These figures offer some explanation as to why the individual matchups and team weaknesses can lead to 5 games comprising 49% of Golden State’s total zone possessions after 31 matchups. New Orleans and Toronto are both bottom-7 in above-the-break 3 frequency, with Detroit at 19th (per Cleaning the Glass).Ī low 3-man back line in a zone can deter drives and give up above-the-break threes, while a higher line can be used on a team like Los Angeles with an unusually low corner three reliance and accuracy (19th in attempts, 20th in accuracy). They also have weaknesses that can be exploited by the zone. None of these four teams rank in the top 14 in 3-point attempts per game, and only New Orleans cracks the top 10 in shooting percentage from deep (coupled with a fourth-to-last three-point rate). Zone-defending teams often have to concede either above-the-break or corner threes trying to prevent drives. These teams are also not upper-echelon distance shooting teams, a good way to break zones. Playing in a variety of zones can take away driving gaps, throwing offenses reliant on penetration into disarray. Toronto had both Pascal Siakam (16.3 drives, 9th in the league) and Fred VanVleet (12.9, 26th) pressuring a defense without its best wing defender. The Clippers were limited by injury in that matchup but had John Wall, Reggie Jackson, and Norman Powell (9.4, 8.1, 8.0 drives respectively) as the primary scoring threats. Zion’s 15 drives per game (13th in the league) had to be counteracted. Detroit had Cade Cunningham (16.6 drives, 7th in the league) and Jaden Ivey (11.5) to contain. And these teams have a lot in common offensively.įirst and foremost, the presence of an elite (or a very few good) drive threats. Their five highest zone games have come against the Pistons, the Pelicans twice, the Clippers, and the Raptors. per game compared to 6.29 in previous 28), but there are some clear season-long trends to the usage beyond injury concerns. They’ve seen a slight uptick in the past three games (8.67 zone poss. With Klay playing a diminished defensive role, and recent absences from their best perimeter defender in Andrew Wiggins, it makes sense why Kerr has leaned on the zone a bit in recent games. Units based around Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala rarely felt the call for zone. Traditionally, Golden State avoids the zone to keep their switching in play. Sunday marked the sixth time in 31 games that they have reached double-digit zone possessions.

Golden State uses the zone sparingly, rarely employing it for large chunks of a game. The league-leading Miami Heat run zone 19.8% of the time, for comparison. At only 5.6% of their possessions, it doesn’t form a crux of their overall defense (per Synergy).

A Seldom-Used Tacticįor background, it’s important to understand how little Golden State relies on the zone. The Warriors ran 13 zone possessions, a very high mark considering their usual defensive scheme, throwing Toronto’s offense out of rhythm at important times. Golden State needed something special from Jordan Poole to rise above the tide offensively, but Steve Kerr played a major role with his playcalling. Neither team felt good going into this one. The Warriors were losers of three straight, struggling amidst the loss of MVP point guard Steph Curry and All-Star candidate Andrew Wiggins. Toronto was reeling, on a four-game skid and 2-6 overall in December, playing without their DPOY-caliber forward OG Anunoby. The Sunday matinee showdown of the Warriors and Raptors felt like two cars swerving off the road into each others’ paths.

Synergy dance zone hours tonight