At the height of their powers, Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors were nearly unbeatable. Winning two titles in three years, they may very well be one of the greatest basketball teams ever assembled.
But even for as good as they were, James Harden and the Houston Rockets came close to beating them, pushing the series to seven games back in the 2018 Western Conference Finals.
Of course, the Warriors came away with the win in the end — but just how did they overcome their greatest challengers? Durant himself recently revealed the strategy…
“We knew at some point they’d tire out. James dribbled so much each possession, I know at some point he’ll wear down and we were going at him on the defensive side of the ball as well.”
Kevin Durant on @ESPNRadio "We knew at some point they’d tire out. James dribbled so much each possession, I know at some point he’ll wear down and we were going at him on the defensive side of the ball as well"
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 29, 2018
This strategy is often used against teams that are highly dependant on a single player. By getting the main star tired, and having him struggle to stay efficient over the course of a seven-game series, it forces other guys on the team to step up and hit his shots.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but we can probably expect teams to continue to execute it — especially against the Rockets.
It will be interesting to see if it remains effective.
