The Warriors’ number one focus will obviously be stopping LeMarcus Aldridge, but slowing down the Spurs’ guards will be a key to victory.
The Warriors can expect to see a lot of LeMarcus Aldridge post-ups in the first round of the playoffs, but they need to be glued to the Spurs’ guards to prevent them from getting open looks from three.
San Antonio doesn’t have a ton of shooting on their roster with Kawhi Leonard out of the lineup, but Bryn Forbes, Patty Mills, Danny Green, and Manu Ginobili are all guards that have shot over 33% from behind the arc this season.
Dejounte Murray is the outlier in this group, but he provides other valuable skills for the Spurs such as aggressive on-ball defense, rebounding, and some playmaking ability.
Even at 40 years old, Ginobili is San Antonio’s best pure playmaker at guard. Gregg Popovich kept his veteran fresh by holding him out of 17 games this season, but Manu will certainly be unleashed in the playoffs and play an enormous role handling the ball at the end of games.
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Danny Green is probably the best defender of this bunch. He could get some time covering Kevin Durant in this series, but I’d expect him to be glued to Klay Thompson for a majority of the first round.
Patty Mills and Bryn Forbes are the best spot-up shooters on the roster, and LeMarcus Aldridge will be looking to them when the Warriors double team him in the post.
Outside of the ageless Manu there aren’t many marquee names at guard for the Spurs, but each of them has the ability to make game-changing plays that could affect this series.