Warriors use practice to lean into game-plan discipline before Rockets showdown originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – After multiple glaring defensive lapses in the first quarter on Monday against the Utah Jazz, the Warriors are reinforcing the emphasis on game-plan discipline.
At the top of the list for any defense is knowing your (opposing) personnel, generally referred to by the acronym KYP.
The Warriors took a 9-9 record into Monday’s game, a clear sign of struggle, and immediately failed the KYP test. Atop the defensive game plan for Utah were 7-foot-1 forward Lauri Markkanen, averaging 29.2 points per game and 6-foot-4 guard Keyonte George at 23.1.
George lit up the Warriors for 15 points in the opening quarter, making all four of his 3-point attempts, perhaps because defenders were otherwise occupied.
“That shouldn’t happen in this league,” Stephen Curry said after the game.
So, the Warriors, on Tuesday, watched video of their 134-117 victory that was built on the corrective action taken over the final three quarters. They muted the Jazz in the second quarter, with a 41-20 advantage, and rode the momentum to a rout.
“What I saw as that first quarter went on was a lack of focus defensively, in terms of knowing the game plan, trying to take out George and Markkanen and really be focused on them,” Kerr said after video review and practice at Chase Center. “And we let George get four open 3s in the first quarter.”
Kerr, who late in the first quarter lit into the team for its negligence, pointed out that the game shifted toward the Warriors behind the energy and focus of Pat Spencer and Will Richard, who came off the bench and provided an immediate spark that carried the team through the pivotal quarter.
Brandin Podziemski was guilty of KYP errors, posting a team-worst minus-10 in six first-quarter minutes, but Kerr didn’t point a finger. It was notable, though, that the third-year guard remained on the bench for the pivotal quarter.
Asked specifically about Podziemski, Kerr addressed his inconsistent offense but not his inconsistent defense.
But it was clear that the team’s session on Tuesday was about understanding game plans and making the effort to follow them.
“It’s all about having accountability, and that goes from No. 1 on the roster to No. 15,” Quinten Post said. “Before the game, you agree upon a game plan, and everybody has to be held accountable. Steve was on our ass somewhere in the first quarter, and we deserved it, where we just didn’t follow the game plan. People lost their assignments.
“But it’s never one individual. It’s always as a group.”
It’s one thing to adjust on the fly and put together a stirring comeback against perpetually rebuilding Utah, which came into the Chase on the second night of a back-to-back set with a 5-11 record.
It’s another thing altogether to put together four quarters good enough to take down the Houston Rockets, who haven’t played on back-to-back dates all season and come to the Bay Area on Wednesday having won 11 of their last 13 games. They’re without Kevin Durant, but they lead the NBA in offensive rating, rank fifth in defensive rating and first in rebounding.
And their coach, Ime Udoka, ranks first in cold, hard stares.
“They are an incredible team this year,” Kerr said. “Ime has done a great job there in the last couple of years, just kind of building an identity. The size, the physicality, the defense, and what they’ve added this year, obviously, is kind of picking up off that seven-game series we had where they just pummeled us on the glass.”
Golden State prevailed in that first-round playoff series last season, and Draymond Green was a big part of the formula. There is a chance, Kerr said, that he could be available after missing the Jazz game with a slight foot sprain.
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