The Golden State Warriors have been without their best player, the league's best player, a historic-level best player for the past 1 1/2 games in an NBA playoff series, and yet they're 2-0. Any other team losing it best player -- outside of maybe the San Antonio Spurs losing Kawhi Leonard due to the fact that the Grizzlies have lost their two best players -- would be in some form of crisis.
Instead, with Steph Curry sidelined by some sort of ambiguous ankle injury (seriously, they're calling it a "tweaked ankle" which isn't even a medical term, but whatever it is it will likely keep him out of Game 3), the Warriors have still dominated the Houston Rockets through two games. Setting aside how pathetic the Rockets are -- and they are pathetic -- the Warriors wouldn't be able to compete without Curry if they didn't have the specific personnel they do to step in and deliver.
What's interesting is that the idea of the Warriors is that they're all perimeter. They launch 3-pointers in ISO, transition, or early pick-and-roll situations. But much of the Warriors' success outside of what Curry does is actually based around a very old-school concept: they post you into oblivion.
THE POST-UP ADVANTAGE
According to Synergy Sports, the Warriors have scored more points out of sets featuring a post-up than they have out of isolation or pick and rolls. Notice we didn't say points out of post-ups. We said points out of sets featuring a post-up, meaning this includes passes out of the post. The Warriors, in other words, don't necessarily throw the ball into the post to score in a traditional, back-to-the basket way. Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green aren't pulling any Dream Shakes.
The Warriors throw the ball into the post simply to initiate offense.
More specifically, they use the post early in the shot clock as their guards navigate a maze of screens with precise off-ball cuts. Golden State's bigs, particularly Bogut and Green, are terrific passers. But it's not just the Warriors' bigs that are, you know, big. They enjoy height advantages all over the court, especially when Curry is out and bigger perimeter lineups featuring Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston are on the court together for more extended minutes.
Livingston, in particular, can devastate smaller defenders from the post.
LIVING(STON) LARGE
Livingston, a 6-foot-7 point guard, is one of the few Warriors who does actually look to score out of the post, and this season he did it at a better than a 50-percent shooting clip. League average is 44 percent. So far vs. the Rockets, Livingston literally hasn't missed from the post. He's 100 percent. It's a small sample size, of course. But you get the point. He's a matchup nightmare down there.
Being that the Rockets can't afford to put Trevor Ariza on him and risk an even bigger size mismatch elsewhere, he often winds up being guarded by either 6-foot-1 Patrick Beverley, or James Harden, who would be terrible defensively if he were eight feet tall.
He treats both of them the way your older brother used to torture you in the driveway.
Same goes for 6-3 Andrew Goudelock, who the Rockets picked up late in the season.
OK, so Livingston's height is a problem. How about if the Rockets switch and put a big on him in the pick and roll, like Donatas Motiejunas?
No chance. Even after one of the most devastating knee injuries in NBA history, Livingston is still a very good perimeter athlete -- crafty, quick and long. Here's the Warriors versatility everyone is always talking about. Livingston will shoot over smaller defenders, beat bigs off the dribble, and like almost everyone else on the roster, he's a great passer. Nobody replaces Stephen Curry, but running the offense through a guy Livingston in the post, at least for stretches, is a luxury most teams don't have.
Again, it's particularly effective against the porous Rockets. The Clippers will have longer defenders they can use in a potential second-round matchup, same with the Spurs. By then, of course, Curry will presumably be healthy and defending Livingston or any other Warrior in the post will be the least of your concerns. But for now, Golden State is thriving in a more old-school way that you would think. And it's not just Livingston. The Warriors have a number of players who post up well, particularly wings.
Especially when they're being guarded by ... you guessed it ... James Harden.
HARDEN-LY A TOUGH MATCHUP
Harden's Vine-worthy defensive lapses both off the ball and in transition are always good for a laugh, but it is at this point that I am obligated to tell you that in prior seasons, Harden has actually been a quality post defender -- 75th percentile last year. This season, however, he was a mess, 18th percentile, giving up 50 percent shooting out of the post.
The Warriors have gone at Harden every which way. In the video below, check out Harrison Barnes making him look completely foolish on a clear out.
In the next video, Draymond Green takes his turn. Harden has no chance against Green in the post, or anywhere really, so Houston has to bring help. You bring help against the Warriors, you better do it quickly and with an eye on the weak side. If you don't, this happens:
Again, for all the talk of Golden State's run and gun, these are basic basketball principles. Throw the ball into the post, and either score over a smaller, weaker defender or draw a double and kick to an open shooter. They do this more than you think.
GOING FORWARD
Like I mentioned, the Warriors may not have these advantages in the next round. But they will find whatever they need. That's the real lesson to be taken here: Golden State's personnel is so versatile that they can find weaknesses in any defense. Rest assured, they will rack down whatever crack exists in an opponent's wall, and when they do, they won't just slip through it, they'll blow it wide open and start running a parade through it.
Yes, Curry deservedly gets most of the credit for this team's greatness, and the Rocket's abject lack of basketball dignity is largely to blame for them being down 0-2 with or without Curry. But the Warriors' talent, versatility and coaching deserve credit for knowing exactly how to not only beat the Rockets, but expose them. They don't need Curry, because every player on Golden State knows how to make you pay for whatever you commit to taking away.
That's part of what makes them the Warriors.