Golden St. vs. Gopher St. game thread

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

With all apologies to the Westbrook-less Thunder, I think the Wolves meet their toughest opponent this year in the Golden State Warriors. Not only do they lead the NBA in point differential, but as others have pointed out on this board, the Wolves never seem to beat them. Las Vegas has the game as a pick 'em, and I expect another heart attack special...wish I could be there. These two teams are both in the top five in scoring, and this promises to be a track meet.

Golden State has shot the lights out this year...50% from the field and 47% on threes. the Wolves percentages are a much weaker 41% and 31%. The teams rebound comparably, and I think they are comparable defensively. So how can the Wolves win?

Defensive matchups, pressure defense and free throws.

Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry are both averaging over 21% while shooting over 50% both from the field and on threes. But they will have to cope individually with the Wolves' best defenders. Corey Brewer has already been successful this year denying Durant and Melo the ball, and he needs to do the same tonight with Thompson. I want Corey to be on the court every minute Klay is out there, and to show the same defensive prowess he has shown this year. Unlike Durant and Melo, Klay has neither a speed nor size advantage over Corey, and I expect Corey to be effective defensively. Similarly, Rubio needs to find a way to slow down Curry. On the ball defense is not the strongest aspect of Ricky's defense, so he will need his best effort tonight.

One area of weakness for Golden State is protecting the ball...only Boston has more turnovers than the Warriors' 20 per game. This is where Rubio and Brewer can win the game tonight. They need to play the same pressure defense they showed against the Cavs, and try to force the Warriors into 20-25 turnovers.

The Wolves take and make 10 more free throws a game than G.S. This is a huge advantage, and they need to exploit it tonight. Establish Pek down low early to draw some fouls, have Love and Martin continue to work their foul-drawing magic, and we should have the Warriors in the bonus for significant minutes.

So, a big challenge for the Wolves tonight. Hopefully, we can outscore them.

[60WinTim]

Pace of play makes it look like the Warriors commit a lot of turnovers, but they are more in the middle of the back in terms of turnovers per possession. But still, it's nice to find an area where they don't excel! Golden State is really good. It's a terrific challenge for the Wolves tonight.

The biggest surprise for me thus far is how well Iggy is shooting the 3-ball. I didn't see that coming. Hopefully it's an anomaly and his descent down to earth begins tonight...

[markkbu [enjin:6588958]]

Good game preview LST. I agree, we need good/great defensive games from Rubio and Brewer. We should win the inside game here..........if they are shooting lights out tonight, I don't see that can much about that.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Pace of play makes it look like the Warriors commit a lot of turnovers, but they are more in the middle of the back in terms of turnovers per possession. But still, it's nice to find an area where they don't excel! Golden State is really good. It's a terrific challenge for the Wolves tonight.

The biggest surprise for me thus far is how well Iggy is shooting the 3-ball. I didn't see that coming. Hopefully it's an anomaly and his descent down to earth begins tonight...

Unfortunately, you make a good point about their actual turnover rate, Tim. And yeah, I didn't want to mention that Iggy is shooting out of his mind this season so far, and will have the defensively-challenged Kevin Martin guarding him.

The schedule gets softer after tonight, so a win could start a nice win streak...gonna be tough though.

[mjs34]

I think the biggest challenge will be for Pek to show on the PnR against Curry. This has never been one of Pek's strengths.

Love has to significantly out play Lee as well. Other than that I hope Adleman uses his bench a little more tonight.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I think the biggest challenge will be for Pek to show on the PnR against Curry. This has never been one of Pek's strengths.

Love has to significantly out play Lee as well. Other than that I hope Adleman uses his bench a little more tonight.

All good points, sjm. You're right about Pek and showing...he just doesn't seem to do it. One thing we don't give
Love credit for his that this is one aspect of defense that he excels at. He shows in a very disruptive fashion, and also does a good job of hustling back to pick up his man before the play can develop.

I'm watching Orlando/Clippers, and I cant help but be impressed with the Magic again. Currently have the Clips down 10, and Vukevic and Oladipo look great again.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Pace of play makes it look like the Warriors commit a lot of turnovers, but they are more in the middle of the back in terms of turnovers per possession. But still, it's nice to find an area where they don't excel! Golden State is really good. It's a terrific challenge for the Wolves tonight.

The biggest surprise for me thus far is how well Iggy is shooting the 3-ball. I didn't see that coming. Hopefully it's an anomaly and his descent down to earth begins tonight...

Tim, Iggy's shooting is absolutely not a surprise to me. Somehow players that join the Warriors magically put up career best numbers from beyond the arc. We saw it last year with Jarret Jack, who was a career 35% 3-point shooter, than suddenly was > than 40% with the Warriors last year. Then there is Reggie Williams and Anthony Morrow, two guys that started their careers with the Warriors and have never come close to the shooting numbers since their time in Golden State. Brandon Rush is another guy who put up his career best shooting % with Golden State. Or how about Dorrell Wright?

It's bizarre how the Warriors somehow foster elite shooting out of players, but they've done it over a sustained period of time now. And it sucks for us!

[60WinTim]

Yeah, but, even Curry and Thompson are shooting way over their heads compared to previous years. I am hoping it's just a small sample size and the mean will be found!

[60WinTim]

Brewer's restricted-area FG% is taking a dive this quarter...

But good start thus far!

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Brewer's restricted-area FG% is taking a dive this quarter...

But good start thus far!

Yeah, great defensive intensity, but don't need the 4 missed layups!