If the Warriors were playing the Celtics during the regular season, they probably wouldn’t prepare for more than an hour. The team would hold a shootaround in the morning, have a walkthrough, go over a couple of Boston’s pet plays and maybe take a look at some personnel videos before the game. Then they would go home or fly to the next city and repeat the process 81 times.
In the playoffs? The difference, according to Warriors coach Steve Kerr, is “dramatic.”
“It’s hours and hours and hours of preparation,” Kerr says. “You’re looking for every little edge you can get.