Livingston and Barbosa show strengths of Warriors bench in Game 1
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors’ thrilling comeback against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals served primarily as a showcase for the excellence of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the greatest shooting duo in NBA history. An NBA Finals matchup with the similarly three-happy Cleveland Cavaliers appeared to offer the opportunity for an epic long-range battle.
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Naturally, the Warriors’ 104-89 Game 1 win hinged on the performance of two other Golden State guards — reserves Shaun Livingston and Leandro Barbosa, who made up for a very poor shooting night for both Curry and Thompson and led a tremendous night for the bench. The numbers were staggering — the Warriors subs out-scored Cleveland’s 45-10, shot 19-of-32 (59.4 percent) to the Cavs reserves’ 3-of-10 (30 percent), and had an impact well beyond what can be communicated by statistics. With the Splash Brothers combining to shoot 8-of-27 from the field, those contributions kept the Warriors in control most of the way.
As Curry said in his post-game press conference, that kind of supplemental play is not necessarily a shock.
“That’s why we’re here, everybody having an impact on our team in the game,” he said.
Indeed, the Warriors reserves have earned plenty of attention over the last two Warriors’ seasons, especially as former starter Andre Iguodala has transitioned into becoming of the league’s top sixth men and a worthy 2015 NBA Finals MVP. Depth is one of the Warriors’ many strengths.
Yet Thursday night’s result displayed that their quality goes well beyond the contributions of Iguodala, a player as important as a starter despite his position on the bench. Livingston and Barbosa were not often tapped as x-factors in the many previews that preceded this matchup, but they stepped up to become two of Golden State’s best performers in this series-opening win. They also fall very much in line with the peerless versatility and occasional irrationality that have become the Warriors’ trademarks.
The story of Game 1 started with Livingston, Golden State’s only 20-point scorer on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the line in 26 minutes. Game 1 marked a return to form for Livingston, who has emerged as a consistent offensive option for the way he uses his lanky 6-7 frame to shoot over shorter guards. Although he performed well as a fill-in starter for Curry vs. the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers, Livingston began to become less effective following a Game 4 ejection in Portland and against Oklahoma City, perhaps the only team with defenders lengthy enough to neutralize his advantage.
Livingston’s play against Cleveland suggests that he could be able to find regular open looks against smaller point guards Kyrie Irving and Matthew Dellavedova and beat bigger defenders like Iman Shumpert to his preferred shooting spots in the mid-range. The Cavaliers were all too aware of the matchup problems Livingston poses.
“Just his length, being 6’7″ and no matter who you try to put in front of him, he’s always going to be bigger at the point guard position,” said head coach Tyronn Lue.
Livingston’s height brings trouble for most defenders, but his success obviously depends on more than a happy genetic accident, especially given his comeback from a potential career-ending knee injury in February 2007. As The Vertical’s Michael Lee tweeted in the midst of Livingston’s game-changing performance, that mid-range prowess had to be developed as a fringe rotation player for several teams. The veteran incarnation of Livingston projects a sense of calm and focus, usually going on his scoring runs without appearing to force any shots or demand the ball from teammates.
“Yeah, it’s all a feel,” said Livingston. “Just being aggressive when we’re out there. … I think I took the same shots last series but it’s just staying confident in my shot, understanding my game, where the shots are going to come from and trusting it.”
One thing about Shaun is he’s never going to get outside of who he is,” said Draymond Green. “He’s going to do what he does, and he’s going to get to his spots and he’s going to raise up and knock shots down.”
If Livingston seems keenly aware of his strengths and limitations, then Leandro Barbosa stands out as something close to the exact opposite. The 33-year-old Brazilian has slowed noticeably since his days as “The Brazilian Blur,” the speediest of the “Seven Seconds or Less” Phoenix Suns, but his style of play has not changed one bit. The Barbosa experience is usually a confusing one — he drives into crowds, forces shots, and can appear to move around without really knowing where he’s headed. Spend any time on Twitter during a Warriors game and you’ll probably see one or two analysts wonder why Steve Kerr gives Barbosa so many minutes.
Kerr has regularly praised Barbosa’s ability to force and maintain tempo as a response to those questions, but Game 1 showed that he can be effective as a more than an avatar of the Golden State’s style. He made all five of his field-goal attempts for 11 points and a plus-14 in only 11 minutes, most of which came during big runs alongside Livingston. Those buckets were quintessential Barbosa — he sized up his defender, attacked, and looked a little out of control doing it.
“He hasn’t lost it,” said Livingston of his bench partner. “He’s still aggressive. It’s amazing, obviously, to see him continue to speed around guys like that. At his age, playing all those years in the NBA. Unfortunately I had to guard him when he was younger in Phoenix. And he’s still fast to this day. So it’s very impressive.”
Unlike in the case of Livingston, it’s very unlikely that Barbosa will prove so effective throughout the rest of the series. That’s not necessarily due to any forthcoming adjustments from the Cavaliers — he’s just a high-variance player at this point in his career. Yet the Warriors can live with that due to the ability of others on the roster. If it isn’t Livingston and Barbosa, then perhaps other reserves like Marreese Speights and Festus Ezeli will step up and bring supplemental scoring.
“It could be anybody on any given night off the bench,” said Livingston, “and it’s our job, really to stay ready.”
It’s that confidence that someone will provide a lift that makes the Warriors so dangerous. The names will probably be different in Game 2, but the quality of the contributions could be remarkably similar.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
