2022 NBA Finals | (3) GSW VS. (2) BOS (TIED 1-1)

[Cricket23]

Sticking with Boston in 6, even though I think they also win game 2. I see GS taking 3 and 5.

Glad to not see any bitching about the refs for a change.

Very predictable are the takes about unsustainable shooting, and the multiple appropriate counterpoints have already been given. Boston hasn't been shooting 50% from 3 for all of 2022, yet they've been steamrolling teams.

If I were a Warriors fan, I'd be concerned about Green's postgame comments. His notion of 42 minute dominance is silly, but if he thinks that was GS playing dominating basketball then perhaps he doesn't expect them to play much better? GS should be more concerned than they seem to be instead of hoping for the best.

GS could obviously win the next game, but I'm leaning towards Boston pummeling them right from the opening tip. Tatum and Brown weren't emotionally ready for game 1. Brown got there eventually, and they'll all be there for the start of game 2.

I can guarantee that won't happen. Boston has been the most inconsistent team the entire playoffs. The only reason they are being hyped up right now is because they stole game one from the Warriors by putting up a 40 point fourth quarter. If there's any team right now that knows how to bounce back from a loss like that one, it's the Warriors.

I think much of the inconsistency is due to inconsistency with who they have had available, to go along with playing high level and very physical teams. The extra days off they'll be getting in this series will be highly beneficial for them. Not saying you can't be right, and what I think has nothing to do with GS. It's based on what I've seen from Boston since January.

[Miami_Lux]

Is it possible that the three best NBA teams are actually in the East (Celtics,Heat, and Bucks)? Seems like the West is continuously getting worse. If the Celtics win this year 3 of the last 4 champions would have come out of the East. Maybe the energy is really about to shift

[Cricket23]

Kemba had knee issues, he had a surgery before signing with celtics, he was an old midget inefficient scorer and horrible defender that depended on speed, it was a terrible signing with or without injuries.

Yes, he was hunted by every team. I have no idea why Ainge did not want to pay Rozier, who was younger, cheaper and better.

That last year in Boston Rozier was worse than horrible, and he was a big part of the chemistry problem.

[liquidswords]

So we're just expecting Boston to hit 20 3's a game and have White/Smart/Horford go ballistic all series?

So we're just expecting Tatum to go 3-17 from the field and for Brown and Tatum to go 3-13 combined 3PT all series?

Of course not but Tatum is a star. He'll adjust. The expectation is there because of what he's accomplished. However, those guys I mentioned have not consistently strung anything together and the C's are a feast/famine team from 3. Much more logical to expect the team and the role players to regress.

[KamikazeK]

GSW are soft and can't compete with Boston.

[bbalnation]

Boston fans, why did Marcus smart seemingly get bench for a large stretch last night. Ino White was hot and ino smart can stagnate things at times. I guess what I'm really asking is, White at his best and Smart at his best, whos the better option in the backcourt next to Brown

White's quickness and ability to get over the top of screens give him particular matchup advantages against a team with Steph Curry that aren't really as beneficial as Smart's strength, positioning, versatility, and ability to take charges against other teams, so we don't lose as much with Smart on the bench. And White is a better playmaker in general and has been on a hot shooting streak since his son was born. In general when we are not playing the Warriors and White isn't shooting out of his mind, Smart is the better player and fits better next to Brown.

That said, no need for either/or. The best Celtics lineup this playoffs has been White/Smart/Brown/Tatum/Horford.

Do you mind sharing your perspective on why Robert Williams hasn't been part of the top 5 impactful Celtics players, or rather, part of their teams best line for the Playoffs?

Is it the injury? Or the added spacing?

[Bill Bradley]

Kemba had knee issues, he had a surgery before signing with celtics, he was an old midget inefficient scorer and horrible defender that depended on speed, it was a terrible signing with or without injuries.

Yes, he was hunted by every team. I have no idea why Ainge did not want to pay Rozier, who was younger, cheaper and better.

