
To finally finish with a win on the scoreboard, the Warriors are going to need Looney much more, a man they’ve come to rely on extensively when times get tough.
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