“If you feel like you’re getting under their skin, you press a little more. If don’t feel like you’re getting under their skin, you press a little more.”
The Warriors’ three-guard lineup featuring Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Green is built to frustrate. Coach Steve Kerr deployed it again to close the second quarter with similar results to the first game. The new death lineup went on a 12-0 run, then finished their six minutes together on a 22-6 run that turned a six-point deficit into a six-point lead at the half.
Soon, the Warriors were just playing. Poole was knocking down tricky step-back 3-pointers and zipping quick assists behind his back. Curry nailed a falling-three pointer, watched it go on from the ground and spun up to do his four-point play countdown dance. It didn’t matter who was on the court anymore — what lineup was most effective, how they were defending Jokic — the Warriors were straight up demoralizing their opponent.
A suffocating blend of earned arrogance from the three-time champion core mixed with Poole, Wiggins and Payton II’s wily confidence resulted in a third quarter the Warriors won 44-30 — their most in a third quarter in a playoff game under Kerr. The Nuggets’ frustrations culminated in the fourth quarter. Jokic fouled Wiggins and spiked the ball in frustration, earning him his second technical foul of the game and, therefore an ejection. He would not complete his revenge game.
Could the best defense against Jokic be a demoralizing offense? Maybe. But Green, Looney and Payton II put in plenty of dirty work, too. Green in particular got under Jokic, limiting his scoring to 26 points on 9-of-20 shooting — an inefficient line for a player who can almost always get what he wants.
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