Kevin Durant had his first signature moment of the 2017 postseason on Saturday night, dropping 38 points on 15-of-26 shooting while also snatching 13 rebounds in the Warriors Game 3 win over Utah.
Steve Kerr was again not on the bench, instead relegated to spending time at Duke Medical Center, getting a procedure that he hopes will help eliminate the discomfort he’s been feeling related to symptoms from his back surgeries last year. Kerr still had an impact on the game, however, and on Durant’s productivity specifically. As revealed by interim head coach Mike Brown on Sunday, Kerr was responsible for suggesting that Durant attack Jazz center Rudy Gobert in the pick-and-roll.
“It was something Steve brought up before the series,” Brown told the San Jose Mercury News.
The strategy worked wonders. With Durant attacking Gobert and forcing him to retreat into the paint, KD scored 17 of his 38 points in such situations, including nine in the final six minutes, often pulling up for uncontested mid-range jumpers. Anthony Slater of the Bay Area News Group put video together of a handful of such situations.
“He’s so good at covering up the paint,” Durant said of Gobert. “A few times (early in the game), I ran in there not thinking that he has an 8-foot wingspan, tried to shoot the ball over him and he blocked my shot. So after awhile you get smart enough to know I’ve been working on my pull-up my entire night, might as well pull it out.”
This is a reminder of two things. Firstly, that the Warriors are one of the best teams at thinking outside the box when it comes to making adjustments against their opponents. Think of putting Draymond Green at the 5 during the 2014-15 finals or refusing to guard Tony Allen during their series with Memphis. Gobert is considered by many to be the favorite for Defensive Player of the Year this season, and the idea of attacking him would seem counterproductive to most coaches.
Secondly, it shows the influence Kerr still has on this team even when he’s not on the sidelines, somewhere he may not be for the rest of this postseason. With Kerr gone, the Warriors lose his impact on the bench and in practice, but it’s good to know that his strategic insights will still be present as Golden State moves on to more difficult opponents.