That last year in Boston Rozier was worse than horrible, and he was a big part of the chemistry problem.

Nah that was the Kyrie effect.

[chrisab123]

Kemba had knee issues, he had a surgery before signing with celtics, he was an old midget inefficient scorer and horrible defender that depended on speed, it was a terrible signing with or without injuries.

Yes, he was hunted by every team. I have no idea why Ainge did not want to pay Rozier, who was younger, cheaper and better.

That last year in Boston Rozier was worse than horrible, and he was a big part of the chemistry problem.

Rozier was just as big of a problem as Kyrie was. But things probably weren't salvageable anyways.

[BayArea408415]

Curry was in the game already when Celtics made a 17-0 run Warriors still up by 3 then Steph responded with 3 bricks like he always does when he's under pressure and didn't score a single point for the last 6 minutes of the game. He dance and shimmy when they are overwhelming favorite against inferior teams then folds when the going gets tough. They lose Game 1 where Tatum had a terrible shooting night. Whenever he play this bad Including last Playoffs when he shot less than 41% from the field, he responded next game with 50 pts, 39 pts, 29 pts, 30 pts, 46 pts, 31 pts and 30 pts game. Let's see how GSW respond in Game 2. Looking forward for another great game.

If he was, my mistake but Celtics crushed the Warriors 12 point lead early in the 4th while Curry was sitting. It was single possession game by the time he entered I believe and Celtics were in rhythm.

I believe Wiggins was sitting too. Meanwhile, Tatum, Brown and I believe Horford were all in.

As a Warriors fan, I take Tatum scoring 30+ on high efficiency over Celtics role players shooting 17/26 from 3 + the team as a whole at 9/11 from 3 in the 4th quarter. Every single time. It’s not even close.

[Curmudgeon]

Boston fans, why did Marcus smart seemingly get bench for a large stretch last night. Ino White was hot and ino smart can stagnate things at times. I guess what I'm really asking is, White at his best and Smart at his best, whos the better option in the backcourt next to Brown

White's quickness and ability to get over the top of screens give him particular matchup advantages against a team with Steph Curry that aren't really as beneficial as Smart's strength, positioning, versatility, and ability to take charges against other teams, so we don't lose as much with Smart on the bench. And White is a better playmaker in general and has been on a hot shooting streak since his son was born. In general when we are not playing the Warriors and White isn't shooting out of his mind, Smart is the better player and fits better next to Brown.

That said, no need for either/or. The best Celtics lineup this playoffs has been White/Smart/Brown/Tatum/Horford.

Do you mind sharing your perspective on why Robert Williams hasn't been part of the top 5 impactful Celtics players, or rather, part of their teams best line for the Playoffs?

Is it the injury? Or the added spacing?

Injury. 100%. He came back 5 1/2 weeks after surgery.

[Tyakack]

Is it possible that the three best NBA teams are actually in the East (Celtics,Heat, and Bucks)? Seems like the West is continuously getting worse. If the Celtics win this year 3 of the last 4 champions would have come out of the East. Maybe the energy is really about to shift

You can certainly make an argument for that..... I still would put the suns in the top 3 even tho they choked. Can't overlook how they played for the vast part of the season.

[al bondiga]

the Celtics are good , maybe top 20 if they win , that is a very big if

if the Celtics win , it's more of a warrior mess up than a Celtic achievement to me...

the Celtics have already reached their peak and have had a tougher playoff than the Warriors ...but the Warriors are in a league with the Michael Jordan teams, Johnson, LeBron, kobe, bird, spurs, Bad Boys... if Warriors play "balls out"... with incentive... they win

Defense wins championships most times but you have to have good offense also the Celtics are good sometimes but a bit Raw others

If the Celtics win they will be a much better team next year , consolidated... that is the proof to what I say

[jfs1000d]

C's won game 1 thanks to Horford and White, both Stevens acquisitions.

