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Heat

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Bam Adebayo scored 23 points, Jimmy Butler had 22 points and 12 assists, and the Miami Heat beat the Philadelphia 76ers 119-103 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Victor Oladipo scored 19 points on his 30th birthday and Tyler Herro added 18 for the Heat, the East&rsquo;s No. 1 seed. Oladipo had 10 of those points in the fourth quarter.
Tyrese Maxey scored 34 points for Philadelphia, which got 21 from Tobias Harris and 20 from James Harden.
A 10-0 run in the fourth turned an eight-point Miami lead into an 18-point edge, sealing the win and ensuring the Heat would hold home court before the series shifts north. Game 3 is Friday in Philadelphia.
And now, the Heat will hope history holds &mdash; and the 76ers will hope it doesn&rsquo;t.
Miami has taken a 2-0 lead in 18 previous series, including the first round this season against Atlanta, and won the matchup every time. The 76ers&rsquo; franchise has dropped the first two games of a matchup on 19 other occasions, never recovering to win the series.
The question going into Friday will revolve around whether Philadelphia&rsquo;s Joel Embiid could be ready for Game 3. The league&rsquo;s scoring champion and MVP finalist has, not surprisingly, been big-time missed by the 76ers.
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have a big man right now,&rdquo; Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers lamented.
Adebayo surely isn&rsquo;t complaining. He was 8 for 10 from the field and 8 for 8 from the line in Game 1; he followed that up with a 7-for-11 night from the floor on Wednesday.
It wasn&rsquo;t just the absence of Embiid, though, that hurt Philadelphia. The 76ers were awful again from 3-point range, shooting 8 for 30.
Danny Green was 1 for 10 from the field &mdash; the second time in his playoff career that he had that many attempts and shot that poorly in a postseason game. The other? A 1-for-12 effort for San Antonio in 2013, also in Miami, the night the Heat won their third and most recent NBA title.
The Heat aren&rsquo;t close to that yet. But they are two wins from the East finals.
TIP-INS
76ers: Harden got fouled on a 3-point try with 0.1 seconds left in the half, making all three free throws to get Philadelphia within 60-52 at the break. ... Maxey got a cut on his right knee in the fourth quarter, the game stopping temporarily while the 76ers tended to him. He stayed in the game. ... Georges Niang had another unusual stat line. He was 0 for 7 &mdash; all 3-pointers &mdash; in Game 1, then fouled out in 10 minutes of Game 2. It was the fourth-fewest minutes played all season by anyone who fouled out.
Heat: PJ Tucker turns 37 on Thursday. ... It was the 497th consecutive sellout announced by the Heat, tying Sacramento for the fifth-longest streak in NBA history. The record is held by Dallas, which has 864 consecutive sellouts and counting. ... Miami held a 44-34 rebounding edge.
PASSING PAT
With the win, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra&rsquo;s postseason record improved to 91-59 (.607). Among coaches with at least 100 playoff games, he moved into fourth on the NBA&rsquo;s win-percentage list behind only Steve Kerr (.732), Phil Jackson (.688) and Billy Cunningham (.629). The coach Spoelstra passed in winning percentage Wednesday night? That would be his boss, Heat President Pat Riley, who went 171-111 (.606).
KENTUCKY SOUTH
The Kentucky ties ran deep Wednesday night. Wildcats coach John Calipari was at Game 2 to see Herro formally receive the Sixth Man award. Other former Kentucky players on the Heat and 76ers: Adebayo, Maxey and Heat two-way player Mychal Mulder. And Riley played at Kentucky.
UP NEXT
Game 3 is Friday in Philadelphia.

Miami took a 2-0 lead over the Philadelphia 76ers with a second-straight home win in the Eastern Conference Semis.

