The Golden State Warriors may have a serious issue on the defensive end

The Golden State Warriors can’t slow down the Los Angeles Clippers and that could point to a bigger, more detrimental problem next round.

While the Golden State Warriors haven’t quite made it to the second round of the 2019 NBA Finals, if history tells us anything, they will. The Warriors have made the last four straight Finals and are flush with superstar talent, so winning one of the next two games should be no problem.

Let’s assume they defeat the Clippers in Game 6 and earn a bid to the Western Conference semifinals.

Then, they’d be matched up against the Houston Rockets. The Rockets are eager at another shot at the two-time reigning champs. After taking them to seven games last season, the Rockets want this matchup. They want to beat Golden State.

That said, the Warriors would have to be at the top of their game to down Houston. Given how they’ve played in this opening series, it’s hard to assume that they’ll amp up their defensive intensity to the next level.

The Warriors defense has been a problem in their opening series, but it’s only been a problem in Game 2 and Game 5. In those games, the team gave up an average of 132 points. In the other three games, they held LAC to under a 105 points per game average.

There aren’t many clear-cut reasons as to why the Dubs were more efficient on the defensive end for those three games.

However, we what can clearly see is that in the two games where the Clippers thrived, so did Lou Williams. In both the Clippers victories, Williams has scored 30-plus points. He’s the ignition to the Clippers offense, and he’s the reason they either win or lose.

The Warriors have to find a way to shut Williams down. He’s the key. In their three victories, it wasn’t just Lou was missing.

The Warriors were forcing Lou into tough, nearly impossible shots. He was being doubled off screens. The Warriors were forcing Montrezl Harrell to beat them, and although he’s had a terrific series, they’ve yet to be beaten when locking down Lou.

This will be a similar situation in their next round matchup. Instead of having a team flush with stars, the teams that Golden State struggles with are composed of elite role players and one or two stars. Like LAC, the Rockets are a one-man show with solid complementary pieces.

Can they shut Lou down one more game and then do the same to Harden for four of potentially seven? Without Curry lighting up the scoreboard, the Warriors have to rely more on their at times inept defense.