Prior to Game 7, Golden State Warriors' coach Steve Kerr joked with the media he had made 11 alterations to the game plan, but he wasn't going to share them in his press conference. When the game tipped off, the biggest change was the removal of Harrison Barnes from the starting lineup with Andre Iguodala replacing him. You have to pull out all the stops in a Game 7, and you want to make sure the opponent can't do the same. When your opponent is the Oklahoma City Thunder, those stops include getting Kevin Durant going as early as possible.
Klay Thompson is a phenomenal perimeter defender. His ability to defend someone like Russell Westbrook allows Stephen Curry to conserve energy on a lesser offensive player, and use his instincts to sneak in to force turnovers off the ball. Draymond Green has nearly won Defensive Player of the Year two straight seasons, and his ability to defend anybody on the floor at any given time gives the Warriors the defensive versatility and effectiveness to adapt to dominating any stretch of the game. Andrew Bogut, despite all of his injuries, is still one of the top rim protectors in the NBA.
However, it may be Andre Iguodala, who allows the Warriors to do what they want against the elite scorers of the NBA. While it's not quite as dramatic as his role with Team USA, Iguodala's assignment for a game is pretty simple: Go make life hell for the other team's top scorer. When he's playing for USA Basketball in international competition, he's unleashed on anybody and everybody, and doesn't have to worry about any responsibilities on offense. It's similar to how the Warriors use him, although they do enjoy his play-making and open shot-making quite a bit more.
Iguodala was inserted into the lineup to begin the second half of Game 6 when the Warriors were scrambling a bit to keep their season alive. He took turns on defending Durant, and Westbrook at times, just looking to make life difficult for two of the best players in the world.
"Andre is one of the smartest not only basketball players, but he's an incredibly smart human being," Kerr said after Game 6. "He just sees everything kind of before it happens, and he's blessed with great speed and length and strength. He's really a key part of every game for us, because we ask him to do so much."
In Game 7, there was no reason to delay Iguodala's impact on the game. Try to eliminate as many shots as you can from Durant's stat sheet, make him work for everything, and be aggressive enough to make him be cautious with the ball but not so aggressive that you get into foul trouble. There was cause for concern though when the Warriors found themselves down six at halftime and Durant had only taken five shots on the night.
For Iguodala, he had to prepare for a do-or-die second half in which he knew his assignment would be gunning for another Finals appearance. And a big part of that is knowing he has the help of his teammates.
"We need five guys [defending]," Iguodala said after the win. "That's what a lot of people don't understand. The first thing you have to do with any great scorer is make it as tough as possible with him. Try to get him out of those red zones where they just tear you apart. Knowing where the help is and trusting that the help will be there."
Durant makes you scramble as a defense in a way not many other players are capable of doing. Iguodala trusts his teammates to make the rotations after the help gets there, but then you're left with the problem of rebounding to end the possession. Individually, Iguodala tried to make sure he kept Durant from getting to his favorite spots going left, but also had to be aware of him cross-graining going right, where he's snaking between defenders with his dribble.
In the final two games of the series, Durant shot 39.5 percent when Iguodala was on the floor. Durant was on the floor for 90 minutes in those two games. Iguodala was on the floor for 78 of those minutes, and almost always the primary defender. He forced turnovers. He forced rushed shots. He forced Durant to bail on shooting during certain possessions, deferring to teammates with lesser shot-making abilities but maybe a better shot.
That's what Iguodala can do for you. He can make the greatest scorers rethink their game plan. And when he locks in on a scorer, he can allow the rest of the Warriors being aggressive off the ball knowing the man defending the superstar won't be beaten easily. It's what won him the Finals MVP a year ago. It'll be a different series this time around, but the goal will still be the same as it was for facing Durant this time or LeBron James a year ago.
Make life as difficult as possible.