Adebayo, Butler lead Heat past 76ers 119-103 in Game 2

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 28 points, Bobby Portis scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half and the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Orlando Magic 127-110 on Tuesday night.
Milwaukee has won four in a row and five of its last seven. Since starting the season 6-8, the Bucks have gone 17-5 to surge back near the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
&ldquo;The ball movement, the playing together and the unselfishness really stood out,&rdquo; Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer said. &ldquo;Guys were making the right pass and the right read and then Bobby Portis had an insane shooting half.&rdquo;
Khris Middleton scored 21 points for the Bucks, while Jrue Holiday chipped in 18 points and 10 assists. Antetokounmpo, who returned from COVID-19 protocols on Christmas, capped his 24th 20-point night in the fourth quarter by chucking Orlando&rsquo;s Freddie Gillespie to the floor with a forearm before dunking with his left hand.
&ldquo;I think we did a great job of moving the ball and that&rsquo;s when it&rsquo;s fun to play,&rdquo; said Holiday, who had nine points and two assists in the fourth quarter. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s definitely the way we want to be. When everybody is touching the ball, it&rsquo;s always good. When we do that, we&rsquo;re pretty good.&rdquo;
Orlando rookie forward Franz Wagner scored 27 of his career-best 38 points in the second half. He made 12 of 20 shots and 4 of 8 3s.
The Bucks outscored the Magic 40-21 in the second quarter, led by as much as 29 late in the first half and withstood a 19-0 third-quarter run by Orlando, which dropped to 2-12 at home. Orlando also got within 106-98 with 7:15 to play.
However, Milwaukee responded with seven straight points to all but seal the game and beat the Magic for a third time this season.
Orlando had six players out with injuries, and Terrence Ross, Mo Bamba, Chuma Okeke and Mychal Mulder couldn't play because they were in the NBA&rsquo;s COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
KNOCK ON WOOD
Budenholzer sounded almost embarrassed Tuesday when discussing his team&rsquo;s luck with good health &mdash; both on the injury front and COVID-19. The Bucks entered Tuesday with only Brook Lopez (back surgery) out of action.
&ldquo;When you look around the league and see what other teams are having to do, we&rsquo;re very fortunate,&rdquo; Budenholzer said. &ldquo;We felt like when (GM) Jon (Horst) put together the roster, it was going to be very deep. It&rsquo;s a good place to be, but it&rsquo;ll probably change tonight, tomorrow or sometime soon. But we&rsquo;ll take it while we have it.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Bucks: University of Michigan coach Juwan Howard attended the game. His Wolverines play at Central Florida on Thursday. &hellip; The Bucks beat the Magic for the 10th consecutive time, a streak that's in line with 10 straight over the Kings and 12 straight wins against the Pistons. &hellip; DeMarcus Cousins was whistled for a technical foul after screaming, &ldquo;ball don&rsquo;t lie!&rsquo; following a missed free throw.
Magic: Guard Tim Frazier picked up four fouls in his first seven minutes of action. &hellip; Orlando was without point guard Cole Anthony for a second straight game because of &ldquo;maintenance&rdquo; on his sprained right ankle. &hellip; Magic coach Jamahl Mosley described Jalen Suggs&rsquo; recovery from a fractured thumb as &ldquo;progressing along slowly&rdquo; and added the rookie guard would be reevaluated in &ldquo;a couple of weeks.&rdquo; Suggs, the No. 5 pick in last summer&rsquo;s NBA Draft, hasn&rsquo;t played since Nov. 29.
UP NEXT
The two teams play again in Orlando on Thursday night.

The Bucks have won four in a row and 5 of their last 7. Since starting 6-8, they have gone 17-5 to surge back near the top of the East.

Bucks win 4th straight behind 28 from Antetokounmpo

The Magic say they have signed ex-Warriors guard Mychal Mulder to a two-way contract.
Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSteinLine/status/1453040260766740485" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Marc Stein (Twitter)</a>
ANALYSIS: Mulder appeared in 60 games for the Warriors last year, averaging 5.6 points in 12.8 minutes per game. Mulder will likely report to Orlando's G League affiliate and try to work his way onto the Magic's active game-day roster.

According to Marc Stein, the Orlando Magic have signed former Warriors guard Mychal Mulder to a two-way contract.