Yeah if anything, this should look a little bad on Ainge. He refused to part with picks to get another guy or to round out the roster. Stevens did that year 1 in position.

Why it really looks bad on Ainge is he gave Kemba Walker with multiple knee surgeries a huge max contract when Marcus Smart was a better PG for winning an actual championship with the rest of this Celtics roster.

What makes it perplexing is Ainge himself knows that your don't need a traditional PG to win championships and he also repeatedly said small PG's often have it much harder in the playoffs. Neither Dennis Johnson or Ainge were traditional PGs. Both combo guards. So many other PG's with really just combo guard skills have won it all.

Even many years before Kemba signing, I always felt PG and not SG was Marcus Smart's best position overall.

If you have Smart as a SG, you really are giving up an advantage you have since chances are the PG will not a very good defender.

I realize this years Celtics team odds were enhanced due to injuries to other teams but at the same time, if so many resources including time were not wasted on IT, Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker the Celtics in much better shape. In the case of IT, I was for the deal but I never thought the Celtics would build their entire offense around him and play him tons of minutes. That style of team very unlikely to win it all. There was some logic to the Kyrie Irving trade but Kemba Walker made zero sense.

Ainge wanted a Ballhandling late in the clock scorer.

It worked beautifully until Kemba’s knees gave out. Kemba was terrific his first 60 games. He just couldn’t play when he came back .


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[Yeggo Poleggo]

White plays with a superstar level of confidence, I always liked his game in San Antonio.

If the Warriors get swept, what does that do to Steph's legacy?

[Pachinko_]

Celtics are the better team in my mind, if you asked me which of the two teams wins most games in an even race I pick the Celtics. (mind you I don't consider the regular season an even race because some teams try harder than others, so please don't give me RS stats)

What does that mean? Not much. Because Celtics are also inconsistent, I really liked them in G1 but I don't trust them to be so good every night. Also the Warriors have a couple of players that can go nuclear without notice and just end a game no matter what you do. I'm still not ready to make a bet, maybe it's just a bad series to bet on.

[Beethoven]

If I'm a coach on the Warriors, I have them come to practice today and I show a montage of players shooting 3's and making dunks and running back on defense. There needs to be a change in mindset.

No flexing after a dunk or layup...looking at you Draymond

No shimmying after a three...looking at you Chef Curry

The Warriors win on talent and ability. While that counts for a lot, there is more to the game. If the Warriors do not have a decided advantage in talent (and they do not) then they need to realize this is going to be a war of attrition.
..

I don't mind them shimmying for 5 seconds after a three. Please keep doing that.
I'm sure that's part of boston's scouting report on the warriors.

[jfs1000d]

White plays with a superstar level of confidence, I always liked his game in San Antonio.

If the Warriors get swept, what does that do to Steph's legacy?

Warriors ain’t getting swept. They don’t suck .


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[jfs1000d]

I want to blow y’all’s mind. Which team do to think is a better 3-point shooting team?

Look at the stats, especially since Jan. 1.

Boston puts minimum of 4 3-point shooters out there and when Horford is at the 5, and white in, 5 3-point shooters.

GSW, for all they have done to the 3-point shot, have curry, Klay and Wiggins/Poole…draymond and looney are non shooters.

But Celtics get 3s from 8 of top 9 rotation players. The only one who isn’t a willing. 3-point shooter is Rob Williams.

It’s insane .


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[Triple M]

A lot of talk about Boston's hot shooting but GSW scoring 13 in the 4th quarter has gotten overshadowed a bit. I am genuinely curious if Boston figured out some things about the Warriors offense.

I still expect a 7 game series but i came into the series liking the match ups in boston favour but I'm a little bit concerned that Tatum was shut down shooting. I'm surprised that the dubs didn't want Tatum isolating.

[bearadonisdna]

Otto porter been living in a time machine , he only 28 .
Tatum like his doppleganger if Porter was a Kobe fan .