Role players typically alter a postseason series. Elite role players can alter a postseason.
Jamal Crawford, who is the leading candidate for Sixth Man of the Year, and second-year forward Harrison Barnes are two of the most important figures in the series. Both of them provide scoring off the bench, but the intangibles they bring are nearly as important.
Following Game 2, when Crawford scored nine points on 4-of-8 shooting, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers lauded him for making three defensive plays, saying he was going to be the “featured player” of their defensive edits in the daily film session.
Barnes, on the other hand, has been asked to play a number of roles, including playing power forward at times in small-ball lineups with Andrew Bogut out for Golden State. In Game 1, Barnes made a 3-pointer in transition to put the Warriors up two with less than two minutes to go and has shown fearlessness throughout the series so far en route to averaging 11.5 points and 7.0 rebounds.
Crawford, who returned on Apr. 12 from a lingering calf injury, is just 6-for-19 in the series so far, but in Game 2 showed signs of getting back to the player who averaged a league-best 18.5 points per game off the bench in the regular season.
Crawford vs. Barnes Head-to-Head All-Time (Barnes has won all five games)
Career Playoff Stats