The postseason is a time where strengths shine and weaknesses become magnified, leaving Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors with plenty of work to do should they secure a playoff berth after the final four games of the regular season.
Fortunately for the Warriors, they haven't had too many weaknesses since their blockbuster acquisition of Jimmy Butler in early February. Golden State have ranked eighth in offense, second in defense and third in net rating since February 7, having surged up the Western Conference standings while generating championship discussion as a result.
The Warriors' mid-range shooting struggles could be exploited in the postseason
In a recent in-depth article looking at the biggest weakness of every Finals contender, ESPN's Zach Kram and Kevin Pelton focused on mid-range shooting as the biggest issue for the Warriors that could be exploited come the postseason.
They brought to light the fact Golden State ranks fourth-last across the league on two-point attempts outside the paint at 37%, and looked at recent playoff history as to why this might become a bigger concern going forward.
"Naturally, the Warriors compensate by limiting their midrange shots to a bottom-10 rate. But that may increase by necessity in the postseason: Over the past four years, playoff teams have attempted 14% of their shots as 2s outside the paint, up from 13% for those same teams in the regular season," Kram and Pelton wrote.
Perhaps the biggest issue for the Warriors is that Butler's addition hasn't done much to improve these numbers, despite the 6x All-Star having long been renowned for his excellence in the mid-range area.
Kram and Pelton point out that Butler himself has only been at 37% on two-point attempts outside the paint. This can be taken into a more extensive discussion on Butler's overall shooting and scoring which has dipped with Golden State regardless of his enormous overall impact.
While Butler is still averaging over 17 points per game thanks to his interior scoring and ability to get to the free-throw line, his jump-shooting still hasn't fully arrived from Miami. On top of the aforementioned mid-range numbers, the 35-year-old is still only at 25.8% from 3-point range across his 26 games with the Warriors.
Given Golden State already have a number of other non-spacing threats in their front court (Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Kevon Looney etc.), Butler's ability to make defenses pay -- at least from the mid-range -- is going to be pivotal in the team's playoff chances.
If he can't find his shooting stroke, it's unlikely that "Playoff Jimmy" will materialize enough for the Warriors to be a true threat against teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets.