2022 NBA Finals - Game 6 | Golden State Warriors vs. Boston Celtics (GSW WINS 4-2)

[Chanel Bomber]

It was very bad playoffs overall. No real epic moments, no epic games 7 (Celtics - Bucks was meh, Celtics - Heat not good). Finals sucked. It was one of the worst postseasons in recent NBA history.

The Finals weren't epic on the whole but I thought the games were enjoyable to watch.

Two historical moments this postseason:

1. Steph's 43-point masterpiece against the best defense in the NBA. One of the greatest performances in Finals history.

2. The Mavs beatdown of the Suns in game 7. It was a blow-out, but it felt surreal, and massive.

The Heat's comeback in game 7 fell short, but it was absolutely thrilling. One of the most memorable missed shots I have ever seen.

[LoveMyRaps]

Games 4-6 of these Finals

Gary Payton, Kevon Looney, & Jordan Poole: 77 Points

Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, & Grant Williams: 29 Points

The bench scoring got really lopsided.

It still blows my mind that Ime had those 3 guys on the court at the same time in the first quarter of an elimination game yesterday.
Killed the Celtics momentum.

[Dan Z]

It's funny...I see some Warriors fans saying "Don't worry Celtics fans your team is young and they'll be back."

Then I see those same fans saying "Warriors will repeat! Dynasty".

Does that mean the Celtics will keep losing to the Warriors? ha!

I'm sure some of those fans mean well, but it comes off as an insincere condolence.

[Purch]

It's funny...I see some Warriors fans saying "Don't worry Celtics fans your team is young and they'll be back."

Then I see those same fans saying "Warriors will repeat! Dynasty".

Does that mean the Celtics will keep losing to the Warriors? ha!

I'm sure some of those fans mean well, but it comes off as an insincere condolence.

It's pretty standard for this about every champion core that's going against a young finals team.

In fact this is what Duncan said to LeBron back in 2007

https://youtu.be/IGY6UamVRSU

That being said you never know how things will turn out. Okc looked like the team of the future, and it never happened

[AussieCeltic]

Games 4-6 of these Finals

Gary Payton, Kevon Looney, & Jordan Poole: 77 Points

Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, & Grant Williams: 29 Points

The bench scoring got really lopsided.

It still blows my mind that Ime had those 3 guys on the court at the same time in the first quarter of an elimination game yesterday.
Killed the Celtics momentum.

For me the worst part was that the Warriors went into quarter time on an 11-0 run with those guys on, so what does Ime do? Runs them back out there. They then get 5 quick points to start the quarter. Timeout. Finally subs White/Pritchard but leaves in G.Will. Another 5-0 run. Timeout. Finally subs out Williams.

The worst part is, at no point did he run an out of timeout play. I have no idea why they didn’t go to the action they ran the very first play of the game. It was a simple action with Tatum/Brown high in the key. Horford on the wing with Klay on him and a simple cut and seal to get either an easy 2 or foul. They should’ve run the exact same action as Poole was guarding G.Will. He’s not a great post player but he should dominate Poole down low.

Little things like that which blow my mind. Every team should have certain actions out of timeouts to get a good look/easy bucket. Stevens was a genius with his out of timeout plays and would’ve got a bucket to stop that run. Ime will learn eventually, but that kind of hurts.

[ShootersShoot]

Didn't look overrated against KD/Kyrie, Giannis or the entire NBA from January on. Superlatives aside, it was an objectively incredible defense and the reason why they made it as far as they did.

They won both those series 4-3, so it's not like it was some all-time great defense. Jimmy Butler averaged 25.6 points against them. Giannis average 33.9.

The Nets were mess all season.

On far, far lower efficiency. That's the difference. And KD was only a mess against this defense. One of the lowest efficiency series of his career.

If someone said before the finals that steph would average 30 against this cs defense, they would have been laughed off the general board.

[Statlanta]

It was very bad playoffs overall. No real epic moments, no epic games 7 (Celtics - Bucks was meh, Celtics - Heat not good). Finals sucked. It was one of the worst postseasons in recent NBA history.

For me it was mid, the only good series was Wolves v. Grizz and even that series was blowout city.

[BoatsNZones]

They won both those series 4-3, so it's not like it was some all-time great defense. Jimmy Butler averaged 25.6 points against them. Giannis average 33.9.

