The Warriors appear like they're trying to adjust their offence.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr said on Friday the team is looking to utilise Stephen Curry's off-ball abilities to create more looks, as he struggled to find good open shots in Game 4. "Well, we'll take a look at the tape, but we have been playing a certain style for a long time here," Kerr told reporters. "And the ball moves, and Steph as one of the great off-ball cutters in the league and can play on and off the ball. And so we're trying to mix up the different things that we do. And it wasn't his best game, but he'll bounce back."
Curry, who scored 47 points in a Game 3 loss, still managed to tally 27 in Game 4. However, the sharpshooter was cold from behind the arc. The six-time All-Star was constantly sprinting in pursuit of space for the entirety of the contest. While he's arguably the best long-range sniper of all time, he converted just two of his nine shots from behind the arc.
Kerr went on to praise the efforts of Klay Thomson and Kevon Looney, who both sat out of Game 3 due to injury. Thomson recorded a team-high 28 points while Looney's 10 led all Golden State's bench scorers. But in the end, it was a matter of overall effort.
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"Klay was amazing, with a tweaked hamstring to do what he did," Kerr said. "Looney as well, coming in and playing 20 minutes given his injury status.
'Proud'
"So both those guys are — they're warriors. No pun intended. They just compete, compete, compete, and I'm really proud of both of them. Both played really well, but again, it just — I mean, it wasn't enough in terms of our team effort."
Some speculated the the Warriors' offence was more fluid in the absence of star forward Kevin Durant, who hasn't played since he strained his calf in the second round but is making the trip out to Toronto for Game 5. Golden State ran through Portland in the Western Conference title series, but now they're simply physically depleted and face stiffer competition. However, the two-time defending champions have a lot of players with big-time experience they hope will keep them in the hunt.
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"We got a lot of talent and we got a lot of pride, and these guys have been to the Finals five straight years for a reason," Kerr said. "They're unbelievably competitive. And they're together, and they're going to fight. They're going to fight the whole way. So we'll go try to get one win and, if we can do that, come back here and see what happens."
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