3. Warriors clearly weren’t locked in on defense
Before we get into how atrocious Golden State’s offense was on Saturday, let’s dive into what exactly went wrong defensively against the Rockets.
First off, the effort on the glass was absolutely abysmal, giving up 12 offensive rebounds to the Warriors’ four. This not only led to 16 second-chance points for the Rockets, but it also led to the Warriors being outrebounded 46-33.
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To break that down even further:
Ryan Anderson had four offensive rebounds and finished with 13 total; P.J. Tucker had three offensive rebounds and finished with seven total; Clint Capela had 2 offensive rebounds but only finished with five total; and multiple Rockets had at least one offensive rebound, including Chris Paul, who finished with 11 rebounds.
How does the shortest man on the court finish with 11 rebounds in 35 minutes of play, while Zaza Pachulia was only able to secure four in 16 minutes? There’s an obvious discrepancy there.
Secondly, the Warriors allowed the Rockets to shoot 47.1 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from behind the arc. Considering that the Rockets just recently made 17 three-pointers against the Minnesota Timberwolves, you would think that running guys off the arc would be Golden State’s top priority.
Instead, the Warriors allowed James Harden and CP3 to shoot a combined 11-of-20 from three-point range, which ended up being one too many. Paul is shooting a solid 39.1 percent from long this season, but how do you explain giving him 11 three-point attempts?