This Week in Playoff Mode: Devin Booker, Warriors adjustments, Harden and Embiid

This Week in Playoff Mode, James Harden and Joel Embiid are clicking, no one can stop Devin Booker and the Warriors have a lineup problem.

After going down 0-2 against the Nuggets and losing Chris Paul to injury, the Suns admitted they were “desperate.”

The Nuggets knew what was coming.

“The ball will be in Devin Booker’s hand more,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone told reporters as the series shifted to Phoenix.

Malone was right. It didn’t matter. In the face of whatever the Nuggets threw at him, Booker threw the ball into the hoop for 47 points as the Suns beat the Nuggets in Friday night’s Game 3. Then he did it again on Sunday, pouring in 36 points to even the series.

In all, Booker has willed the Suns back into a series by scoring 83 points on over 79 percent shooting, and he’s done it against a defense that is focused on trying to stop him. He’s the first player in NBA history to score 35 points on at least 75 percent shooting in back-to-back postseason games.

Whatever the Nuggets do isn’t working. They are ignoring his teammates, throwing double-teams at him, and he’s still making shots. He’s also punishing Denver’s aggressive defense by finding open teammates, tallying 12 assists in Sunday’s win.

Devin Booker has been unstoppable

“I’m at a loss for words,” Kevin Durant said after Game 3.

Then let the stats do the talking. Via Sam Quinn of CBS Sports:

• Booker is averaging 36.8 points in the playoffs. Among players who have played in at least eight games in a single postseason, he ranks fourth in NBA history in points per game.
• The three players ahead of him are all from the 60s: 1961 Elgin Baylor (38.1 points), 1962 Elgin Baylor (38.2) and 1965 Jerry West (40.6). Booker ranks ahead of two Michael Jordan seasons and 2009 LeBron James.
• Booker is shooting 61.7 percent overall this postseason. That would set a new NBA postseason record for 30-point scorers, topping Shaquille O’Neal’s 61.2 percent during the 1998 playoffs.
• Booker has shot 34 of 43 (79.1 percent) over the last two games – the highest field goal percentage in a two-game span in postseason history by a player 6-foot-5 or shorter, per ESPN Stats & Info.
• Booker is averaging just 5.7 free throw attempts per game during this stretch. Only Stephen Curry and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have ever averaged fewer foul shots while scoring 30 points per game for a postseason.

To sum up: Devin Booker has been equal parts Shaquille O’Neal, Steph Curry and Michael Jordan during this stretch. This is just an insane run of shot-making, and one the Suns will need to continue to knock off the Nuggets and advance.

What do the Warriors do with their starting lineup?

No coach in the NBA is more willing to switch up his starting lineup from one game to another than Steve Kerr. During last season’s playoff run, he leaned heavily on the “Poole Party” lineup, then canned it, went back to Kevon Looney as the starting center for the Western Conference finals, then benched Looney in favor of Otto Porter Jr. against the Celtics — a key decision that helped deliver the fourth Finals win of this Golden State era.

Already in these playoffs, Kerr has mixed and matched. Draymond Green came off the bench for two first-round games against the Kings before rejoining the starting lineup to close the series. In Gam 2 of their current series against the Lakers, Kerr swapped Looney out for Jamychal Green for added spacing. It worked, then it didn’t, as the Warriors took Game 2 but got wiped off the court in Game 3. Green had two points and shot 0-for-3 from 3-point range, likely ending his starting lineup cameo.

Now Kerr is back at the drawing board. He’s yet to find a starting lineup that he loves. There’s no Porter on this team that can provide size, shooting and defense. Jonathan Kuminga hasn’t been that guy, despite what he and the Warriors had hoped entering the season. Gary Payton II is back but provides about as much spacing as Looney. Donte DiVincenzo isn’t big enough. With Trae Young eliminated, Jordan Poole has taken the title of the most vulnerable defender in the playoffs.

When it comes down to it, Looney is a soft landing spot from which Kerr knows he’s at least getting Rodman-esque rebounding, solid screen-setting and willing passing. But this has been a uniquely tough matchup for Looney, mostly because of how Anthony Davis has taken a hammer to Golden State’s paint offense.

