The Golden State Warriors have done a superb job of blanketing Landry Shamet during this opening series. He’s a guy who can heat up quickly and the Warriors have made a concerted effort to give him zero space whenever he’s out on the floor.
Shamet has received the Stephen Curry treatment throughout this series. A lot of face-guarding, physicality, and chasing through screens has been done to keep him at bay. Golden State is fully aware of his effect on this Los Angeles Clippers team. When Shamet is hitting shots then the Clippers have their best chance at winning. He averaged 10.0 points, shooting 44.7 percent from behind the arc in their 51 wins during the regular season versus his 7.6 points and 36.4 three-point shooting percentage in their 28 losses.
That was also shown in Game 2 of the series with Shamet having his best game with 12 points on 44 percent from the field. Not to mention, he added the go-ahead bucket to help the Clippers pull off their record-breaking comeback.
Lou Williams and Danilo Gallinari are guys who are capable of getting their own. But when you get contributions from role players, in this case, Shamet, then the Clippers have their best chance of winning. With an offense that struggles to score, it’s imperative to try and find your best shooter open looks. That just hasn’t happened much in this series.
It’s been a defensive effort by committee for the Warriors. They’ve thrown everyone at Shamet to keep him from sparking. Not to mention, the job they’ve done on Williams and Harrell in the last two games has also been superb.
Facing elimination, Doc Rivers has to find a way to get Shamet more looks. As he goes, they go, and I strongly believe for them to be successful they need his outside shooting.
