Mark Lee's divided hip flexor might have finished his year, but it doesn't indicate the Golden State Warriors will soon be packing inside their 2013 NBA playoff work just yet. There's no making your way around the fact Lee made an improved bad team to the Warriors. On the summer season, Golden State scored 109.3 items per 100 items when he was on a floor, but only 102 when he sat. Plus, the functional power forward figured to play a particularly significant part in the Warriors' first-round series from the Denver Nuggets. George Karl's club made a serious effort to blitz Stephen Curry in Game 1, forcing the ball out of his arms in the pick-and-roll at every opportunity. That defensive choice left Lee start several times between the knee and the most truly effective of the group, a location where he normally excels. A fantastic moving attention, a trusted mid-range photo and the ability to get with either hand have made Lee a dangerous solution there all season. That thought to function as case throughout the playoffs as well. He certainly didn't take advantage of the chance in Game 1, but every Golden State person (with the exception of Klay Thompson) seemed just a little gun shy because competition. Lee would play a major strategic role in this series. Given that he's out, Carl Landry can get the majority of the Warriors' minutes at the 4. And while he is a replacement because of his superior physicality and understanding of group defense, he's certainly not the dynamic offensive force that Lee was. But probably it's never as simple as looking at the numbers and concluding that Landry shows a limit from Lee. Details probably will not be hard to come by for either staff through the balance of the series; the sub-100 outputs by both clubs in Game 1 appeared to be induced more by nerves than almost any trend we are likely to see repeated. And both the Nuggets and the Warriors rated in the top 10 in bad performance through the year, so there's no reason to think that containers will be at a premium. Golden State is going to score points no matter who they trot out in the frontcourt as long as Curry and Thompson can get open looks, so probably the fact that Landry is going to provide a little resolution down minimal will count for significantly more than it otherwise might. Put yet another way, Lee offered the Warriors more of what they already getting from a number of sources: rating. Landry gives them something that few others on the roster can: muscle. Plus we've seen the La Lakers suddenly convert in to a great defensive team in the absence of Kobe Bryant, by far their worst team defense, so maybe the Warriors come in for the same kind of metamorphosis with Lee out of the collection. Sure, it would seem like a stretch to state that the Warriors could really increase without Lee. Nevertheless the facts are they do not have to. The Nuggets are dealing with their own nicks and bruises (not forgetting more severe accidents, such as the torn ACL that shoved Danilo Gallinari out for the growing season). With Ty Lawson suffering from a moody heel and Kenneth Faried listed as possible for Game 2 as a result of bum leg, Denver is barely at full strength it self. Also consider this: Lee played horribly in Game 1 and the Warriors would have stolen a victory if not for the amazing old-man revival of Andre Miller. It is safe to assume that the Warriors will get a better performance from Stephen Curry than they got in Game 1, also. The sharpshooter started the competition by missing his first nine shots and looked surprisingly passive in early going. Bank on a sport from the Western Conference's Player of the Month in April in Game 2. Ultimately, Denver is equally as vulnerable since the Warriors are, and while Lee's harm probably doesn't make Golden State's chances to pull off an angry substantially better, it surely does not make them a whole lot worse, sometimes. This series can be still won by the Warriors without Lee.
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