Golden State Warriors- Triple Dare

Ab Stanley

The Golden State Warriors have found the formula to winning. I’m not talking about the way they’ve built their roster or even the stellar coaching staff they have. No, I’m talking about their uncanny ability to make their opponents 3-point happy.

When teams play the Warriors, they transform into hoist-a-holics. Any kind of roster, any kind of offensive system, scrap that, lets just throw up some threes. The Utah Jazz are the latest victims of the dare. I don’t want it to sound like a drastic shift in philosophy. Utah took more three pointers in the series. Their percentage dropped and their makes dropped (slightly). I should also point out the fact that the Jazz did not magically add another three point shooter to their team for round two and yet still ended up taking more threes.

In the first quarter of Game 2, Joe Johnson hit a three to make it 5-3 Warriors. For the rest of the quarter Utah went 2-7 and Golden State went 4-7. The quarter finished 33-15 in favor of Golden State. A typical instance of the Warriors baiting a team to shoot 3-pointers trying to catch up in a deficit. Its not like they made a bunch more but Utah ended up with the same amount of threes with less three point shooters.

League Wide:
The Warriors play has not only effected their direct opponents play but all potential opponents as well. Golden State is fifth this season in three pointers attempted. That’s shocking considering they were number one in almost everything associated with threes the previous two seasons and they added Kevin Durant who’s no slouch shooting the deep ball. Other contenders like the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, and Houston Rockets have all tossed up threes in bunches realistically because they’re keeping up with the Jones’s.

Once the league witnessed the barrage of threes that won Golden State the NBA title in 2015 it had to re-adjust. Every team is looking for another outside shooter to add. The rest of the NBA teams won’t have enough ammunition in case they match up with the Warriors. They should beware though, no team has as much quality firepower as the Warriors.

Ab Stanley

Atlanta, GA

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