Harrison Barnes and Tony Allen: Unlikely Keys to Game 4 Win
By Ben Pickman
Mr. First Team All-Defense, Tony Allen, had his way with the Golden State Warriors in Games 2 and 3.
But in Game 4, Mr. First Team All-Defense was left to dwell on his own island.
Allen played a mere 16 minutes last night. He finished with four points, one steal, one block, and five rebounds on a dreadful 2-of-9 shooting from the field. Allen has made his living for a decade on the defensive end of the floor, but last night the Warriors realized something that team’s have known about Allen for years: he can’t shoot and he can’t create.
Allen is a liability on the offensive end of the floor. In six of Allen’s 10 years in the NBA, he shot under 30 percent from three-point range. As a result, Allen has never averaged more than one three-point attempt per game over the course of his career.
Last night the Warriors played to this fact. They baited Allen into taking wide-open shot after wide-open shot. Allen couldn’t hit a shot if the goal was to throw the ball into the ocean. He was 0-of-3 from three, each shot a brick even with no defender in the area.
As a result of Allen’s ineptness as well as the versatility of Harrison Barnes, the Warriors defensive looked more like the Warriors’ regular season defense.
From the opening tip last night the Warriors implemented a different defensive strategy than what they had done all series. The Warriors opened with Draymond Green guarding Marc Gasol, Barnes guarding Zach Randolph, and Andrew Bogut faux-guarding Tony Allen.
Bogut never really left the paint, and rather on every post-up attempt that Randolph or Gasol had, Bogut could double down and help the Warriors’ undersized but not under-skilled defenders.
The Warriors opened the second half with slightly different defensive matchups. With Green in foul trouble, the Warriors opened the second half with Bogut guarding Gasol and Barnes guarding Randolph. Green was able to ghost guard Allen and double-down and help Bogut and Barnes when the Grizzlies big men established dominant position.
May 5, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes (40) controls the ball against Memphis Grizzlies guard Courtney Lee (5) during the fourth quarter in game two of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena. The Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Golden State Warriors 97-90. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Though Barnes appears to be slight of frame, he is listed at 6’ 8’’ and 210 pounds. While he is technically undersized for a power forward, Barnes did a good job last night controlling both Grizzlies forwards. When defending post-ups this postseason, opponents are scoring on Barnes 40 percent of the time. They score on Green 51.4 percent of the time and Bogut 45 percent of the time. Of course Barnes has seen less post-ups, but that shouldn’t entirely diminish his stellar post-up defense.
Because Barnes did a good job disrupting the Grizzlies big men last night, Tony Allen was out less than five minutes into the third quarter for Jeff Green. Because of the Warriors improved defense and timely shooting on the offensive end, the Grizzlies were forced to sacrifice their defensive stopper for three-point shooting. As a result Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry were able to have their way on the offensive end of the floor.
Jeff Green played 34 minutes last night compared to Allen’s 16, and that was a result of the Warriors defensive adjustment.
Barnes has been an important factor for the Warriors all season, but last night thanks to his versatility on the defensive end of the floor, the Warriors were able to even the series.