Lowell Cohn: Warriors will have to step up defense against Thunder

OAKLAND

So, are the Warriors prepared for the Oklahoma City Thunder?

Good question.

The Warriors sure can score, but how’s their defense? Was no big deal against the Portland Trail Blazers. In Game 5, the closeout game, the Blazers scored 121 points and refused to go away. Even at the end.

One reader, scolding me for gushing over the Warriors, said some of the Warriors-Blazers games were like the NBA All-Star Game where players pride themselves on not playing defense.

What’s the point? The Warriors could escape the Blazers with sloppy, All-Star Game defense. Play defense like that against the Thunder and they won’t escape.

Which led to this recent exchange between Steve Kerr and me.

Me: “Portland scored a lot of points against you in certain games. I know they’re volatile, but so are the Thunder. Will you have to play better defense against them than you played against Portland and, if I’m going in an OK direction, can you be somewhat specific?”

Kerr: “It’s a different type of series. We’re facing different challenges, but we’re absolutely going to have to play better defense. I think we’re just going to have to play better overall. I feel like we will. We should be whole assuming we get Andrew (Bogut) back.

“This is a much bigger team. Rebounding will be key, try to get the loose balls and keep them at bay on the glass. If you turn it over against these guys, it’s a dunk for somebody - they’re so athletic in transition. We know what the challenges are and we’re going to have to be better for sure.”

Kerr’s answer was diplomacy in action. Annoying columnist asks annoying question about defense, about which the columnist knows zilch. Call it zilch-plus. Show columnist you’re nice by agreeing with him. Sure, we need to play better defense, etc. etc. We need to play better all around. Who doesn’t? No harm in taking that line.

Except Kerr allowed a glimmer of truth to shine through the diplomacy. That thing about OKC being big. Here’s the deal. The Blazers were fast but they weren’t big. Kind of shrimpy. Backcourt dominated. Lopsided in that regard. Should have been easy to defend.

Except the Blazers weren’t easy to defend. The Warriors, for reasons I don’t get, fought mightily against the Blazers’ great backcourt but allowed relative nobodies like Al-Farouq Aminu and Maurice Harkless to go off. Especially Aminu.

The Blazers are fast, but the Thunder aren’t exactly box turtles. Russell Westbrook is the fastest player in the league. The Thunder run like a locomotive - mixed metaphor there. And the Thunder are big. And powerful. Want to slow the Warriors, limit them to one side of the court when the Warriors play offense.

That’s what Portland lacked. Size. Heft. OKC’s Kevin Durant, a flat-out superstar, is a 6-9 small forward. And the Thunder play Steven Adams at center, Adams a Bogut type. Tough. Knock your head off. Initiates brutal contact and loves it. Makes him smile. Great on the pick and roll with Westbrook. He’s a late bloomer this season. And the Thunder play him alongside 6-11 Enes Kanter. Big lineup. Matches the Warriors in size. Could take away a Warriors advantage.

“Steven Adams has really taken another step,” Kerr said. “He’s become one of the best centers in the league. He used to play half the game, now he’s playing three-quarters of the game.”

Add Serge Ibaka, who’s shooting 3s like, well, a Warrior. Although the Thunder are not a great 3-point-shooting team. Big advantage Warriors, that one.

All this means the Warriors can’t merely concentrate on two guys - Durant and Westbrook. Well, sure they have to concentrate on Westbrook. Limit his drives. Make him take 3s. Force him to be a volume shooter.

But the Warriors have to play defense against a whole team, the team that eliminated the Spurs. The Warriors need to play better defense or they have a problem.

Their ability to play defense is predicted on health, an underplayed issue so far. If Bogut is not healthy, the Warriors defense is not as good. Simple as that. How is Draymond Green’s ankle? Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston are older defenders, did not play especially well against Portland.

One nuance about the Warriors defense. Curry’s offense helps their defense. His offense disrupts, frazzles and undermines the opponent. Hard to get a fast break going when Curry sinks a shot and the opponent gets the ball out of bounds for the long slow trek up the court.

Now that we’ve mentioned Curry, let’s talk about the subtext of this series - the Curry-Durant subtext. Serious subtext.

Durant can leave the Thunder after this season. If OKC wins the championship, he might not leave. But you never know.

Lots of buzz - don’t you hate the word buzz? - about him going to San Antonio.

Also buzz about him coming to the Warriors. In a previous column, I advised the Warriors against Durant. Said he would change the team, might actually hurt things. I take that back. And here’s why.

Curry.

Curry got hurt this postseason and last. At the beginning of the playoffs, all everyone talked about was Curry’s ankle - or was it his foot? - and then his knee. No criticism of Curry here. Best player in the league.

But the thing that makes him unique, his “average” size, also makes him vulnerable. Maybe even fragile. The Warriors suffer when they lose him in the playoffs. That’s when basketball gets rough. They have to endure his absence.

Radical thought: The Warriors need another superstar to take over if - when - Curry goes down.

Durant.

Warriors owner Joe Lacob has the biggest vision in the world. Maybe it’s the biggest ego. That’s why he’s moving the team to San Francisco. A man with a vision-ego like his will lust after Durant whether or not the Warriors repeat as champs. Lacob shoots for the stars, not to mention superstars.

Expect the Warriors roster to be different next season. Harrison Barnes and Iguodala could be gone. Durant could be a Warrior.

So, when you watch this series, see what’s before your eyes - how the Warriors play defense. Then try to imagine what’s not before your eyes, the story behind the story. The Kevin Durant story.

For more on the world of sports, go to the Cohn Zohn at cohn.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at lowell.cohn.pressdemocrat.com.