The Warriors needed to bounce back from a historically poor performance in game five. And they achieved just that. The Warriors had the most rebounds in a playoff game (league-wide) since 1983, despite being renowned for their small-ball lineups.
The Golden State Warriors advanced to their sixth Western Conference Finals in eight seasons. On the strength of 70 team rebounds. Beating the Memphis Grizzlies 110-96.
Following an unsuccessful experiment with youngster Jonathan Kuminga in the starting lineup in game six. The Warriors needed to buy into a more defined strategy. After the match, stand-in coach Mike Brown revealed that Stephen Curry and Draymond Green had selected Kevon Looney. To return to the starting lineup.
Looney repaid the confidence by smashing his previous career-best in rebounds. Which he achieved earlier this season.
His 22 points included 11 offensive rebounds, resulting in crucial second-chance chances that helped the Warriors win. The 26-year-old entered some exclusive company by delivering his most excellent game to date.
However, it wasn’t only Looney who dominated the boards.
After losing the bouncing back fight for the primary time this season in game five. It was evident that all five Warriors players put forth a concentrated effort. Draymond Green had 15 points, and Andrew Wiggins had 11, for 15 points from the backcourt splash brothers.
The Warriors needed every one of the 70 rebounds.
Including 25 offensive boards in a diversion that went down to the wire. Desmond Bane made a three-pointer while with little under seven minutes left to give the Grizzlies a two-point lead, 89-87.
Considerable turnover problems have neutralized Golden State’s rebounding up to that time. There was a desire to go back to their faster style of play. But this frequently led to rash, high-risk passes, which resulted in 17 turnovers.
Still, they took better care of the ball in the last minutes. With Curry coming alive offensively after a lackluster performance up to that point. In addition, the dagger went on another offensive rebound from Looney. Who then fed Klay Thompson’s three-pointer with three minutes remaining to give the Warriors a 105-92 lead.
In-game 6, Klay Thompson put on a show. While hitting eight three-pointers and scoring 30 points to lead a Warriors team that shot less than 40% from the field. Although the poor shooting and turnovers were cause for concern. The rebounding advantage proved decisive in this game.
To sum up, Golden State will now wait for the outcome of the Phoenix Suns-Dallas Mavericks series. Which is currently deadlocked at 3-3, heading to tomorrow’s game seven in Phoenix.
Read more: Curry and Thompson put the Warriors in the finals of the Western Conference.
One thought on “The Warriors have recovered to reach the Western Conference Finals”