The Nets were mess all season.

On far, far lower efficiency. That's the difference. And KD was only a mess against this defense. One of the lowest efficiency series of his career.

If someone said before the finals that steph would average 30 against this cs defense, they would have been laughed off the general board.

Yeah, >30 + 7/7 on 63% TS marked by the DPOY and that interior presence would have been a bar that I don’t even think I would have expected to be realistic.

Keeping them alive with that G4 performance to avoid 3-1 was unreal, and he finished them off in style. A truly epic Finals MVP for what will go down as the apex predator of 2015-2025.

[durden_tyler]

It was very bad playoffs overall. No real epic moments, no epic games 7 (Celtics - Bucks was meh, Celtics - Heat not good). Finals sucked. It was one of the worst postseasons in recent NBA history.

Some very good storylines though;

Mavs over Suns in 7
Celtics dominating a "strong" Nets team

Injuries (Middleton) sucked of course as Celtics got a free pass there but overall interesting postseason with the best and most likeable team coming out as winners.

[chyau.00]

On far, far lower efficiency. That's the difference. And KD was only a mess against this defense. One of the lowest efficiency series of his career.

If someone said before the finals that steph would average 30 against this cs defense, they would have been laughed off the general board.

Yeah, >30 + 7/7 on 63% TS marked by the DPOY and that interior presence would have been a bar that I don’t even think I would have expected to be realistic.

Keeping them alive with that G4 performance to avoid 3-1 was unreal, and he finished them off in style. A truly epic Finals MVP for what will go down as the apex predator of 2015-2025.

not to mention, he wasnt forcing anything. he showed a lot of poise, esp the last game, where he just paced the team, got others involved and delivered the final blow when needed.

[Admiral-Kizaru]

Is this image on par with the Lebron one when they were down 3-1

[CM17]

It's funny...I see some Warriors fans saying "Don't worry Celtics fans your team is young and they'll be back."

Then I see those same fans saying "Warriors will repeat! Dynasty".

Does that mean the Celtics will keep losing to the Warriors? ha!

I'm sure some of those fans mean well, but it comes off as an insincere condolence.

What's wrong with hoping our team will be good enough to go for another one next year?

Tatum and Brown will still be in their prime in 5 years. Our guys wont.
But even if they improve and beat us already in a possible repeat next year we will be fine with it.

[PizzaSteve]

It's funny...I see some Warriors fans saying "Don't worry Celtics fans your team is young and they'll be back."

Then I see those same fans saying "Warriors will repeat! Dynasty".

Does that mean the Celtics will keep losing to the Warriors? ha!

I'm sure some of those fans mean well, but it comes off as an insincere condolence.

It's easily both.

A team can only be a champ contender, as injuries and/or a hot opponent can take you out.

The warriors are 5-1 odds to win next year, as current Vegas favorites. So, even as favorites they get another title only 1 in 5 chances, according to bookies. Even the heavily favorite, clearly best team Curry/Durant/Thompson/Iguadala/Green/Looney warriors lost to Toronto, partly due to injuries and partly to Toronto adding 2 all stars.

Nothing is ever certain. So what we are saying is that both Boston and GS will have strong core team members who play well and can compete for a title. Run these two teams back and I would expect GS wins a title 3 out of 5 times. The games were not blow outs and both teams had runs. Boston makes fewer mistakes, Curry has multiple bad games, Boston wins. Also, a few balls bouce differently or injuries dont happen and it is Miami, Sixers or Bucks vs Pheonix, Dallas or Memphis. Maybe slimmer chances, but not impossible.

Gotta keep competing and hope for the best.

[xfactor99]

I was thinking about Boston's challenges guarding Steph this Finals, and it made me think back to 2015 and the first time the Warriors faced the Cavs. Going into it I remember thinking, we have so many good wing defenders - Barnes, Draymond, Klay, Livingston, Iguodala to throw at LeBron. We're as well equipped to guard LeBron as any team in the NBA. In previous playoff series those guys were pretty interchangeable as defenders, it wasn't an issue if any of them were on an island vs James Harden, they all guarded him ok to great.

It became VERY clear after like 2 games that Barnes, Klay, Livingston could not guard LeBron at all. Barnes in particular was completely toast. Draymond could guard LeBron but you didn't want him as the primary matchup; you wanted him as a help defender. So we had to change up our entire defensive gameplan to have Iguodala on LeBron at all times because that was the only guy who could make him work for his points at all.

