Projecting the Golden State Warriors' Best and Worst 2015 NBA Playoff Matchups
The Golden State Warriors have all but wrapped up the top seed in the Western Conference for the 2015 NBA Playoffs. Despite their dominant regular season, the playoffs are the moment where teams put their money where their mouth is, and some matchups will be more difficult than others.
The Pacific Division champions will most likely face off against triple-double machine Russell Westbrook and his Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round. However, they may catch a break in not having to go up against his tag team partner, Kevin Durant.
As Slam Magazine informed us, Durant is out indefinitely and will likely miss the playoffs with his foot injury:
The Warriors are extremely strong at home with a 34-2 record, and some team will have to win all three contests in their house while sneaking one away at Oracle Arena to knock Golden State out in a seven-game series.
With that said, the Warriors road to the title will be difficult in such a powerful conference. No matchup will be easy, but let’s take a look at the best and worst playoff matchups for Golden State.
Best Matchups
The Dallas Mavericks look like they will avoid the Warriors in the playoffs—unless the Mavs continue their recent cold streak and get passed by the Oklahoma City Thunder. If that is the case, the Warriors should feast on the opportunity.
Stephen Curry has dominated the Mavs defense this season, even with head coach Rick Carlisle running double-teams at him. In the second game of the regular-season series, Curry scored 51 points while erasing a 22-point deficit in the Warriors' 128-114 win on Feb. 4.
Curry just carved Dallas up, as you can see in the video:
By double-teaming Curry, at least one Warrior will be open. And with the way the team spreads the ball around, a player should have a high-percentage shot.
Another factor is the Draymond Green-Dirk Nowitzki matchup. Green’s defense is superb, and he will be the most potent offensive weapon for the Mavs.
The Warriors hold a 3-0 advantage so far this season and play the final game against the Mavs in Dallas on April 4. With only two weeks remaining in the regular season at that point, the Warriors should have a better glimpse of whether they will face Dallas in a first-round series.
If that is the case, Curry and company should be raring to go.
The Houston Rockets have one of the four-best records in the Association, but they hold an 0-4 record versus the Warriors. Golden State dominated the season series with four 10-plus point victories.
One major key to this tilt is the play of Klay Thompson.
James Harden has been putting on an MVP-caliber show this season. When he faces the Warriors, Thompson is there to limit his production.
Harden did average 25.3 points per game in the series, but he was limited to 40.5 percent shooting (24.1 percent from behind the arc) from the field.
Two different offenses usually show up when Harden is on the court and when he is off. A lot of the time versus the Warriors, Harden is myopic and plays the game one-on-five.
Per Basketball-Reference.com, Harden makes his team better with a positive-14.5 offensive rating increase. However, the assist percentage drops from 65.1 percent to 58.2 when he plays.
By putting clamps on their biggest weapon, Draymond Green, Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala can focus on minimizing the remainder of the Houston offense. Bogut’s presence in the middle makes the Rockets pass more, which creates opportunities for the Dubs’ wing defenders to step into the lane and steal the ball.
On offense, the Bogut and Curry duo facilitates the attack from the top of the key, which draws Dwight Howard farther away from the rim. Bogut arguably won the matchups in the two games Howard played.
The motion-style offense opens a lot of holes for Golden State to attack the perimeter. They can take the open look or drive in for the score.
The Rockets should be a more formidable opponent in a playoff series. If it comes down to Harden against the world, the Warriors should move on without much damage.
Worst Matchups
The Memphis Grizzlies look to be the toughest potential playoff opponent for the Warriors. It was this team that snapped the franchise-record 16-game winning streak with a 105-98 victory on Dec. 16 in a game Bogut missed because of injury.
The Grizzlies are problematic because they have such a strong frontcourt with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. Those two are the team’s leading scorers and are dominant rebounders as well.
Bogut and Green will have their work cut out for themselves in trying to contain the two. Randolph is a very tough matchup versus the undersized Green.
Green, however, is up for the challenge and will use whatever means necessary to win the battle. It should be interesting to see these two former Michigan State Spartans go at it if they meet in the conference finals.
Memphis will probably try to blitz Curry and Thompson in order to force the Warriors to rely more heavily on the shooting games of Harrison Barnes, Green, Iguodala and Bogut. If they can slow the game to a snail’s pace, the Grizzlies have a lot better shot at coming out victorious.
The Warriors must do a better job of opening the floor against this lineup in order to create shots for the Splash Brothers. They can start crafting that plan when they meet again at the FedExForum in Memphis on March 27.
Coach Steve Kerr probably doesn’t want to pull out all of his cards with a comfortable lead for the conference’s top spot, but he needs to make it clear that the Warriors can defeat the Grizzlies on the road.
This game will probably be one of the most-anticipated matchups of the remainder of the season, although the Warriors get the home date on April 13, their second-to-last game of the regular season.
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs have been the Warriors kryptonite for almost two decades. The team from south of Austin has literally owned Golden State in both the regular season and in the playoffs.
You would have to be a longtime fan to remember the last time the Warriors won a regular-season game in San Antonio. That date would be Feb. 14, 1997.
Golden State finally did pick up a win this century in San Antonio, as the team beat the Spurs in Game 2 of the 2013 NBA playoffs. However, the Warriors would lose that series in six games.
The age-defying Spurs are starting to turn up the heat in their quest to defend the 2014 NBA title. Tim Duncan and company dominated the Atlanta Hawks on the road with a 114-95 win on March 22 in route to an 11-4 record in their past 15 games.
The Warriors and Spurs have split the season series with both games being played at Oracle. Yes, San Antonio is responsible for one of the two losses at home.
Key matchups in this heavyweight bout would include Green versus Duncan, Curry against Tony Parker and either Harrison Barnes or Andre Iguodala trying to stop Kawhi Leonard.
The likelihood of the two meeting up is still up in the air. The Spurs are currently the sixth seed in the Western Conference, but the gap between the No. 4 though No. 7 seeds is only one game.
Kerr took some of his style from his former coach as a player, current Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. Seeing these two coaches try to outstrategize each other could be even more entertaining.
Big brother still holds the huge advantage over little brother. In this fight, the Golden State Warriors look like they could finally get over.
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