Barber: Warriors an advertisement for NBA's offensive revolution

OAKLAND

In 1994-95, Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls were on the ascent, but not yet champions. On Dec. 19 of that season, Steve Kerr was the first player off the bench for the Bulls in a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Kerr struggled, hitting 1 of 6 shots, and Chicago lost. The score was 77-63.

Wednesday night at Oracle Arena, Kerr was coaching from the Warriors bench, and this time the score was 71-66. At halftime.

The final was Golden State 147, New Orleans 140, a scoreboard that conjures the heyday of Dr. J and Kiki Vandeweghe. It was also a perfect illustration of the new, fast, aggressive, fearless, reckless and frequently sloppy NBA, and the contrast was not lost on Kerr.

“It’s interesting,” the coach had said before the game. “It’s changed, for sure, the last few years.”

Kerr brought up the Warriors’ record-setting 51-point first quarter at Denver on Tuesday, on a night they finished with 142. “We’ve never had a quarter quite like that night, but we’ve had similar quarters in the past,” Kerr said. “And it didn’t feel like we were that far ahead of them. We weren’t, they scored 38. So that’s what’s different to me now. I think a lot of other teams have a similar tempo, similar ability to score in bunches. So it’s harder to extend leads.”

He continued: “I think everybody has watched us, and studied us, and have been able to game-plan and build rosters. And the league has changed quite a bit over the last couple years as teams have played faster and added more shooting. So it seems much more competitive now.”

Much of the credit, or blame, falls to Kerr and the Warriors. When the coach arrived in Oakland in 2014, he installed a fluid offense built on passing and 3-point shooting, and the NBA wasn’t ready for it. But this league adapts quickly, as Kerr alluded. Now everyone is pushing the pace and shooting the 3 ball; many teams do it at a greater rate than the Warriors.

The results are batty. The Warriors’ 142-point game Tuesday night was like a 48-minute highlight reel. The offense was virtually flawless in Denver. And yet Golden State barely stood out. That same night, the 76ers score 149 in a blowout of Minnesota, and the Hawks matched the Warriors’ 142 in upsetting Oklahoma City. It was the first time since Jan. 7, 1984, that three NBA teams had scored 140-plus on the same day.

Wednesday, while the Warriors and Pelicans were duking it out, the Nets clipped the Rockets in overtime, 145-142. Welcome to the new NBA. But is all this scoring good for the game?

Well, yes and no.

The 3-or-die mentality bogs down the game sometimes. It’s unbelievable how long NBA teams failed to emphasize the 3-point shot. They’re making up for lost time now, and no one can blame them. But a storm of long-distance makes and misses gets repetitive.

In their loss Wednesday, the Rockets shot 70 3-pointers. Seventy. They took 35 2-pointers, exactly half as many. A swishing 3 is a pretty sight, but when teams simply pass the ball around the arc until they find an open man, it’s a failure to use the full court. In my opinion, it isn’t the best style of basketball.

I’m not alone. Gregg Popovich, the greatest coach of his generation, had this to say of the 3-point shot in November: “I hate it, but I always have. I’ve hated the three for 20 years. That’s why I make a joke all the time, if we’re going to make it a different game, let’s have a four-point play. Because if everybody likes the three, they’ll really like the four. People will jump out of their seats if you have a five-point play. It will be great. There’s no basketball anymore, there’s no beauty in it. It’s pretty boring.”

I’m also convinced that as offenses have become more efficient, NBA players have begun to wave the white flag on defense. That has certainly been true of the Warriors at times this season. They have complained about officials clamping down on defenders, but the problem, when there is one, has more to do with focus and effort. The defense wasn’t great Wednesday, at least not until the late stretches of the game.

“To play defense these days takes so much effort,” Kerr said. “There’s so much court to cover. You’re in transition every play. I don’t think it’s ever been as hard to play defense in the NBA as it is right now.

“It’s kind of a pickup game out there. It really is,” Kerr added. “I’m more like the director at the YMCA than I am the coach: ‘You guys are shirts, and you guys are skins.’ That’s kind of the game these days.”

Yet the Warriors’ comeback win was also was a rebuttal to the basketball-is-eating-itself argument. Because it was a blast.

The best thing about the NBA’s scoring explosion is the pace. Kerr played in one of basketball’s most physical eras, when a drive through the lane often resulted in a body slam. NBA oldies will hand you some line about “when men were men,” but it was ugly basketball. Running up and down the floor and hoisting up the first open shot is much more fun to watch. And Wednesday at Oracle Arena was an advertisement for the brand.

Did you catch that second half? It was frenetic. The Warriors fought back from a 17-point deficit and took the lead on the final play of the third quarter as Andre Iguodala made an awkward layup and got fouled just before the buzzer.

The fourth quarter featured three ties and four lead changes. The big shots went back and forth. Steph Curry. Mirotic. Draymond Green. Back and forth, two tired teams fighting till the end, the Oracle crowd on its feet.

Popovich might be right about the monotony of the 3-point revolution. But the NBA’s return to Showtime basketball is a wonder, and Oakland is its capital.

You can reach columnist Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Skinny_Post.