Author: Monte Poole / Source: NBCS Bay Area
SACRAMENTO – As raindrops were falling outside Golden 1 Center Saturday night, 3-pointers were falling inside for both the Warriors and Kings, who went after each other as if blood were at stake.
Pelted by Sacramento’s 20-of-31 (64.
5 percent) shooting from deep over the first 45 minutes, the Warriors shut down the Kings over the final three to slip out of town with a 127-123 victory that left a relevant question still hanging over the heads of the defending champions:Can the Warriors get back to the top of the NBA playing furious defense only when the game is on the line, instead of making it a habit?
“We’ll do it,” Klay Thompson said willfully. “I know we can do it. Yeah, we’ll do it.”
Draymond Green, the most defensive-minded Warrior, who in October expressed his distaste for new rules designed to aid offense, naturally responded differently.
“You can’t really play defense in the league today,” he said, with an air of resignation. “I guess that’s what they wanted, right?”
Leave it coach Steve Kerr to fall somewhere in between Thompson and Green.
“Sure. We can,” Kerr said. “We’re going to get a lot better.
“But it’s lot harder to guard these days. Everybody’s got shooters everywhere. There’s a lot more court to cover. Defense is tougher today than it’s ever been in the history of this game, in my opinion.”
Evidence in that regard mounts with each game. Scoring is up. Pace is faster. The 3-point shot revolution – for which the Warriors’ own Stephen Curry was the lead instigator – is in full swing.
That does not, however, mean there is no place for defense. Not when 16 teams are playing it better than the Warriors, who rank 17th in defensive rating. Not when 21 teams are allowing…
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