Before 2001, NBA defense as we know it today was impossible.
In fact, it was illegal.
The league’s illegal defense rule prohibited the ability to defend a space on the floor, in general. It was a ridiculous regulation that was justly scrapped and replaced with a defensive 3-second call, ushering in an era of double-teams, overloads, and ICE defending.
Oh, yes, and zone defense, too.
Which brings us to the Warriors-Rockets first-round series.
Nearly a quarter-century after illegal defense was eliminated, we have a playoff series that is being decided by zone defenses.
It’s up to you to decide how far the sport has come or how far it has strayed from the righteous path. But whether you think zone is for “cowards” or it’s a hallmark of the best era of the game, what’s clear is that it’s front and center for this series.
Blame the Warriors for flooding this series with zone — they’re frequent practicers of the once-forbidden defenses, using 1-3-1 and 2-3 looks, typically with their second-unit, and particularly since Jimmy Butler’s arrival from Miami, where the Heat were the league-leaders in zone for the last few seasons.
And the Warriors’ zone has been successful in recent weeks. It was unquestionably a valuable weapon against the Rockets and their suspect shot-making early in this series.
But the Rockets had been experimenting with zone defense, too.
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With cinderblock center Steven Adams camping in the lane so long he should need a permit and Alperen Şengün free to hang out in the corner, where he can do little damage to the Rockets’ five-man defensive unit, the double-big 2-3 zone has limited the Warriors to a paltry 94 points per 100 possessions over the last two games.
The Warriors, in general, look flummoxed against zone on offense. In the past, when the Dubs had Andrew Bogut, Zaza Pachulia, or David West, they would be able to break a zone with ease — the Dubs’ triangle-inspired motion offense could run the ball through those centers in the high post, which is where you want to attack this kind of zone defense.
But now that the Dubs are focusing on spacing and running much of their offense off a low-post split-action look or double-drag perimeter screens, they’re playing right into the defense’s strength.
Per Golden State of Mind’s Joe Viray, citing Synergy Sports, the Warriors were the worst team against zone defense in the NBA this season.
We saw this manifest on Wednesday, with the Warriors spending entire possessions passing lazily around the perimeter, only for Butler (at best) to take a forced end-of-shot-clock attempt. Rare was the possession where the ball found the paint.
The Rockets, it should be noted, weren’t much better against zone to start the series, though they adapted to the Warriors’ defense by running the ball through Şengün in the high post — his Game 4 performance was a zone-busting game.
So, how do the Warriors bust the Rockets’ zone?
Well, how healthy is Jimmy Butler?
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His lack of any explosion whatsoever on most possessions puts the Dubs at a significant disadvantage against zone looks, because the ideal way to break them up is to have Butler operating out of the high post or to have him, as the team’s secondary ball handler and mid-range ace, to be able to dribble to his spot on the floor and rise.
Until Butler proves he can do that, it’s on Brandin Podziemski to take on the off-the-dribble creation (something he did well in Game 4) and Draymond Green to be the high-post operator (something the Warriors have been hesitant to do).
There’s also the short roll, which the Warriors used effectively in Game 3 (where the Rockets didn’t use an Adams-Şengün zone). Gary Payton II destroyed the Rockets with the paint wide open, but that paint is much more clogged with Adams there.
(How about a 3-second call, refs?)
So while the short roll — be it with Payton or Green — effectively puts the ball in the middle of the lane, what do the Warriors do with it then? The dunker spot will, in all likelihood, be covered. Can Podz or Green hit floaters consistently?
Then there’s the option of going with inverted screens, with Curry trying to free up Quentin Post for an open 3-pointer. But this is the closeout game in the playoffs — can you trust a rookie to win you a game on offense? And can you trust him on the other end of the floor?
The Warriors are aware of all of these options, and more. But they have little (if any) time to implement a new tactic and will have to fight not only through Houston’s youthful zeal on defense, but also their own tired, let’s-call-them-experienced legs on offense.
If the Warriors want to advance to the second round, they’ll have to beat the zone. It might force them to go out of their comfort zone.
And if they can’t do it on Friday, at home, where role players so often have their best games, it’s hard to imagine a Game 7 on Sunday being the breakthrough performance.
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