Series Preview: Battle-tested warriors face an attack on the Mavericks

The Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks are set to meet in the 2022 NBA Playoffs Western Conference Finals, Starts in San Francisco on Wednesday (9 ET, TNT) With the arrival of the two teams here after traveling on bumpy roads.

The Warriors finished ranked No. 3 in the conference despite Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green participating together. 11 minutes of regular season Amidst overlapping injuries. They only sent the Denver Nuggets out in five first-round games to take on the young and physical second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies, who challenged them for six games.

The Mavericks finished fourth and held on to relative optimism that Luka Doncic’s brilliance, the arrival of Jason Kidd and a mid-season trade would finally help them move past the first round. They did, knocking out the Utah Jazz in six games and then upsetting the top-seeded Phoenix Suns in seven — the team that set a franchise record with a league win this regular season with 64 wins.

3 things to watch

1. Warriors expect a full roster. Warriors coach Steve Kerr clears NBA health and safety protocols After losing games 4, 5 and 6 against Memphis. Veteran forward Andre Iguodala could return early Friday for Game Two after missing the Warriors’ past seven games, including the entire series against Memphis, with a neck injury. Warriors expect striker Otto Porter Jr. to appear in the first match, after he missed the previous two matches due to a right foot injury.

It is clear that the success of the Warriors depends mostly on Carrie, Thompson and Greene. But other add-ons can have a massive sequential effect. Waiting for the kings head coach Mike Brown has provided experience, solid setup and defensive expertise, but Kerr provides unique offensive creativity and presence as a guide for their path in the previous three championships. Not only did the Warriors miss Iguodala’s elimination experience and Porter’s versatility, they were also made more vulnerable with fewer wing options. The Warriors may not have to worry about such cases against Dallas.

2. How will Luka Doncic lead himself? It seems inevitable that the Warriors will soon feel the pain that the Los Angeles Clippers, Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns have experienced. No team has a solution for Doncic, especially in the qualifiers.

The Clippers survived a first-round nightmare against Doncic in 2020 (31 ppg; 50.0 FG%) and in 2021 (35.7 ppg; 49.0 FG%) only because they had Kawhi Leonard while Doncic was of little help. This year, Doncic has dominated the Jazz (29.0 ppg; 46.9%) and the Suns (32.2 ppg; 45.7 FG%) while also relying on his support team.

After facing other unwelcome missions against Denver quarterback Nikola Jokic and Memphis guard Ja Morant, the Warriors are experienced with handling a seemingly impossible defensive task. Expect the Warriors to dump multiple bodies on Doncic large (Green, Porter, Kevin Looney) and small (Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins). Expect the warriors to make Doncy work in defense against any of the Splash Brothers. Expect the Warriors to tolerate the Doncic outbreak as long as no other Mavericks player has experienced the same high score. That puts the onus on any group of Jalen Brunson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie to relieve Doncic as they sometimes did during the post season.

3. How Much Help Do Carrie, Thompson, and Greene Need? Will this year’s Warriors have the same “strength in numbers” identity as their other previous teams?

The Warriors saw third-year guard Jordan Poole flourish in three playoff games against Denver and serve as the main reserve against Memphis, only to blaze up in the final games in each series. The Warriors played junior Jonathan Cominga in double-digit minutes in three games against Memphis before limiting his playing time for the rest of the series, though Iguodala and Porter both suffered injuries.

All of these players will have opportunities to evolve into the X Factor against Dallas. Because of the uncertainty of those moving parts, though, the Warriors may need their stars to produce more efficiently than they did against Memphis. Curry, Thompson and Green all showed their greatness, especially in the deciding sixth game.

A number you need to know

22.4 – This series will be in contrast to the patterns. One team plays fast and moves the ball. The other plays slowly and generally keeps the ball in one person’s hand.

mavs Leading the playoffs In possession time, averaged 22.4 minutes of possession during the first 12 games. For the third year in a row, Luka Doncic driving postseason In individual possession time (10.0 minutes per match).

Meanwhile, the Warriors ranked 14th with just 20.2 minutes, with no one in the top ten among the singles. They ranked first in player movement (11.3 miles per 24 minutes of possession) and second in ball movement (340 passes per 24 minutes of possession), while MAF ranked 15th (9.9) and 16th (273).

Dallas suppressed the Warriors’ ball movement as the MAVS won Three of the four Regular season meetings. Golden State led the regular season with 369 passes per 24 minutes of possession, but 345 per 24 against the Mavs was their lowest against any opponent in the Western Conference. Stephen Curry played in all four games, but Draymond Green played Only one of the four.

– John Schumann

the pick

Doncic has improved by maximizing his individual dominance and raising his teammates. Even if the Mavs develop much better chemistry than Doncic can boost with Kristaps Porzingis, however, the Warriors’ depth should prove insurmountable. Warriors in 6.

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Marc Medina is a writer and senior analyst at NBA.com. You can email him hereFind his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

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