NBA FINALS – Gm 2: Celtics (1) @ Warriors (0) – 8:00PM, Sun, June 5, 2022

ConstableGeneva · Post #161 » by **ConstableGeneva** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 11:31 am

basketballRob · Post #162 » by **basketballRob** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 11:35 am

It felt like the Celtics figured out how to guard Curry much better after the first quarter. They got up on him more on the 3-point line. Let's see if Curry can adjust by penetrating and kicking it out. I also think the Warriors over-passed the ball.

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Green89 · Post #163 » by **Green89** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 12:03 pm

They need to watch for Draymond pulling guys' jerseys. He luckily got called for grabbing Tatum's late in the 4th, but they missed another one where he grabbed Al's twice on the same play. He resorts to cheat tactics when he's out of gas and/or can't defend.

sam_I_am · Post #164 » by **sam_I_am** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 12:29 pm

We have seen the Celtics bounce back from game 1 losses where they played like a$$ with historic first quarters marked by unrepepeatable 10-12 3 pt shooting for example. We usually feel that they are the better team expecting it to be over in 5 but then this team has played maddeningly bad or uninspired leading to 7 game series.

We have never seen them bounce back from a piss poor performance with an historic 4th quarter before. Does that mean we might see their typical great game 2 or will we have an a$$ of shame thread? I think Tatum will have a great shooting night - perhaps 40 pts. If he continues to find open guys too this could be the stuff of Celtics legend.

I think we are going to see the Celtics play their best ball of playoffs. Will it be enough if Warriors get hot? I think it will.

Fencer reregistered · Post #165 » by **Fencer reregistered** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 1:03 pm

ConstableGeneva wrote:

Watch on YouTube

So maybe Draymond will try to cover Al a little more closely?

Cool to see the video start with Pritchard.

Bostonic33 · Post #166 » by **Bostonic33** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 1:10 pm

Looking at the simple stats for postseason 2022 from ESPN is an eye opening exercise. Those stats are for the games played by the 16 teams which are the cream of the NBA. Boston Celtics played more games than any other team (19).

For starters... the first thing I noticed the differential for personal fouls (PF) for the Celtics was exactly zero. Tatum should stop looking at the referees every time he makes a trip and focus on getting back on defense. It doesn't matter and will all work out at the end. However disparaged, the refs' overall effect on the Celtics is neutral.

Rob Williams is the only representative for the Boston Celtics in postseason stat leaders (blocks). Golden State (GS) is only represented by Stephen and Klay in 3-pointers made (naturally). All other names on those lists are now at home watching the NBA championship. Let that sink in... all those high scorers (and other metrics) are no longer in the playoffs. It doesn't appear the highest personal metrics correlates to winning playoff games.

For team stats... GS has the highest offensive scores (114.1 points per game) while the Celtics have the 3rd lowest defensive scores at 101.4 points a game. And the big BUT is... the Celtics lead at point differential at 6.4 points with GS 2nd at 4.4 points. So even though the Celtics are scoring roughly 7 points less than GS per game... the point differential is 2 points more. The take away is not scoring more... but focusing on both ends of the court is the better strategy. It is a nice have if Tatum can score 30 points a game but that isn't a predictor of success.

We all noticed GS's strategy on the first game was to double/triple team Tatum whenever he got the ball... but Tatum's passing resulted in made buckets.

Lastly... the Celtics as a team is making 37% of their 3 point shots while GS is making a percentage higher at 38%. Surprisingly, the Celtics takes one more 3pt shot per game than GS. However, this is the kicker... defending the 3 pointers doesn't appear to be GS's defensive strategy. Take a look at the 3pt% differential... Boston is at 4.6 while GS is a miniscule 0.8.

And this makes sense when you watched game 1. GS defensive strategy was to collapse the defense and dare Boston to shoot 3 pointers. The result was a record number of three pointers attempted... and Boston shot 51% from the threes. It was a turkey shoot out there.

Kerr probably noticed and may adjust the GS's defense to defend the perimeter which will then allow Tatum/Boston to attack the basket with more success. And GS does not use a big center. At that point... it may be game over as all of Boston's unsuccessful opponents discovered. These guys can play both sides of the court.

I wanted to point out one more thing... age may be a significant factor in this championship series. Al is the only important player for the Celtics in his 30's. The big three for GS are ALL in their 30's. Boston's constant pressure defense physically wear down opposing stars (looking at Kyrie & Kevin). Stephen and Klay are going to get theirs... but over seven games?

This series is going to be very interesting to watch.

ConstableGeneva · Post #167 » by **ConstableGeneva** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 1:38 pm

Read on Twitter

ConstableGeneva · Post #168 » by **ConstableGeneva** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 2:12 pm

Read on Twitter

“The road is the time where it’s just us,” White said after Game 1. “We come together as a group. We know it’s just us versus them in their arena. We enjoy playing on the road. It’s a tough place to play and a big Game 1. We just got to be a little greedy and try to get this Game 2.”

Both teams had the day off Friday, a relished rarity this time of year that appeared to serve the Celtics well. Boston big man Robert Williams, who played 24 minutes in Game 1 and continues his slow road back to full health after tearing the meniscus in his left knee in late March, could be seen walking near the team hotel with his family. White was out on a leisurely stroll, as well.

