This is how the Golden State Warriors opened Game 4 against the Houston Rockets: six missed three-point attempts, two turnovers, a couple more misses this time inside the arc and one made Harrison Barnes three.
On the other side, the Rockets were hot like Dylan and in a blink of an eye, the score was 3-19 in favor of Houston. The Warriors would battle the rest of the way and end up outscoring the Rockets by 10 over the final three quarters, but the damage was done.
The Rockets shot the ball incredibly well, but that was compounded by the Warriors inability to ratchet up the defensive intensity, especially early. The Warriors seemed to be sleep-walking through the game, and it was evident in their missed defensive switches and lapses in even basic defensive principals (Ron Adams probably wanted to cancel the game after the Warriors didn’t stop the ball and let Josh Smith waltz to the three-point line multiple times to hit shots).
Klay Thomson continued to have an interesting series. Really all playoffs, Thompson has done a lot of things that are out of character for the player he became in 2014-15. The one who started the All-Star game. Just really bad turnovers, bad passing decisions, forcing really tough shots. He has still been a solid source of scoring for the Warriors, but you sometimes get the feeling that the moment gets a little big for him in the playoffs, especially considering how efficient and consistent he was during the regular season.
Though Thompson carried the offense for much of the game, his defense was sometimes good and sometimes bad on James Harden. Thompson too often went under screens when guarding Harden at the top of the key, getting stuck behind Dwight Howard and Josh Smith and either allowing Harden to line up an uncontested three or giving him a free lane to the paint. It also allowed Harden to collapse the defense in the paint and to kick out to Trevor Ariza and Smith.
May 23, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) dribbles as Houston Rockets forward Josh Smith (5) defends during the game in game three of the Western Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Thompson has done an admiral job on Harden considering how many tough jumpers Harden has been forced into, but it will be key to continue to run different defenders at Harden. Mixing it up between Thompson, Barnes, Draymond Green and Andre Igoudala forces Harden to adapt his game multiple times per night. He can’t just get in the rhythm of taking Thompson off the dribble or losing him for a stepback. Barnes can use his quickness to stay in front of Harden, Green can use his muscle to keep him out of the lane.
Whoever is guarding Harden needs to fight over screens, stay on his hip and not let him have space to shoot or attack. Barnes was effective at this in Game 3 when Harden only scored 16 points.
And overall, the Warriors just need to play smarter defense. Stop the ball when the Rockets are running off a fast break, limit mismatches and switch back when necessary. Too many times Andrew Bogut got left on a switch on Harden. The Warriors have a versatile lineup, but not switching back when available to the regular defensive alignments allows too many mismatches for the Rockets to exploit.
Harden is very much a feel player, and if he is able to get in a flow against Thompson, Steve Kerr should be quick to rotate a different guy on to him. Harden will be the Rockets leading scorer no matter what on Wednesday, it is the collective defensive job of the Warriors to contain him and make sure it is in a losing effort.