Guest column: Warriors assistant Ron Adams breaks down the playoffs

HOUSTON

In Game 3, as the game progressed, our defensive intensity increased. We knew we would get a big thrust from them early after having beaten them twice. We probably didn’t handle that as well as we would have liked to. They were active in open court, but we settled down in the second quarter and we played hard and pretty aggressively throughout the game. There are things we know we can do better.

Houston is a formidable opponent. They’re a team that has outstanding athleticism. They have skill players. They have a lot of players. They have pretty good depth. This is a team we have won a lot against recently. I think it’s easy to think the past can guarantee the future. I don’t think that’s true in the playoffs and, perhaps, on Thursday night that was part of it. I thought we were ready to play, but it’s a reminder. They’re good. We have to put a more consistent game offensively and defensively on the floor. And we’re capable of doing that.

We have been missing Stephen Curry, and his absence affects the defense. Steph brings a lot to the table defensively, and he ramps up his defensive focus in the playoffs even more. The other side of the coin is that Steph is very much involved in the scoring bursts that we have that put teams at a disadvantage from a defensive standpoint. That really fuels us defensively.

The Rockets played so strong on Thursday night and part of that could be they came home, although I can’t know for sure. There’s a familiarity of your court, the ritual of preparing for a game, sleeping in your own bed. All those kinds of things can make it more comfortable playing at your home place.

But also in the playoffs you have to be careful because, home or away, these games are hard-fought. You can’t mistakenly think that, just because you are home, all problems get solved. In some cases, it can work against you. I’m sure studies have been done on it. I have a layman’s point of view. Some teams are very much pressured at home if they haven’t played well during the season so, that can work against you.

We have a really good relationship with our fans. Our players are comfortable with our fans. Our fans greatly fuel them. That’s not the case with every team, but in our setting it certainly is.

Warriors assistant coach Ron Adams will write guest columns exclusively for The Press Democrat occasionally throughout the team’s playoff run.