“Can the Kings Defeat the Warriors in Their First Playoff Appearance in 16 Years?”

Warriors Kings regular season record

Warriors 3-1 Kings

Playing the playoffs for the first time in 16 years, it was a coincidence that the first round faced the Warriors with the most experience in the playoffs. Since everyone is familiar with the Warriors’ offensive and defensive system, this article will introduce their offense and defense from the perspective of the kings, and predict whether they can defeat the Warriors and advance to the next round.

Whether it is playoff experience or head-to-head results, the Kings have obviously lost a lot to the Warriors, but the first three games between the Kings and the Warriors this season were played in November, and the last game of the Kings has already confirmed the playoffs. The big rotation, and the first two games the Warriors won were at home, and the Warriors’ away performance this year is extremely poor, so there is not much reference value for the regular season games.

Mike Brown stayed in the Warriors last season. The offensive system he brought is very similar to that of the Warriors. Both the Kings and the Warriors focus on supporting long men with the ball, and match a group of shooters with different running positions. The difference is that compared to the Warriors, the king’s elders are more dominant in the offense. Sabonis has more than 1,000 handoffs this year, leading the league alone. Jokic, who ranks second, is not even half as good as him. The king lets the center dominate the offense , avoid unnecessary dribbling, greatly reduce turnover rate and improve offense.

Source: Getty Imgaes

Regarding the part of Kings guards, I don’t think it’s appropriate to call Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk shooters. These players are somewhat capable of holding the ball, but they are not strong enough to launch an offense. It is a bit reluctant to become a weak side support point, which makes it easy for everyone to ignore their ball handling and vision. Sabonis’ handoffs completely mask their dribbling flaws, allowing them to play value in addition to being a shooter. Monk’s assist rate has risen from 19% in the previous season to 31.5% in one breath, relying on hand off to allow him to gain a lot of space, and give it to Sabonis to roll in or find outside shooters. The same principle can also be applied to Huerter, and even Fox, who does not have a high-level view of the overall situation.

Not to mention that Sabonis’s own offense is also very destructive. This year, his Roll-in scoring efficiency is better than 84.8% of players in the league. The rim screen puts the ball in. In addition, although Sabonis can’t shoot three-pointers, he still has 47.9% of the mid-range distance of 5-9 feet. Coupled with his ability to face the frame, it is enough to open up space for Fox and liberate him from cutting.

Under the influence of Sabonis, Fox showed the best execution ability of his career. Perhaps the lack of a mature offensive and defensive system in the past few seasons caused him to need a lot of self-judgment when attacking. The offensive efficiency is not satisfactory. But this year’s King’s offensive system is very clear. When a post or Elbow touch is required, a split action is required. If the hand is not successful, he immediately shifts the direction of the screen and plays a pick and roll. The simplification of the work allows him to fully utilize his speed advantage, and sometimes directly go to the basket. frame, the opponent’s flanking attack is immediately sent to the support point for follow-up. And when Sabonis rests, Fox will lead the bench. As the season progresses, his decision-making tends to become more and more mature. For the first time in his career, his field goal percentage is higher than 50%, and he is the leading scorer in the fourth quarter. The random knife flow has become an all-around defender who can attack and pass.

Source: Getty Imgaes

So far, I haven’t seen any team’s tactics that can particularly limit the King’s offense. In the past, opponents would name Curry singles, but the Warriors have two fierce perimeter locks, Wiggins and Payton, and it is easy for the Warriors to dismantle them with Hedge. But the king prefers to continue to use hand-to-hand as the main axis. Sabonis ranks first in the league in assists with 5.7 screens per game. The screen success rate after Handoff is as high as 77%. Among the players with more than 100 Hnadoffs, Giannis is second only to Giannis, which means that the front line will almost certainly be stuck by him. Wiggins and Payton are not so easy Stick to Fox.

Not to mention that the king still has a bunch of Split actions before the handoff, which is more effective than starting the name and running Curry into a dizzy state. At that time, in order to protect Curry, the Warriors did not communicate well and slipped directly into the basket for two points. It was completely the rhythm of the Warriors being defeated by their own spells. Moreover, compared with Green, Sabonis has the ability to organize and attack independently, and it is unrealistic to switch defenses and pinch the ball holder. Perhaps the Warriors will use zone defense to reduce the frequency of the hand-in-hand attack that the Kings are best at, but they also have to worry about Sabonis’ support in the center and the touch of the shooter outside. This year’s king is so difficult to defend, even if he takes out the buck or Celtic’s flank sea, he may not have the confidence to defend it.

Source: Getty Imgaes

But the more exciting the offense, the worse the defense. This year, the Kings have a defensive efficiency of 116, ranking 24th in the league. Behind them are all tank teams (including Lonely Narrows). The king’s tribute has never been a problem, but defense has. Mike Brown used to focus on defense in the Warriors. In fact, Brown also emphasized team defense at the beginning of the season, but the effect was not good. Instead, the offensive firepower became more and more exaggerated. By the second half of the season, Okpala was let go, almost to the point of giving up.