Golden State Warriors will need to slow down Clippers bench

The Golden State Warriors took Game 1 over the Clippers but there are certainly a few things the team can clean up before Game 2.

It shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone that the Golden State Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs. The Dubs are the 1-Seed in the Western Conference and are looking to compete for their third straight NBA championship.

The Warriors cruised to a 121-104 victory behind a record-breaking performance from Curry who had 38 points and 15 rebounds. He also became the all-time Playoff leader for 3-point field goals in this game.

Even Draymond Green had a strong game for himself, posting 17 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant chipped in with 23 points.

While a majority of this outing was positive for the Dubs, there were a few negatives the team should look to focus on before Game 2. For starters, Durant will need to control his emotions throughout the rest of this series as he has already picked up two technical fouls. This puts KD only five-techs away from being suspended for an entire game.

However, the most glaring issue going on in this series is the difference in bench production. Most already assumed that the Clippers bench would give Golden State trouble, but the Clippers proved to have a far superior bench in Game 1.

With Montrezl Harrell scoring 26 points and Lou Williams dropping 25 points, the Clippers bench totaled 65 points. In contrast, the Warriors second unit produced only 22 points. Furthermore, the Clippers had five players score in double-figures while the Dubs had just four.

Moving forward in the series, it’s clear the Warriors will have to slow down the Clippers bench. This can be done easily by staggering the starting lineup and splitting the minutes between each star player. If the Dubs do this, they should cruise to a four-game sweep of LA.