Magic sign former Warriors guard Mychal Mulder to two-way contract

Earlier this week, we identified roster spot battles to watch through training camp this October here. And already a portion of my <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/3-roster-spot-battles-to-watch-for-in-the-eastern-conference" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eastern Conference list</a> has been upended by transactions, as the Brooklyn Nets promptly traded away Sekou Doumbouya almost immediately after I predicted that he would make the team. Long story short: Things happen quickly in training camp.&nbsp;
But still, we forge ahead, this time refocusing our analysis on the Western Conference. So as training camp approaches its close, let&rsquo;s identify the three most interesting roster-spot battles in the Western Conference.&nbsp;
Portland Trail Blazers
Entering training camp, the Trail Blazers signed three former lottery picks to training camp deals: Dennis Smith Jr., Marquese Chriss and Patrick Patterson. Portland only has 13 players signed, meaning that they technically have two spots to fill (and one of their two-way contracts are spoken for, too), but Portland general manager Neil Olshey usually enters seasons with fewer than 15 players. So, it&rsquo;s an understandable assumption that the Trail Blazers will probably only sign one of the three guys they inked to training camp deals.
Considering who was signed and who is already in place in Portland, none of the three are likely to get major minutes. Smith is best suited as a backup point guard, while Chriss and Patterson are power forwards. In my estimation, this decision comes down to needs. Considering that Robert Covington and Larry Nance Jr. are their only true 4s, the most pressing need is probably down low. So, if Portland is hell-bent on entering the season with no more than 14 guys on its roster, the team will probably choose between Chriss and Patterson. Patterson has more experience, and he shoots it better from deep (36.9% on three-point attempts in his career compared to just 28.9% for Chriss.) Neither makes or breaks Portland&rsquo;s season; but considering the Blazers are trying to build a contender and convince Damian Lillard that Portland is the place for him, Patterson is a better addition. If the Blazers decide to fill out their entire roster by signing a 15th player, Smith should get a long look. He is too skilled and athletic to not get another shot, and backing up a star like Lillard removes a lot of the pressure he&rsquo;s had on him throughout his career.
Prediction: Patterson makes the cut (and Smith signs a two-way contract).
Golden State Warriors
Golden State entered training camp with the maximum of 20 players on its roster, one of whom is on a two-way deal (Chris Chiozza) and three of whom are on training-camp deals (Jordan Bell, Avery Bradley and Langston Galloway.) Damion Lee, Mychal Mulder and Gary Payton Jr. are all signed to non-guaranteed deals, too. To summarize, the Warriors have lots of options &ndash; but Golden State will probably avoid making any zany moves. Instead, they will probably keep one of the three players signed to training-camp deals and cut the other two. As much as the veteran savvy of Bradley and Galloway could be alluring, Golden State doesn&rsquo;t need more veteran leadership &ndash; but they could use help backing up the power-forward position. Enter Bell, who returns to the Bay Area with a familiarity of head coach Steve Kerr and the Warriors&rsquo; systems. Bell exited Golden State after playing his first two professional seasons there, and he had some maturity issues in his first go-round with the Warriors. But Bell sounded significantly more mature in a <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/warriors/jordan-bell-warriors-contract-reunites-two-desperate-parties" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent interview with NBC Sports Bay Area</a>. Assuming he demonstrates that growth in practices and preseason games, Bell will probably be kept.
Prediction: Jordan Bell makes the cut.
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers' roster battle is particularly interesting, as it features a former top-ranked high school prospect in Harry Giles. Giles is battling with Isaiah Hartenstein and Moses Wright for the Clippers&rsquo; final roster spot; both of the team's two-way contracts are used up (Jay Scrubb and Amir Coffey.) &nbsp;Two of the spots are also occupied by players who will miss a good chunk of the 2021-22 season to injuries (Kawhi Leonard and rookie Jason Preston), making the remaining roster spots all the more valuable.&nbsp;
In the Clippers&rsquo; first preseason game, Giles produced more than Hartenstein and Wright, posting 8 points and 12 rebounds in 16 minutes. In their second preseason game, Wright played slightly better than the other two, finishing with 7 points and 5 rebounds in 12 minutes. What the Clippers ultimately choose to do is anyone&rsquo;s guess, but I think that Giles&rsquo; potential is too much to pass on. He&rsquo;s still only 23 years old; and if he finds what made him special just a few short years ago, Giles could be significantly more valuable than what the salary of a 15th man will pay him.&nbsp;
Prediction: Giles makes the cut.&nbsp;
The NBA&rsquo;s 75th regular season kicks off in less than two weeks. Decisions will be made between now and then that will greatly impact the lives of several men. Ultimately, some will impact teams' seasons too, as a chunk of these end-of-the-bench guys will probably earn bigger roles as the season goes on.&nbsp;

Drew Maresca examines the three most interesting final roster spot situations in the West.

