All the Hawt Takes about an NBA team being better off without a top-5 player was something else.
Now they’re all back to sanity.
Being here in the Bay Area, I’ve seen the with/without Durant aspects, here is the the big difference.
The Warriors can appear to be a better team without Durant because they up the tempo, with fast breaks galore and wide spacing. It’s a beautiful thing when it works. This is like an NFL spread offense and what happens a lot when it goes against a superior defense and lacks the power running/play action to adapt. Beautiful when working; very ugly when shut down.
With Durant, they are able to lead the league’s best slower tempo, half court offense as well. You could almost think of him like a Gronkowski type of player. They can play at any speed, up tempo full-court, slowed down half court...plus the iso/spacing he creates.
Last night illustrated exactly what the team is missing without him. The Raptors trapped well and forced a slow tempo game with little fast break, especially from Draymond.
Warriors are also missing his defense, and most importantly, this team’s depth is not close to what it used to be. That said I still like them to win this, though I’m expecting an 0-2 hole.
