Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Paul, Kevin Looney: Best Supporting Team in Warriors’ Game 4 win

Boston – for this entry to the upper level of steve curryPantheon shows, a 43-point masterpiece to tear the advantage of domestic stadiums away from CelticsThe the Warriors need to win. To win, Curry needed a certain level of help. Klay Thompson And the Draymond Green, two of his most famous stars, didn’t get enough of him. So, with the series still in the balance, who will?

Andrew WigginsAnd the Jordan Paul And the kevon looney.

Golden State coach Steve Kerr evaluated each Warriors’ Game 3 loss level and chose, among other mods, a pair of spin-offs that might seem inconsequential. Replace Care Looney with Otto Porter Jr. In the starting lineup, hoping to spread the floor wider with Green there to unlock the game, but he also planned to use Looney more often, despite the initial seats.

“I didn’t play it enough in Game Three,” Kerr admitted. “This was my fault.”

Looney conceded 17 minutes in the third game and not even a second in the fourth quarter. He played 28 minutes into Match 4, including 7 minutes 24 seconds of the fourth quarter that revived the Warriors’ title chances after winning 107-97.

Part of that fourth quarter was spent with Green, who played poorly in the first three quarters, on the bench and Looney on the floor as the only big player. Then, a lot of fanfare surrounded the green part of that equation, considering the team dynamics and characters in play.

“It’s confidence in Loon and what he can do more than any kind of situation with Draymond,” said Carey.

Changing the starting lineup did not affect the warriors much. They went down 12-6 and only scored two rebounding teams in the first five minutes, as Robert Williams III continued to mix them on the glass. Then Looney came in and picked up four rebounds in his first two minutes, establishing an indoor presence that the Warriors lack every time he’s not playing.

There weren’t many moments in this series when the advantage of size tilted the direction of the warriors. Looney’s stint in the middle of the first quarter qualifies. This is the second of his early offensive wearer. The Celtics are getting small, full-time Derek White Williams. White found himself in Looney as Curry lined up 28 tails. Curry rolls. Looney beat White and grabbed the rebound, and the resulting kick-off led to Wiggins 3, one of two in Wiggins’ first quarter 3s.

A total of 157 looney rebounds is third in the playoffs, and 56 offensive rebounds are six times more than anyone else despite using it lighter on certain nights. Boston Alhorford He leads all playoff rebounds with 191. But he played 743 minutes. Looney hit 157 rebounds in 410 minutes. He devours them at the best rate in the league.

Its effect on glass is not limited only to size. It’s also about his hustle and the way he reads angles. Check out this second quarter sequence. Lonely wasn’t even credited with an offensive rebound in this play. went to Gary Payton IIbut Looney made the play.

Watch it, in slow motion, predict where the missing Wiggins bounce will land and head to the right block a split second before Jason Tatum. Tatum is in a better position to rebound, but Looney’s extra effort sends a frantic Tatum to the ground. In the scramble, he directs it from out of bounds to Payton, who gets the undisputed corner kick.

These are two points in a second chance. The Warriors had 19. The Celtics only had 12 points. In Game 3, Boston had 21 second chance points, and the Warriors had 11. This text flip is directly related to the rise in Looney minutes.

“Loon is just a critical component of everything we do,” Kerr said. “He’s our best checker, our best factor. One of our smartest players. He’s always in the right place. He made me think the biggest bucket in the game after Horford scored the third goal from the corner (in the late fourth quarter), and Draymond passed the ball out of the pocket into Loon, and finish with this left hand (to bring the Warriors back up to five).”

Curry rested for seven of the 48 minutes in Game 4. Those short, non-curry pockets were nearly fatal for the Warriors in the series. This is mostly due to Paul’s inability to resolve Boston’s defense. with white and Marcus SmartThe Celtics have better defenders than anyone the Warriors have faced, plus Williams, who now has 12 blocks in the series, roams as a fearsome rim guard at the back end. The Celtics were scrambling en masse.

But Poole entered Game 4 with a more aggressive and patient approach. He caught his shot more evenly but didn’t cut 3secs in a panic or lunge to the edge and challenged Williams every time he thought he saw the light of day. Instead, he slipped into his blouse when the situation called for it.

It called up early in the second quarter when Curry hit the bench. Poole nailed two big 3s, and because the Warriors were playing so well defensively, that boosted them to a plus2 in the part where Curry rested.

Paul’s job was under a bigger microscope when Kerr decided to rest Curry again to open the fourth quarter, protecting a one-point lead. Any shot he hits during that stretch would immediately be considered the biggest point of his career.

The Celtics were back in second place in the opening moments of the fourth quarter. Another one stopped in Boston and scored, and Kerr would likely have had to bring Curry back. But that’s when Paul spun around a high green screen, read how far Williams’ fall coverage fell and patiently rose for a mid-range free-throw jacket to tie the score and buy Curry a longer break.

“Fantastic,” Thompson said. “The poise he’s been playing with as a 22-year-old throughout these qualifiers is amazing.”

The Warriors lost Curry’s few minutes to start fourth with three points, which means they were a minus -1 total without Curry in Game 4. That’s more than acceptable to them. He’s back inside with a 9:13 left and the Warriors down two.

This is the end of the first possession after Curry’s return. Jaylyn Brown He fouled a corner kick 3, but the ball rebounded towards him, and the green foul, at closing, overrun. In Game 3, this is the kind of bounce the Celtics will be back in.

But in this scenario, Wiggins calmly reads the carrom and performs a jab in his left hand and a side dribble to secure the loose ball and make a quick break in the other direction. He remains patient on the go and finds Paul on the right wing. Poole Pump flops and passes Brown to stop the ball before Williams can get back into position to protect the rim. This is Wiggins and Paul pulling together in a huge swing moment in the fourth quarter.

Wiggins had no rebound in the first quarter of Game 4. He finished the night with a career-high of 16 rebounds. He had five rebounds in the second quarter, five in the third, and six in the fourth.

Throughout his career, Wiggins averaged only 4.4 rebounds per game. He never averaged more than 5.2 in any of his regular eight seasons. Part of the constant criticism about his game has been the inability to translate his size, height and athleticism into a force on the game’s fringes.

But that narrative has changed in these playoffs as the Warriors downsized, trusting Wiggins as a little ball forward forward. He rewarded them with 7.3 rebounds per game. What has changed?

“I want to win,” Wiggins said. “I know the rebound is a big part of that. I just want to win.”

Wiggins was phenomenal in his 43rd minute. Kerr can’t get him off the ground. He guards either Tatum or Brown for most of the game, and should shoot offensively enough to become the second best in the Warriors game.

Wiggins has 50 offensive rebounds in these playoffs, the second most in the league. Places 49th and 50th came in the fourth quarter of Game 4. This is the biggest among them, and probably the biggest offensive rebound of his career.

The Warriors are down by four points while the clock is ticking less than five minutes. Their title odds are reeling. Poole drives past White on the left wing but fails to overtake him over Williams’ other strong competition. But look at the opposite block. This Wiggins was taking advantage of Smart, the best defensive player in the NBA, was out of position and grabbed the rebound before Williams could block another shot.

Curry has been consistent in the NBA Finals. He’s been outstanding in all four games. But the warriors lost twice because he did not receive enough help. They won’t win Game 4 if he doesn’t come up with those 43 transcendent points. But they also won’t win if Looney doesn’t bounce, Paul doesn’t score and Wiggins doesn’t give 44 minutes work.

“Everyone got up,” said Carey.

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(Photo by Andrew Wiggins and Derek White: David Butler II / USA Today)