Depleted and desperate for a win, the Golden State Warriors snatched home court advantage away from the Toronto Raptors in Game 2. It was a classic showcase of depth, and a signature game for the Warriors' mantra, “‘Strength in Numbers.” With Stephen Curry feeling under the weather, nearly everyone on the Warriors' roster contributed to tie the series heading back to Oakland.
It wasn't easy. The Raptors' Game 1 defense carried over to the start of Game 2. And even with increased effort and focus from the Warriors, the Raptors roared to a 12-point lead in the first half.
But there was a span between the end of the second quarter and the mid-way point in the third where the Warriors took control. Curry's mini-burst right before halftime was merely a precursor to the 18-0 avalanche in the third. Let's dive into the film to see what the Warriors did to get momentum back in both the game, and the series:
Curry hadn't been feeling like himself from the start, and frequent visits with Warriors' Director of Sports Medicine Rick Celebrini confirmed that he was under the weather. With a sluggish beginning, the Warriors' offense struggled to find any footing, until this play with under four minutes to go until halftime.
This was Steph's first made field goal of the game, and it got him, and the team, cooking. Given little air space to shoot, Curry drove right by Fred VanVleet. Which was the Raptors' game plan through the first couple of games: make him put the ball on the floor. But after the Curry penetration, he kicked it back out to the wide open Andre Iguodala. Marc Gasol, who was just lurking in the paint, had knowingly, and smartly, left Iguodala all alone. Norman Powell, though, rotated over fully, leaving Jonas Jerebko in the corner. And now, with Jerebko open, he was free to screen for Curry. VanVleet got hung up by the screen, Gasol came out from the paint too late, and Curry got enough space for his first made shot of the night.
The Warriors closed the lead to five at the half, and they came out with a fury in the third quarter. With the Raptors' defense focusing so much on Curry and Klay Thompson, the role players for the Warriors had to step up. And step up, they did.
The 18-0 run started with this play. DeMarcus Cousins penetrated middle, and kicked it out to Draymond Green. A handoff to Thompson got Klay driving to the rim, but was quickly met by a double-team, as Kyle Lowry came over to help. Iguodala was left all by himself, and the Raptors will live with him nailing this mid-range jumper. But it was a good sign to start the half for the Warriors.
https://streamable.com/g179m
After a live-ball turnover, the Warriors tried to push in transition. Klay found Steph on the left wing, and Lowry closed out hard to the body to take away the three. The disadvantage was that it gave Curry the lane, and while help is supposed to rotate over, Iguodala should get a lot of credit here for sealing off Marc Gasol in the paint. The seal gave Curry the open runner to put the Warriors within one.
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After another stop, the Warriors again pushed the ball in transition. Boogie played point forward here, and pushing the ball up quickly yielded a miscommunication between Gasol and Kawhi. Both chased Klay Thompson as he cut to the paint, and Iguodala was, again, left wide open. The Raptors will live with these shots to prevent Curry and Thompson from shooting. But Iguodala started to get in a rhythm, and nailed the open triple to give Golden State the lead.
https://streamable.com/dx7p5
Here, the Warriors took advantage of Curry's immense gravitational pull. Klay Thompson received the ball with Pascal Siakam all up in his body to take away the three. But the real action here was on the weak side, where Curry back-screened for Draymond Green. It required communication from the defense to switch it, but because of the attention Curry deserved, both Danny Green and Kawhi stayed with Steph. Draymond then had a free run to the rim to get the open lay-in.
https://streamable.com/6oyin
With the Warriors' defense stopping Toronto again, Curry quickly swung the ball to Iguodala so they could feed Cousins in the post. With Leonard up high on Thompson at the perimeter, a simple cut by Klay got him a step by his man, and Cousins found him for the layup.
After a big three from Klay on the next possession, the Warriors were up by eight all of a sudden. And they ran a play eerily similar to the clip above:
https://streamable.com/ii04x
Klay fed Boogie in the post, and VanVleet was right up in the body of Thompson to deny any pass to him on the perimeter. This time on the strong side, Klay cut again, getting a step on VanVleet. And Boogie came up with the nifty bounce pass to Klay for the layup. The Raptors' strategy of being up high on Curry and Thompson, denying the pass, and stopping the three-ball worked to an extent, but these backdoor cuts were starting to kill them.
With the Warriors' run at 16-0 to start the second half, they again attack in transition:
https://streamable.com/ra8we
The Raptors' transition defense had been solid in Game 1, but the Warriors found ways to attack quickly in Game 2. Here, Iguodala pushed in transition, and notice on the weak side, both Draymond and Steph are running down, but only Kyle Lowry is back on defense. Following the game plan of sticking to Curry at all costs, Lowry chose Curry over Draymond, and no one impeded Green's path to the rim. Iguodala found him for an easy layup to put the run at 18-0, and built a 13-point Warriors' lead.
The Warriors never relinquished that lead, despite strong Raptors' defense in the fourth quarter cutting it to two. But it was this stretch that defined the game. And though the Raptors had been doing so many good things on defense up to that point, the Warriors found ways to finally attack in transition and use the gravity of their shooters to open up layups.
As a result, a raucous Toronto crowded was silenced, and all the momentum the Raptors had built dissipated into nothingness. Instead, both teams now head to Oakland tied at one game apiece. The Raptors squandered their momentum and tough defense, and Warriors' bursts at the end of the second quarter and half of the third quarter sealed the Raptors' fate.
With their prolific shooting, the Warriors can go on insane runs. But this was a rare Warriors' run not sparked by their sharp-shooting. Instead, it was the role players and the team's collective basketball IQ that outsmarted the Raptors' defense to snatch control of the game, and even the series.
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