NBA Playoffs: 5 things we learned from the Warriors beating the Spurs

NBA Playoffs 2017: 5 things we learned from the Warriors beating the Spurs

May 22, 2017; San Antonio, TX, USA; Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (30) drives to the basket past San Antonio Spurs small forward Davis Bertans (42) and Dewayne Dedmon (3) during the second half in game four of the Western conference finals of the NBA Playoffs at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /

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May 14, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) runs along the sideline in front of the bench against the San Antonio Spurs during the first quarter in game one of the Western conference finals of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Give GM Bob Myers credit for the Warriors’ bench

One of the biggest concerns heading into the season for the Golden State Warriors was how will they manage their bench and depth issues. Their mantra the past few seasons has been Strength In Numbers, but coming into this season, they had to get rid of Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli, Marreese Speights, Leandro Barbosa and Harrison Barnes in order to after Kevin Durant.

But the job general manager Bob Myers has done with the limited amount of salary cap space was amazing. They kept Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston as key pieces of their bench. The Warriors went out and signed JaVale McGee, Zaza Pachulia and David West to shore up their frontline. They slotted Ian Clark to be a backup point guard and added Patrick McCaw through the draft. Golden State has dealt with some injuries during the playoffs from Iguodala to Pachulia.

Each time a man goes down, it’s been next man up for the Warriors. McCaw stepped in when Iguodala couldn’t go in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals and put up 18 points in 27 minutes on 6-for-8 shooting. What a luxury. to have when the potential sixth-man of the year goes down with an injury.

Then in Game 3, starting center Zaza Pachulia was unable to go with an injury and in comes JaVale McGee. He got the Warriors off to a hot start and the rest of the crew ran with it from there. McGee ended up with 16 points in 13 minutes in the game. That’s pretty sweet for a backup center to get moved into the starting spot and produce on the highest stage.

This has been the story of the series for the Dubs and all the credit should go to the man-in-charge, Bob Myers. With the limited capital he’s working with, he assembled as good a roster as he could. For the Big-3 in Miami, with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, finding a solid bench and role players became difficult. The Warriors haven’t had that issue so far and Myers should be the one getting all the credit.

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