Similarly I remember going into these finals hearing a lot about how Boston was perfectly set up to guard Steph - DPOY in Marcus Smart, Derrick White, and a switch everything scheme that has historically done the best against the Warriors. However it become VERY clear after 2 games that Al Horford and Grant Williams could not guard Steph 1 on 1 on the switch at all. I know people say that the Celtics defense held up reasonably well, that the Warriors didn't score at a particularly high offensive efficiency all series. But I do think if Horford and Grant Williams had been able to guard Curry on the switch the Warriors offense would have completely cratered to Miami or even Milwaukee levels because it's not like we had great offensive personnel outside of Steph. But that's what basketball at the highest level reveals, who can and can't hold up against the best of the best, and where even the tiniest margins matter.

By the way, on that point the Warriors have faced a lot of great players in the playoffs - KD in 2016, Kawhi in 2019, I will be charitable and throw Harden in 2018 in there. And they all had great moments against the Warriors - KD in the first 4 games of that series, Kawhi in Game 4 in 2019, etc etc. But LeBron was on a whole different level, especially in 2015 and 2016 when the teams were more evenly matched. Nothing puts the fear of god in you more than him getting Steph and the switch and LeBron being able to just overpower him to get to the rim and kick it to the open 3 point shooter. The margin between facing LeBron at his apex vs facing KD and Kawhi at their apex was quite significant. Which I suppose is why LeBron is a top 2 player of all time and those other two aren't.

[Jerry Maine]

So true

James at his peak was so physically overpowering, while still having all the tools, fantastic vision, range, ball handling, quickness, you were dead meat over a seven game series if you didn't have Iggy or sometime at his level defensively to stick to him and make him work

[CS707]

It's funny...I see some Warriors fans saying "Don't worry Celtics fans your team is young and they'll be back."

Then I see those same fans saying "Warriors will repeat! Dynasty".

Does that mean the Celtics will keep losing to the Warriors? ha!

I'm sure some of those fans mean well, but it comes off as an insincere condolence.

Both sentiments are probably a bit insincere. Who knows how the future unfolds. But it’s better than acting like douche bags to each other too. The internet needs a little less of that tbh.

[PizzaSteve]

So true

James at his peak was so physically overpowering, while still having all the tools, fantastic vision, range, ball handling, quickness, you were dead meat over a seven game series if you didn't have Iggy or sometime at his level defensively to stick to him and make him work

Its a short list of guys who can guard LBJ 1v1, and Iguadala's combination of mental leader, defensive elite performance, star willing to be sixth man, 2nd team leader all year (we had an ATG 2nd team under him btw), led to him deserving an award, and FMVP was the one available. Curry also deserved it, but the folks who follow the game understood that Iguadala was a pillar of reviving GS and why they were winning. Invest in his venture fund, if you can afford it, he is into NFTs and crypto.

It all worked out in the end. Without the no MVP-career isn't complete chatter, perhaps we dont get this version of Steph as he gets further distracted by Holy Moly and golf pro dreams.

As I think about who can slow down a prime LBJ, the list seems very short. Clippers with KL, Paul, some of the teams with elite rim protectors? Durant was pretty decent at getting in his way, with his length, I imagine this Boston team would have done ok.

[art_tatum]

gotta give it up to al horford the only one who showed heart in game 6 and didnt crumble under the pressure. he wanted to WIN. he knows his time to get a chip is shutting. he knows the importance of the moment.

[BoatsNZones]

In his 3 road games, Curry averaged 36 PPG on a 72%TS. Second most PPG ever to MJ’s 38, and on a 20% greater TS. Best road performance in NBA Finals history, especially considering the defense.
Curry held them to 40% from the field in ISO despite their best attempts to tire him out. Absolute dominance.

[Bostondave]

It could have shaped up to a classic series. But it wasn't. Not sure what those projecting the Celts to win that game were thinking. Literally anything could've happened with the Celts. No one could've or should've project or predicted a damn thing. Whatever happened would not have surprised me in the least. I wasn't.

Think there was a sporting line that had the Celts winning by 4. I was seriously contemplating laying my first bet ever. If GS won I'd win some money, if they lost my team would live on to fight. I was seriously contemplating it. Turns out I would've won some money apparently.