OAKLAND, Calif. -- The admonishments came back after Golden State fell down 2-1 in this series. That’s all it took.
“Jump-shooting team.”
“You die by the 3.”
The post-heavy Memphis Grizzlies, despite never winning a title, epitomize a certain brand of playoff success for some in basketball’s older guard. The Warriors represent something more newfangled with their perimeter-heavy attack. Perhaps that’s why Phil Jackson took an oblique shot at the Warriors (and Hawks, presumably) on Monday, tweeting, “NBA analysts give me some diagnostics on how 3pt oriented teams are faring this playoffs ... seriously, how's it goink?”
Upon Golden State taking a 3-2 series lead with a 98-78 home win over the Grizzlies, it’s going pretty well. It’s going well despite the Warriors not executing sharply on offense. The Warriors had 16 turnovers, and a few of them were simply sloppy, especially in the beginning.
“We're still making some silly plays,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I thought early on a lot of those turnovers were unforced because we were in a little bit of a rush and tight.”
Due to these unforced errors, Golden State started off in a hole of their own digging, trailing the Grizzlies by 10 with 1:57 left in the first quarter. When the quarter ended, the Warriors led by one.
How? Well, in addition to some pressure defense, two timely Stephen Curry 3s helped close that gap in that frenzied sequence. Also, two Curry 3s helped keep Golden State within striking distance before they made their move.
The old adage about how teams “live by the 3” and eventually “die by the 3” ignores how “the 3” can be some sensible insurance in troubled times. The adage presumes the outside shot to be a seductive, risky option that always ends badly. In reality, it’s just a series of opportunities in which a team can grab more points -- ostensibly a good thing for a team trying to score, well, points. Golden State wasn’t playing well offensively, but it shot enough -- and hit enough -- from the right spots.
It was easy to take Games 2 and 3, in which the Warriors sank a combined 12 3s, as evidence that the long jump shot ultimately leaves you when you need it most. Fortunately for the Warriors, this isn’t March Madness. In May, your series can run long enough for the treys to return. In the case of Golden State, Games 4 and 5 have reaped a combined 28 triples.
Of course, 3s alone aren’t enough. The Warriors’ stifling defense has returned in the last two games of this series, keeping Memphis at bay and creating transition offense on the other end. “I think I said the first couple of games our defense was good enough, but it wasn't championship defense, and I was wrong,” Kerr said, self-correcting. “It wasn't good enough. This is what it's going to take -- this kind of defense from tonight and from Game 4.”
“This kind of defense” was a sight to behold. Klay Thompson enveloped Mike Conley, Curry opportunistically nabbed six steals, and the entire frontcourt joined in shutting down the paint. This was to say nothing of the fine work Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston did defensively off the bench.
The Warriors are just doing a flat-out better job than they were before in guarding the Grizzlies, but that’s connected to 3-point shooting as well. For all the bromides on the risks of jump-shooting, it’s rarely pointed out that lacking it equals death. The Grizzlies are dying by the 3 right now, just in a different way. Due to Memphis’ lack of 3-point shooting, Golden State is packing the paint and killing their post attack.
The Warriors first accomplished this in Game 4, when Andrew Bogut “guarded” Tony Allen by zoning himself at the rim. In Game 5, with Allen out with a hamstring injury, the Grizzlies still lacked shooting to spread the floor. Memphis was forced to enter a Golden State mosh pit in the paint, wherein they shot 35.7 percent.
The Grizzlies retain an opportunity to extend this series on Friday, on their home floor. To do it, they probably need 3-point shooting from the likes of Vince Carter and Jeff Green, who took many of those extra Allen minutes. On Wednesday, the tandem combined to go 1-of-8 from behind the arc. That won’t get it done against a team that loves the 3, lives by the 3, and ultimately thrives by the 3.