3 roster-spot battles to watch for in the Western Conference

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; All along, Stephen Curry just wanted to play for something at the end after everybody counted out his Golden State Warriors from the beginning.
He could only be proud when this group fell just short of the goal, appreciating how sick and saddened his teammates felt when they didn't get it done.
The Warriors were eliminated from playoff contention with a 117-112 overtime loss to Memphis on Friday night in the second play-in game. That after losing a 103-100 heartbreaker to LeBron James and the Lakers two days earlier in Los Angeles.
&ldquo;I would love a playoff experience and seven-game series and see how we respond to that challenge. We have two &mdash; I call it three playoff games, the last game of the season and these last two play-in situations,&rdquo; Curry said. "But it&rsquo;s not how it&rsquo;s drawn up in terms of the format, and now we have three months to rejuvenate, retool, come back next season, whatever that means.
&ldquo;These last three games, including the homestand, I call it nine games, or eight games, have been pretty awesome in terms of the sense of urgency and us understanding who we are.&rdquo;
The Warriors wound up 39-33, playing much of the last stretch with an eight-man rotation because of injuries.
All those months ago, the doubters never figured Golden State would be competing for a playoff berth at all &mdash; not after Klay Thompson went down with a second season-ending injury in as many years.
Curry called the ending &ldquo;weird&rdquo; given how the Warriors dominated during a recent five-year stretch.
&ldquo;I'm proud of every single person in an Oakland uniform tonight and all season,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;From 15 wins last year, injuries and all that to what we made out of this year, pretty damn impressive. It's a very tough way to go out and we would love to be playing on Sunday, but we can't lose sight of the big picture in terms of where people had us at the beginning of the season, what we were dealt with injuries, youth, inexperience, lineup changes all year."
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Here are some things to take from Golden State's season:
CURRY &amp; GREEN
Everybody wanted to see Curry on the big playoff stage after he, at 33, became the oldest scoring champion since Michael Jordan at 35 in 1998.
Curry, Green and Kevon Looney are accustomed to long postesason runs, like the five straight NBA Finals trips that ended with a six-game loss to Toronto two years ago.
So there's a hollow feeling with this finish, to be sure.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a lot more hell to cause, a lot. Looking forward to it," Green said of teaming with two-time MVP Curry.
POOLE'S EMERGENCE
Second-year pro Jordan Poole spent a stint in the G League bubble, then delivered time and again down the stretch once promoted to the Warriors.
He hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:50 left in OT for Golden State, only to see Xavier Tillman answer with a baseline 3 moments later. Poole lost the ball out of bounds leading to Ja Morant&rsquo;s basket with four seconds left, then Poole made another improbable 3 with two seconds remaining.
Coach Steve Kerr has called Poole a possible sixth man going forward, once Thompson returns to the starting lineup.
&ldquo;Just really fun to see how far Jordan has come since his rookie year. A season ago, he was lost. He was lost in the woods like most rookies are, and it&rsquo;s just confirmation that hard work and perseverance pays off,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;Jordan was in the gym more than any other player during the pandemic, and he&rsquo;s earned this. So thrilled for him. I think he&rsquo;s got a really bright future, and obviously will play a big role for us going forward.&rdquo;
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NICE NEW DEAL
Juan Toscano-Anderson's new multiyear contract last week is a bright spot and success story everybody could cheer. The former two-way forward grew up in East Oakland cheering for the Warriors and kept believing he could stay in the NBA.
The Warriors needed his energy off the bench along with all the reserves.
&ldquo;We just wanted to attack every night,&rdquo; Kent Bazemore said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the culprit of it, you have those kind of guys in the locker room, back against the wall, you know, Juan Toscano-Anderson, just a dog, Jordan Poole. I mean, the young guys really stepped up, Mychal Mulder here late.&rdquo;
MISSING KLAY
Thompson could only watch with desperation, wishing he could help. Curry's Splash Brother missed a second straight season because of a season-ending injury, this time a torn right Achilles tendon that required surgery.
He sat out the 2019-20 season after tearing the ACL in his left knee in Game 6 of the finals against the Raptors and needing surgery.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to do everything in his power to get back to 100%, knowing what he&rsquo;s been through the last two years,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s going to be a lot of support around to help him get there but whatever version of him comes back is definitely a boost. We&rsquo;ll patiently wait for what that looks like.&rdquo;
SHORT BENCH
Golden State regularly played with an eight-man rotation down the stretch, given Damion Lee was sidelined by COVID-19 despite being vaccinated, and Kelly Oubre Jr.'s wrist injury kept him out for the final 12 games.
&ldquo;We kept fighting,&rdquo; Andrew Wiggins said. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t give up, we stayed competitive and playing hard and we only got better.&rdquo;
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The Warriors were eliminated from playoff contention with a 117-112 OT loss to Memphis on Friday night in the second play-in game.

