OAKLAND — On a team full of All-Stars, it was a rookie second round pick that proved to be the catalyst for a wild sequence that helped seal Golden State’s victory on Sunday.
With 1:47 remaining and the Warriors leading by six, Patrick McCaw gave hardly an inch of space as he defended Pheonix guard Devin Booker outside the three-point arc. The rookie stayed with Booker as he drove to the hoop, blocking his shot, leading to a fast break opportunity for Golden State. The Warriors squandered the opportunity, leading to a second chance for Booker on the other end, only to be rejected again, this time by Kevin Durant. Stephen Curry got the ball in transition and nailed a 27-foot dagger that proved to be the proverbial nail in the coffin, sending the Oracle crowd into a frenzy.
Durant’s block and Curry’s three will be what we remember, but it all started with McCaw’s defensive effort.
“I think it was even more impressive that he went for the steal and still was able to recover and get back in front and force Booker to drive and for him to time up that block,” Durant said at Warriors shoot around on Monday. “That whole play by him was impressive and I think that’s what got us going, that’s what kind of pushed us over the top.”
“His defensive intensity on that possession was great.”
McCaw’s intensity on both ends was huge for Golden State in their victory on Sunday. Though McCaw’s block of Booker will go down as his signature moment in the game, it was the six-plus minute stretch in the second quarter where McCaw went +11 that turned things around for Golden State, who looked incredibly sluggish up to that point. The Warriors trailed by seven when McCaw checked in with 6:26 remaining in the first half. He wouldn’t exit until the halftime buzzer sounded, with the Warriors leading by three, helped in large part by his defensive effort.
On a team bereft of depth at the guard position, McCaw’s ability to contribute right away could prove to be huge for the Warriors this season. Compared earlier to Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston by head coach Steve Kerr, McCaw looks to have the skills and measurables of a prototypical Warrior. He has the length to defend multiple positions, can shoot threes (he knocked down two on Sunday) and is always conscious to keep the ball moving on the offensive end, something Kerr is known for consistently preaching.
“He made a couple big threes for us but more importantly it’s just the simple stuff that he does.” Kerr said. “The ball moves when he’s out on the floor. He just catches it and moves it to the first open guy. He doesn’t think. The offense never stops when he’s on the floor. So it’s great, he’s a great addition and he’s very good defensively too so we’re very happy with him.”
It’s sill early, but McCaw is looking like another second-round steal for Bob Myers and Co., who are making a habit of adding undervalued talent through the draft.
“The draft is funny like that,” Stephen Curry said. “You get guys – Draymond (Green), Patrick (McCaw), Kevon Looney – that for whatever reason don’t jump off the page maybe statistically, or the look of them, whatever it might be. From day one you could tell that Pat knows how to play the game…Last night was another opportunity where he got on the floor and he was just confident on both ends of the floor so that’s why he’s out there.”
“He’s got a very quiet confidence about him, he doesn’t say much, but he knows he belongs here so that’s huge.”
The Warriors need bodies, and anybody who can come off the bench and keep the team afloat while the stars are resting will prove to be valuable. McCaw seems to be able to do much more than that, and if he continues to perform like he did on Sunday, Golden State may have found another diamond in the rough.
