Golden State Warriors must unleash the Steph-KD pick and roll in Game 6

The Golden State Warriors fell to the Houston Rockets 98-94 on Thursday, putting them one game away from elimination. There are several ways to fix their woes, but one is to run the Stephen Curry-Kevin Durant pick and roll.

The Golden State Warriors are facing unfamiliar territory. For the first time since the signing of Kevin Durant in the summer of 2016, the Dubs are facing elimination in a playoff series.

In the Warriors’ 98-94 loss on Thursday, they didn’t run a single effective Stephen Curry-Durant pick and roll. They ran one Curry-Durant pick and roll, but it ultimately ended in a Durant post-up.

The Curry-Durant pick and roll is one of the singular most dangerous plays the league has seen. One of those guys is the greatest shooter on earth, capable of stretching defenses to its limits; the other is a 6-foot-11 “unicorn” player who can get his shot anytime he wants with his size, length, ball-handling, touch and skill.

Quite simply, this play forces opposing defenses into binds as to who to guard. Both players can stretch the floor with their shooting. They can get to the rim as well.

With Curry and Durant running the pick-and-roll, they would be the two playmakers and decision-makers in this situation. Both are smart enough to assess the opposing defense and make the right reads on the offensive end.

This is why the Curry-Durant pick-and-roll must be unleashed with the team’s backs against the wall on Saturday night.

The Curry-Durant pick-and-roll worked to perfection last season in Game 5 of the 2017 NBA Finals against the Cavaliers.

However, the team the Warriors are playing are not the Cavaliers.

This is a new and improved Houston Rockets team with off-season additions in Chris Paul, Luc Mbah a Moute and P.J. Tucker. Houston isn’t just longer and more physical, but they hold the key to excelling in today’s NBA: multi-positional defenders that allow the team to switch everything.

The versatility and physicality of Houston’s defense will make the Curry-Durant pick and rolls much more difficult to produce, but the Warriors options are slowly dissolving on the brink of elimination.

Next: Dubs lose crucial Game 5 in Houston

Steve Kerr has nothing to lose. It’s a win-or-go-home situation on Saturday. He might as well spam his greatest weaponto try to tie up the series, and possibly, win another game to advance to their fourth consecutive NBA Finals.