While the regular season is a grueling slog that forces teams to think big picture, the NBA playoffs are a different beast. Each game becomes a chess match, where little strategic nuances can be the difference between success and failure. In these previews, we’ll take a look at one intriguing tactical quandary facing each team.

Golden State Warriors

- Defending Damian Lillard in pick-and-roll

It’s not exactly outlandish to state that if Portland is to be competitive in this series, they will need big games from their star point guard. Lillard’s preferred method of generating offense is out of the NBA’s staple action -- the pick-and-roll. According to the Synergy Sports database, only seven players in league have been credited with over 700 scoring situations out of pick-and-rolls. Lillard sits at the top of that list in terms of points per possession, outpacing even MVP frontrunners James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

To avoid letting Lillard use a screening teammate to tally a monster point total, Golden State will need to be disciplined in their defensive approach. Lillard is a different beast when it comes to his skill set in pick-and-rolls. Against the vast majority of the league, teams can comfortably play a “drop and over” coverage -- where their big cedes space for guards to dribble into low-value mid-range shots while the on-ball defender trails over the top of the screen. That isn’t an option against Lillard.

Against an “over” coverage, Lillard is averaging a ridiculous 1.159 points per possession, even higher than his overall mark of 1.018 (that was referenced above). The reason Lillard’s mark is so astronomically high is because he has the unique ability to pull up right next to his screening teammate at the 3-point line -- instead of in the mid-range -- and punish a lax defense with his accuracy from beyond the arc.  The threat of Lillard’s 3-point, pull-up jumpers actually forces opposing teams to play their big men “up to touch”, where they come up to the level of the screen and begin to retreat back to the paint from there. It seems like a good solution until you remember Lillard also possesses the ability to blow right by even agile big men forced to defend in more space higher up on the floor:

So if going over against Lillard pick-and-rolls doesn’t work, it makes sense to try going under them, right? Well, if you try to sneak under a pick set for a player who loves to unleash 3-point shots in pick-and-roll, this can be the result:

Now with Golden State, the option of switching a player like Draymond Green (when the Warriors go small) onto Lillard seems like a solid option. But even in that situation, Lillard has a track record of producing efficient offense. Synergy actually tracks possessions where players go into isolations against a defensive switch from pick-and-roll. According to their data, Lillard has produced 1.086 PPP in 58 attempts, an even higher output than a standard pick-and-roll.

In order to avoid letting Lillard make this a tense series, Golden State will have to choose from a collection of tactics that don’t exactly have a track record of success. What the Warriors decide to do, and more importantly, how well their defenses executes it, may be a big factor in how competitive this series becomes.

Portland Trail Blazers

- Preventing Draymond Green from being a playmaker

Despite their collection of incredible scoring talent, Green is the player that really makes Golden State go. Green tallies assists at a rate -- 7.0 per game -- unheard for a player who spends a good chunk of his time playing as freakin’ 5-man. Green is essentially the Warriors de facto point guard and Portland’s best chance of slowing down this team is turning Green from a passer into a scorer.

That notion sounds great in theory, but it’s definitely one of those things that’s a lot easier said than done. In particular, Green throwing lobs to another big man when rolling to the rim after a screen isn’t really something you can scheme to defend. Like Blake Griffin, Green is just a freakishly good passer/playmaker for a big man and in those spots you just have to execute a coverage and cross your fingers he doesn’t dissect your defense. There are other spots, however, where teams have options when trying to dissuade Green from quarterbacking Golden State’s offense.

The Warriors have a lot of possessions where the other four players on the court go into screening/cutting action after Green either pushes the ball up the floor or gets it reversed to him as the trail big. Because of his middling outside shooting, teams have typically asked the player guard Green to sag off him -- baiting him into a shot while jamming up passing lanes. It sounds great in theory but it’s one of those things that may actually be counter productive.

For every possession where Green chooses to launch a 3-point shot against a sagging defender, that approach also allows him to casually survey a defense for open teammates:

To avoid giving him the time and space to dissect their off-ball defense, Portland should consider heavily pressuring Green in these situations. Typically when a player is intensely guarded, it encourages him to be more of a driver than a facilitator.  And though Green has the ability to make plays off the bounce, it’s probably a net win for Portland to make him a driver rather than a passer.

Though it’d mean putting a lesser defender on Kevin Durant, the Blazers might be wise slotting their defensive Al-Farouq Aminu on Green in an attempt to harass in these spots to the point he can’t pick apart Portland’s defense. There is no way to stop this potent Warriors team, doing what they can to limit Green’s playmaking will be the best way for the Blazers to slow them down.