As anticipated, Golden State Warriors center JaVale McGee will continue to start in head coach Steve Kerr's lineup following Saturday's impressive Game 1 performance against the San Antonio Spurs.
Following Golden State's 113-92 victory over the Spurs at Oracle Arena, Warriors beat reporter Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweeted that McGee would indeed stay in the starting lineup for Game 2.
JaVale McGee will continue to start at center.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 14, 2018
This is very well deserved for McGee, who had a stellar game against the Spurs with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, four rebounds, two blocked shots, and one steal in just 16 minutes of action.
“We just wanted to put our best defensive lineup on the floor from the beginning,” coach Kerr said, via an article written by Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle. “To re-establish our defense, which has been subpar. That’s the only way to have success in the playoffs.”
The Golden State defense was spectacular from start to finish, as the Spurs were held to just 32-of-80 shooting from the field in a game that was very lopsided.
“They had more grunt, more physicality in the first quarter, and we looked like deer in the headlights,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said during his postgame press conference. “I thought we were prepared, physically and mentally, but I was mistaken. It’s a bad combination to play defense like that and not shoot at the other end. That was the game right there.”
With one of 16 victories completed towards winning the franchise's third championship in four seasons, the Warriors will be back at it on Monday night during Game 2 in search of a 2-0 series lead.
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