Everyone in green, it seemed, was still in chill mode. With dreams of putting the champagne on ice if they can do this three more times.

“This time of the season, you feel great after you win, (and) you feel terrible after you lose,” Tatum said. “You got to just be able to stay mellow, stay balanced, especially this early. It’s far from over, right? It’s just one game. And we got to be ready for them to respond as if we would if we lost the first game. They’re going to come out, they’re going to make adjustments and things like that. So we have to be prepared and just approach it one game at a time.”

Afam · Post #169 » by **Afam** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 3:49 pm

Great article. Win game 2 and take control of the series. Come out strong and finish strong . The Celtics increase their chance of winning a championship by winning game 2 tomorrow. Make it happen.

Read on Twitter

Afam · Post #170 » by **Afam** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 3:49 pm

playa-hater · Post #171 » by **playa-hater** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 3:51 pm

Fierce1 wrote:I think GSW needs to bring back KD if they want to win another chip.

who needs each other more?? KD or GS??

ConstableGeneva · Post #172 » by **ConstableGeneva** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 4:01 pm

Recycled Anna Horford's tweet...

BK_2020 · Post #173 » by **BK_2020** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 5:00 pm

Can the Celtics bench play the Warriors bench or something? Too many days without a game.

London2Boston · Post #174 » by **London2Boston** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 5:19 pm

ConstableGeneva wrote:

Read on Twitter

Win game 2, Cs, and leave these posers unhinged.

Don’t think I’ve ever seen the Warriors Talk so much after game 1 of the finals. Whether it’s tweets or podcasts etc.

They really will have a meltdown once we take game 2 too!!

Post #175 » by **bisme37** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 5:19 pm

Hopefully our physical advantages will continue to be huge in this series. As far as youth, energy, size, physicality, athleticism etc.

Magic Johnson mentioned at halftime of G1 that the Dubs were already looking tired out there. I hadn't noticed it to that point but looked for it in the 2nd half and it was obvious.

In our previous rounds we wore the other team down over the course of the series. In G1 it seemed to happen very quickly over the course of that one game.

Post #176 » by **bisme37** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 5:20 pm

Also I'm still so spent lol. Really glad there are 2 days off between games. Go C's!

Fencer reregistered · Post #177 » by **Fencer reregistered** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 5:50 pm

I didn't know this.

According to ShotQuality, when the Warriors led 87-72 inside of two minutes left in the third quarter, the algorithm pegged the Celtics for a 70-68 advantage on quality of possessions at that point.

https://sports.yahoo.com/nba-finals-boston-celtics-wide-open-shots-draymond-green-golden-state-warriors-212957562.html

sam_I_am · Post #178 » by **sam_I_am** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 5:59 pm

Fencer reregistered wrote:I didn't know this.

According to ShotQuality, when the Warriors led 87-72 inside of two minutes left in the third quarter, the algorithm pegged the Celtics for a 70-68 advantage on quality of possessions at that point.

https://sports.yahoo.com/nba-finals-boston-celtics-wide-open-shots-draymond-green-golden-state-warriors-212957562.html

It makes sense. Tatum was about 3-15 at that time and I would say 12 of them were decent shots. He alone accounted for 10 pts.

meatball sub · Post #179 » by **meatball sub** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 6:03 pm

Media really trying to act like this is gonna be a backdoor sweep LOL. It's not guaranteed we win the series by any means but acting like the Warriors are suddenly going to score like they did in the 1st and third quarter and somehow make us play significantly worse for 4 straight games is absurd.

They're OLD. It's not surprising we closed the 2nd and 4th quarters better than them. On top of that, as soon as we stopped dropping on the switch and Al came out above the 3 point line, they couldn't do a **** thing offensively. Rob, as good as he was all season, dropping way back is why Curry got all those open 3s in the 1st quarter -- and they couldn't even get much separation from us.

People are delusional if they think the Warriors are suddenly going to figure out the massive size advantage we have. They can't fix that -- we're a matchup nightmare for them.

lon3lytoaster · Post #180 » by **lon3lytoaster** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 6:09 pm

meatball sub wrote:Media really trying to act like this is gonna be a backdoor sweep LOL. It's not guaranteed we win the series by any means but acting like the Warriors are suddenly going to score like they did in the 1st and third quarter and somehow make us play significantly worse for 4 straight games is absurd.

They're OLD. It's not surprising we closed the 2nd and 4th quarters better than them. On top of that, as soon as we stopped dropping on the switch and Al came out above the 3 point line, they couldn't do a **** thing offensively. Rob, as good as he was all season, dropping way back is why Curry got all those open 3s in the 1st quarter -- and they couldn't even get much separation from us.

People are delusional if they think the Warriors are suddenly going to figure out the massive size advantage we have. They can't fix that -- we're a matchup nightmare for them.

DW is also probably the best off ball defender in the series. Having him for Curry and Poole is a beautiful thing at this point.

Again, no guarantees we win the series but W’s are going to have to adjust how they handle Tatum, and think about blitzing Jaylen and hope he makes the right decision to get it back to Tatum or Smart