Curry, Warriors look forward to another chance next season

Stephen Curry made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 14 seconds left, moments after missing from deep, and scored 36 points to lead the Golden State Warriors past the Western Conference-leading Utah Jazz 119-116 on Monday night to keep hold of the eighth seed in the playoff race.
Jordan Poole's Curry-like 52-footer at the third-quarter buzzer went to replay review and stood, giving Golden State an 89-75 lead and serious momentum going into the final 12 minutes before Utah's furious comeback effort in the closing minutes.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Steph (36 PTS &amp; 6 AST) came up BIG tonight 👀 <a href="https://t.co/ExttjEwCEW">pic.twitter.com/ExttjEwCEW</a>
&mdash; NBA TV (@NBATV) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1391977045857488898?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Curry, coming off a 49-point performance with 11 3-pointers in 29 minutes in Saturday&rsquo;s 136-97 thumping of the Thunder, wasn't nearly as sharp &mdash; but his supporting cast did plenty to take the pressure off. Curry went just 1 of 5 from deep in the first half then wound up 11 of 25 from the floor overall and 3 for 13 on 3s.
Jordan Clarkson scored 41 points and Bojan Bogdanovic added 27 for a Utah team still missing injured All-Star guards Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
A SEASON-HIGH 41 PTS and 50.4 FPTS for Jordan Clarkson! 💧 <a href="https://t.co/QLSHHtqfFk">pic.twitter.com/QLSHHtqfFk</a>
&mdash; NBA Fantasy (@NBAFantasy) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAFantasy/status/1391980284946665475?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Poole finished with 20 points off the bench, Kent Bazemore scored 19 and Kevon Looney grabbed 13 rebounds to give him double figures on the boards in three straight games for the first time in his career.
Mychal Mulder's 3 with 4:55 left in the third put the Warriors up 71-63 and Golden State got a stop on the other end. Bazemore converted a three-point at 3:57 for a 74-63 advantage before Bogdanovic immediately answered with a 3, was fouled and converted the free throw.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr addressed the magnitude of this game for his team, which is playing its final six games at home in Chase Center.
&ldquo;It's going to be a fun night. They&rsquo;ve got a great chance to secure the one seed, which I&rsquo;m sure they&rsquo;d love to get, so that means they&rsquo;ve got to play well this week,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;And we&rsquo;re still fighting for the best possible seed that we can get."
NCAA CHAMPS
Hall of Fame Stanford women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer and her NCAA champion Cardinal team were in attendance and recognized on the big screen during a first-quarter timeout. Highlights were shown and Warriors coach Steve Kerr offered a congratulatory message to friend VanDerveer.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been amazing. We are all such Warrior fans,&rdquo; VanDerveer said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to be here. It&rsquo;s really great that their team is recognizing our team, too.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Jazz: The Jazz shot 13 for 44 from deep on the night. ... Utah's nine first-half turnovers led to 15 points for Golden State. ... The Jazz are 9-10 on the road vs. the Western Conference with two games remaining, at Oklahoma City and Sacramento.
Warriors: Draymond Green&rsquo;s technical foul at the 4:10 mark in the third didn&rsquo;t end up costly. ... F Damion Lee, Curry's brother-in-law who contracted COVID-19 despite being vaccinated, was back on the court shooting for the first time, an encouraging step for Kerr and everybody to see in his recovery. Lee watched from the baseline table. ... F Eric Paschall continues to progress in his recovery from a strained left hip flexor and Kerr spoke to him today, remaining hopeful Paschall might play this week. He played 3-on-3 again Monday. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re hopeful he will be back before the end of the regular season but we&rsquo;ll see,&rdquo; Kerr said. ... Golden State has won two in a row at home.
UP NEXT
Jazz: Host Portland on Wednesday in Utah's final regular-season home game. The Jazz have won the last three with the Trail Blazers and also three in a row at home.
Warriors: Host the Suns on Tuesday night in their final set of back-to-backs. Golden State has lost the last two against Phoenix.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The Warriors kept hold of the eighth seed in the playoff race with the victory.

