NBA Playoffs 2018: 5 keys to Golden State Warriors vs. New Orleans Pelicans matchup

3. Jrue Holiday’s defense

The job Jrue Holiday and the New Orleans Pelicans did on Damian Lillard was nothing short of incredible. Lillard averaged 18.5 points per game and shot 35.2 percent from the floor, the worst marks of his playoff career. Holiday got and deserved a lot of the credit for that defensive work.

He has put in some solid defensive work for a while. This is just the first time he has looked like the All-Star version of himself from his time with the Philadelphia 76ers. Injuries had sapped him of a lot of that ability to play this way consistently. Now that he is back to that level, it sure feels like the Pelicans are a whole different team.

Against the Warriors, having a strong defender who can put pressure on the guards is key to slowing the team down. Having someone who can chase Klay Thompson around will absolutely slow the team down.

Golden State is a different offensive team than Portland. Portland has plenty of movement within its offense but still relies heavily on one-on-one play. Holiday being able to lock down Lillard completely crippled the Blazers’ attack.

The Warriors will introduce a lot more movement. To beat Golden State takes more of a team effort and team concept defensively, that will neutralize what Holiday can do at the point of attack defensively.

Put him on Shaun Livingston or Quinn Cook, and that player is not exactly going to attack much off the dribble. Put him on Klay Thompson and he will be chasing around screens for most of the game, and not playing one-on-one defense. And putting him on Kevin Durant seems like a massive mismatch. Holiday just does not have the size to defend him.

That will make it harder to find a place to employ Holiday’s defense. Likely, he plays Thompson and does his best to slow down the motion from Thompson but it will be tough for New Orleans to get the same strong defensive presence from Holiday.