Warriors: Why Andre Iguodala will be key in the Conference Finals

The Golden State Warriors’ Andre Iguodala will be an x-factor in their quest to defeat the Rockets in the Western Conference Finals.

The matchup fans, teams and the media want to see is finally upon us.

In the Western Conference Finals, the second-seeded Golden State Warriors will meet the top-seeded Houston Rockets.

The Warriors coasted through the regular season with 58 wins, while the Rockets dominated the West with 65 wins on the backs of future Hall-of-Famers James Harden and Chris Paul. The Warriors faced the Rockets three times during the regular season, only going 1-2.

However, there was an important piece to the puzzle that was missing for the Warriors.

Andre Iguodala did not play in two of those three games.

In both of the games Iguodala did not play, the Warriors lost. Golden State lost by a total of nine points in the games Iguodala sat out against the Rockets.

Why is Iguodala not playing so significant?

For starters, he is one of the playmakers off the bench for the Warriors and the calming influence for the team if things start to go south.

Additionally, he continues to prove why he is still one of the best defenders in the league and, presumably, one of the players head coach Steve Kerr could throw at James Harden and/or Chris Paul to slow them down.

But most importantly, Iguodala is one of the main cogs to “The Hampton’s 5” lineup.

This five-man group is supposed to ambush the other team with a flurry of deep threes and steals on the defensive end to create an avalanche of a run. Iguodala is one of the main playmakers of this group and also one of the many versatile defenders in this lineup.

Along with his playmaking duties and guarding the other team’s best player, Iguodala is also a lob threat. What I mean by that is when Stephen Curry gets trapped near half court and he gets it to Draymond Green, he is in the position to catch the lob and throw it down if Green chooses to throw it to him.

In the one regular season game against the Rockets that Iguodala played in, the Warriors won. In that January 4th game, Iguodala recorded 10 points, eight assists and two rebounds on 5-of-9 shooting.

Although Klay Thompson will probably be the primary defender on Harden, I imagine that Iguodala will take a turn on guarding the presumptive 2017-2018 regular season MVP.

In 10 games this postseason, Harden is averaging 28.5 ppg, 7.4 apg and 5.0 rpg on only 40.7 percent from the field, including 34.4 percent from beyond the arc. Those are some incredible numbers for a player who is shooting barely 40 percent from the field and below 35 percent from three. However, Harden is getting to the free throw line about eight times per contest.

In two regular season games against the Warriors, Harden averaged 24.5 ppg, 9.5 apg and 4.0 rpg, while shooting 46.2 percent from the field, including 50 percent from three. Those were the two games that Iguodala did not play in.

It is vitally important for the Warriors that Iguodala continues his strong play into the Western Conference Finals. They’re going to need strong production from the 2015 Finals MVP, as well as the little things that make him great, if they are going to advance to their fourth consecutive NBA Finals.