Stephen Curry's late three lifts Warriors past Jazz 119-116

While All-Star Weekend will look much different this year in Atlanta, Ga., the NBA still announced rosters for the Rising Stars on Wednesday despite the fact that there will be no game.
The game normally features players in their first and second seasons, and over the past few years the rosters have been split between players born in the United States and players born elsewhere throughout the world. Prior to that, the game was NBA rookies against sophomores.&nbsp;
The U.S. team is comprised of Charlotte's LaMelo Ball, Minnesota's Anthony Edwards, New Orleans' Zion Williamson, Memphis' Ja Morant, Miami's Tyler Herro, Atlanta's De'Andre Hunter, Sacramento's Tyrese Haliburton, Denver's Michael Porter Jr., Golden State's James Wiseman, and San Antonio's Keldon Johnson.
As for the World team, that features New York's RJ Barrett, Miami's Precious Achiuwa, Washington's Deni Avdija and Rui Hachimura, Memphis' Brandon Clarke, New Orleans' Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Oklahoma City's Lu Dort and Theo Maledon, Denver's Facundo Campazzo, and Golden State's Mychal Mulder.&nbsp;
The rosters were revealed via NBA Top Shot, and the video showcasing each player can be found below.
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Ja Morant, Zion Williamson, and LaMelo Ball highlight the U.S. team this year.