There’s no stopping the Warriors’ offense. You can only hope to take away something. The Lakers have decided they want to take away what Golden State’s spacing creates — the 2-pointers that come from cutting, off-the-bounce layups and lobs. So they’ve had David hang back as a rim deterrent. The Warriors have taken just under 43 percent of their shots from 2-point range — the lowest among teams in this round of the playoffs.

He still needs to show on the Warriors’ shooters. So every time Curry, Thompson or Poole come across a screen involving the player Davis is assigned to, Davis has to come up and challenge the shot, then drop back before the space in the paint becomes too open. ESPN’s Zach Lowe calls this the “yo-yo” and it’s an apt description.

Davis had a hard time doing this in Game 2 and, by the end of it, he was exhausted. JaMychal Green had 15 points on 3-for-6 from deep and the Warriors rolled to their only win of the series.

In Game 3, the Warriors stuck with the all-Green frontcourt but the Lakers countered. Davis did a little less “yo-yo-ing” and was fresh for longer stretches. When Looney wasn’t the screener, Davis played a more generic defense in which he hedged on the ball-handler or switched all together.

The Warriors set screens higher on the floor in an effort to make Davis defend more space and create a longer distance for Davis to travel to get back to the rim. But, by playing up, Davis vaporized the space the Warriors tried to create. The Warriors may not have been prepared for this and by trying to get to other layers of their offense coughed up 19 turnovers.

However, Davis will still drop against Looney, which gives Golden State’s shooters more room to shoot.

The problem with using Looney as a high pick-and-roll screener against the super-sized Lakers group is that it takes the Warriors’ best rebounder away from the basket. Without Looney (the playoffs’ leading rebounder) near the rim, it becomes harder for the Warriors to create the extra possessions that helped them win the 2022 Finals and eliminate the Kings in the first round. With their 2-point game already limited, the Warriors become strictly a jump-shooting team.

There’s no easy answer for the Warriors, who must solve for Davis’s defense to have a chance in this series. If they make shots, they are hard to beat, but the Warriors are more reliant on shot-making to win games than ever. Ninety-two games into the season, Kerr is still searching for his optimal five. I wouldn’t bet against him figuring it out, but the Davis conundrum is unlike anything these Warriors have faced.

Joel Embiid and James Harden finally clicked

Down two with under 30 seconds to go, Joel Embiid was being defended by Jayson Tatum while James Harden stood in the corner with Jaylen Brown in front of him. Embiid took three dribbles and pounded his way into the paint, forcing Brown to come over and help. At the moment Brown committed, Embiid turned, leaped and fired a pass to Harden in the corner. Harden didn’t hesitate and drilled the go-ahead 3-pointer that saved the 76ers’ season and evened their series with the Celtics, 2-2.

There’s a lot to take away from that possession: Embiid having mastered the ability to draw help and Harden actually taking a catch-and-shoot 3 (something current and preview coaches have wished he’d do more of), for instance. But, most importantly, it showed that the Embiid and Harden connection is back.

Embiid and Harden connected during the regular season as one of the top offensive duos in the NBA, posting world-class numbers as pick-and-roll partners and helping the Sixers surge to the top of the standings. But in the playoffs, that connection faded as Embiid dealt with a sprained knee. The Brooklyn Nets also zeroed in on taking that two-man game away by double- and triple-teaming Embiid early in possessions. As a result, the 76ers have needed Harden to turn back the clock and uncork some vintage performances. He has, which is a huge reason why Philadelphia still has a chance to make the conference finals. To keep advancing, though, it will come down to Harden and Embiid finding more answers when defenses try to take things away.

Here’s another possession from the closing moments of Sunday’s Game 4.

There’s no pass here, but Embiid gets the unofficial assist. Embiid flashes up to the free-throw line, taking his defender Al Horford with him and away from the baseline. As Embiid lifts, Harden puts his shoulder down and drives to the hoop. The Celtics are slow to react and Harden ends up taking Malcolm Brogdon one-on-one off the dribble. Harden is too deep into his bag right now for that to work, and he drives right by him for an easy layup.

This is the kind of chemistry Harden and Embiid have forged. They know how defenses respond to one another and can plan accordingly. Sometimes a pass doesn’t even need to be made. It’s about understanding the other’s gravitational pull and the space it creates.

Harden and Embiid have their share of postseason blotches. They can use each other to overcome them.

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