On the brink of elimination, the Kings head back to The Bay to try and hold off the Warriors for one more game to force a winner take all game 7. The have yet to have what feels like a perfect game in the series, and if there was ever a time for one of those, it’s now. Let’s see what they can do to stave off elimination.
There’s no other way around it. The Kings need to hit their shots to win Game 6. They are shooting 30.1% from 3 with the often talked about Huerter and Barnes struggles leading the way for the low percentage. The Kings could potentially play the exact same way they have the last 3 games with the only change being making their 3’s and can win the game. It’s great that there is such a clear path to winning, but at this point it feels like they have to find another way to win than just by relying on the shooting.
Another number that is trending as low for the Kings in the playoffs is the Assists. They are averaging 21.6 Assists per game as compared to 27.3 in the regular season. Part of that just boils down to making shots, but looking at the Potential Assists and Passes adds more context. The Kings are averaging 42.4 Potential Assists in the playoffs, down from their 50.2 in the regular season. That along with their passing numbers being down shows a drastic change in their offense.
The Kings have gone heavily to the Pick and Roll with how much attention the Warriors are putting on defending the Dribble Handoff action. According to NBA.com’s Playtype stats, the Kings were averaging only 14.7 Pick and Roll Ball Handler possessions per game in the regular season, 2nd fewest in the league. In the 5 playoff games, that number jumps up to 24.0. For reference, the Hawks led the NBA with 24.5 per game.
It’s one of the reasons we’ve seen Fox and Monk play so well in the series, but have seen others struggle to get going. The Kings relied so much on scoring by committee in the regular season and seem to have gone away from that slightly in the playoffs.
For the Warriors, they feasted at the rim in Game 5, shooting 25-of-33 (75.8%) in the Restricted Area. For the series, they have shot 75% at the rim, which ranks 1st for all playoff teams. In the first few games, they weren’t shooting inside on enough volume for it to drastically hurt the Kings, but it seems like they’ve figured out that all they need to do is make a few passes and back-cuts.
Guarding Steph and Klay on the perimeter forces teams to make a decision. Are you going to put all pressure and focus on them on the perimeter, or are you going to put focus on the paint. For the first 5 games, the Kings have put all of their focus on the perimeter and roller, leaving a wide-open lane for Gary Payton II and company to cut in.
The question will be if the Kings make adjustments to counteract the adjustments that the Warriors have made throughout the series of switching from 50 3PA’s to finding cutters at the rim. The playoffs are equated to chess for a reason. Steve Kerr has made his adjustments, now let’s see what Mike Brown does with the opportunity to get a Game 7 in Sacramento.