With a high-powered offense on the other side of the aisle, the Golden State Warriors will have to tap into their roots and outshoot the Dallas Mavericks in order to reach the NBA Finals.
The Warriors built a dynasty on being a better jump-shooting team than anyone… ever. Years later, as the dynasty is in the middle of a resurgence, the need to shoot efficiently has never been more important.
The Golden State Warriors will have to go toe-to-toe with one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the league to advance to the NBA Finals.
Golden State already got a taste of this in round two. The Memphis Grizzlies have scored the most points per game of any team this postseason and rank fifth in 3-pointers made. Defending the perimeter was a point of emphasis all series for the Warriors.
This defensive game plan will remain the same in the Western Conference Finals, as the Dallas Mavericks are nailing a league-high 15.5 3-pointers per game on 38.5% shooting. It was this level of marksmanship that led to a Game 7 beatdown of the Phoenix Suns.
Except, the Warriors will not be able to defend the perimeter as easily with Luka Doncic leading the show for Dallas. He’s a master of manipulating the defense and open 3-pointers are almost certain to occur for the Mavericks.
While defense will be a key component of their success, the Dubs will simply have to re-establish themselves as the best 3-point team of all time. This means Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have some waking up to do.
The Splash Brothers have not had the same potency from deep as they usually do, with Curry shooting a career-low 35.9% thus far. Thompson has been better at 40.8% but has had some unusually bad games to start the playoffs.
The door is wide-open for a trip back to the NBA Finals. All that needs to happen is the Warriors have to win a shootout against one of the hottest teams in the league right now.