Zion Williamson, LaMelo Ball headline NBA's Rising Stars

For the Golden State Warriors, the magic number is 20.&nbsp;
Steve Kerr thinks 20 games is the barometer for solidifying lineups and for this season&rsquo;s squad to formulate an identity. Now, with a quarter of the season played and an 11-10 record, the Warriors are still without either a solidified lineup or an identity.
Granted, the Warriors as constructed do not have the roster to contend for a title. They lost Klay Thompson to an Achilles injury on draft night, and have new faces such as Kelly Oubre Jr. and James Wiseman to implement into their system, so Kerr's emphasis on development seems to be a reasonable move. However, development doesn&rsquo;t mean that the Warriors should not prioritize winning, especially when they also have a two-time MVP in Stephen Curry and a former Defensive Player of the Year in Draymond Green -- two competitors who want to win -- on that roster, as well.&nbsp;
This is a team with an identity crisis. On some nights, the Warriors look like a scrappy dark-horse playoff team. On others, it looks like their ceiling is (at best) a berth in the play-in game. While there&rsquo;s not much to do regarding the roster -- unless Golden State makes some significant trades -- it is Kerr&rsquo;s responsibility to not only prioritize development, but also prioritize winning at the same time.
In some instances, Kerr has done a solid job of developing players. He&rsquo;s helped turn Andrew Wiggins into a solid rotational piece, and Eric Paschall has grown into a key cog with the second unit. However, the Warriors have had opportunities to beat the New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers and, most recently, the Phoenix Suns, but they lost those winnable games. The question is: Has Kerr put this team in the best positions possible to win games? Unfortunately, it&rsquo;s fair to say that he hasn&rsquo;t.&nbsp;
The Warriors as constructed are mediocre, but they have shown glimpses of what they could be, and some of the struggles are on Kerr. Here are some examples of his missteps and why the Warriors aren&rsquo;t consistently playing the kind of basketball that they have envisioned.
Inability To Adjust
In the past, Kerr&rsquo;s motion read-and-react offense worked because he surrounded Curry and Thompson with high-IQ vets who understood the purpose behind every cut and every screen. It also succeeded because those role players were capable scorers. Shaun Livingston and David West, for example, had reliable mid-range jumpers, while Andre Iguodala was a capable slasher in the paint. &nbsp;
Now, with Thompson out of the lineup, Curry is the only player who can consistently shoot and score. Oubre and Wiggins have never been in offenses as complex and as predicated on ball movement as this one. Oubre is the type of player who thrives in transition and slashing, and Wiggins is similar to a degree. But instead of tailoring the system to the strengths of his current players, Kerr runs the same system as if Klay was in the lineup and Kevin Durant, Livingston and Iguodala were still on the roster. Knowing that Curry is the only threat offensively, defenses sell out on him seamlessly with box-and-ones and other variations of a modified zone.
To counter defenses, Kerr has some options such as running high screen-and-rolls and elevators to take advantage of Curry&rsquo;s efficiency as the pick-and-roll ball-handler. On the season, Curry is averaging 1.12 points per possession in the pick-and-roll, which is even better than his 2016 MVP season (1.11 PPP).
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For whatever reason, the Warriors have stopped running elevator doors. Having two bigs setting a high screen would take out both the defender and the helper, which would give Curry the necessary room to take a three or even dribble into the occasional mid-range shot. Not to mention, it frees up space in the paint to cut.
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To better incorporate Oubre, for as long as he&rsquo;s a Warrior, Kerr could also run a two-man stagger to get him some backdoor cuts.
In the first clip, notice where Green is. The defense was a little off guard. Now, the defense would concede that shot and sag off. Instead, imagine Curry in that slot instead. The trap would come, and Oubre cuts backdoor for an easy dunk.
Granted, motion works. However, Kerr should not be so rigid in sticking to it verbatim, especially when he has a different set of players who don't fit as well within the system. Introducing diversity in schemes and adapting to the strengths of the roster isn't abandoning what works; it&rsquo;s simply evolving.
Lineups
Before Kerr moved rookie center James Wiseman to the bench, his lineup of Curry, Wiggins, Oubre, Green and Wiseman had the worst net rating in the league (-20.3) among lineups that played at least 100 minutes or more during the season. This is the reason why the Warriors would dig themselves into 17-to-20-point deficits in the first quarter before the bench would scrap and claw back into the game.
These questionable lineups are arguably at the heart of the Warriors&rsquo; identity crisis. Why? Because the lineup sans Curry isn&rsquo;t a lineup that will go out and win games. This is a lineup that's focused on development, which is fine... if Curry, Green and Thompson were about 10 years younger. The best approach is to maximize Curry&rsquo;s and Green&rsquo;s prime while developing the prospects simultaneously. For one, the Warriors owe it to the core to put them in positions to compete and win. Secondly, the developing guys want to be rewarded for their hard work and buy into what the team is selling.
Kerr was set on this lineup for development and defensive purposes. However, the Warriors&rsquo; defensive rating was 110.2 during the first 12 games. So what was the point of rolling out the lineup other than internal development and racking up losses?
While the decision didn&rsquo;t significantly move the needle, it helped matters somewhat in terms of familiarity and experience with the offense.
Still, there's one other substitution that needs to be made that hasn&rsquo;t happened yet. Oubre isn&rsquo;t a fit at all (and may be traded), but in the meantime, Kerr hasn't sent him to the bench or reduced his minutes -- even with Damion Lee and Mychal Mulder looking like better options as shooters and scorers. The reasoning is defense; but again, the Warriors still have lapses defensively with that particular unit.&nbsp;
In addition to the starting lineup issues, Curry's minutes are a problem. Usually, Kerr puts Curry in around the six-minute mark of the second and fourth quarters. It&rsquo;s a problem because, at times, Kerr subs Curry out when he and the team have just gotten some momentum.&nbsp;
Overall, the Warriors are where they were expected to be in the preseason: faltering between the sixth and the ninth seed. They have the potential to make a push. Again, they owe it to Curry and Green to compete and win. Now, it&rsquo;s up for Kerr to decide: does he want to sacrifice games that he can&rsquo;t afford to lose for the sake of development, or does he want to win what&rsquo;s possible while developing?
We'll see which option he chooses.&nbsp;

Jannelle Moore dives into Golden State's lack of an identity and how Steve Kerr's rotations and philosophy haven't helped.

How Steve Kerr’s missteps factor into the state of the Warriors

This year, there were 107 international players from 41 countries on opening-night rosters for the 2020-21 NBA season.