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

[robdog_5]

Glad Celtics won, but we can't read much into one victory. I remember when OKC beat Miami handily in Game 1 of 2012 Finals, and I felt they would cruise to a series win. Instead, they got destroyed in the next 4 games

Same with Boson's last series vs Miami. People were saying Boston sweep after they dismantled the Heat in game 1, but it came down to the wire in game 7.

I predicted Boston winning it all back in the middle of March, but I'm not predicting a sweep. I still think they are just too deep and too good defensively for GSW, playoff experience or not. You gotta remember, Time Lord was considered to Boston's frontrunner in the DPOY race until he got injured, and then Smart won it. Boston isn't even as good as they could be yet.

Uhhhh they lost game 1 to Miami

[TommyPoints]

I too picked Boston in 6, but I didn't expect them to take game 1. It will be really interesting to how GS respond in game 2.

[ATRAIN53]

It's always some guy you don't expect that steps up big in these playoffs games.

Derrick White nailing huge 3's and beating the GSW at their own game, at home. Loved it.

don't look past those couple of huge drives to the basket he made when the game was right there in the balance.
He could have chucked it up, was hot from 3 - but instead he slowed it down with some key drives to the basket that drew fouls.
It changed the flow, it set the tone for the final minutes. They had to respect his shot or drive.

Total classic Popovich trained guard. Take it to the hole in big moments and force the refs to make calls.
It's just like when Ginobli or Tony Parker won huge playoff games with basic basketball.

UME grabbed this guy at the deadline for a reason.

[Curmudgeon]

It's White's superior decision making that makes him such a good player. Same with Horford. People look at individual stats and forget that it's still a team game.

[Joshyjess]

Can't help but wonder if GS had too much time off between games. Boston NEEDED the extra days of rest to try to get some of their health back. GS might have done better with a day or two less time off.
Next game should definitely be interesting. GS is the kind of team that normally responds well to this kind of challenge.

[raptor jesus]

Normally I wouldn't overreact to one game, but I feel like last night was a critical blow to the Warriors chances. Curry really took advantage of the adjustment period for the Celtics defence for most of the game, but once they finally calibrated late in the game, the Warriors offence tanked. Personally, I don't trust the Warriors offence enough to believe they can win this series. I feel like it relies so much on defences making dumb mistakes e.g. getting beat backdoor, losing Curry, closing out on one of their poor non-shooters, not boxing out. The Celtics made their fair share of mistakes last night, but cleaned them up as the game went on - and as they get more reps against Curry, mistakes will be at a premium. The Warriors role guys are gonna have to get scorching hot.

[Backcountry]

Glad Celtics won, but we can't read much into one victory. I remember when OKC beat Miami handily in Game 1 of 2012 Finals, and I felt they would cruise to a series win. Instead, they got destroyed in the next 4 games

Same with Boson's last series vs Miami. People were saying Boston sweep after they dismantled the Heat in game 1, but it came down to the wire in game 7.

I predicted Boston winning it all back in the middle of March, but I'm not predicting a sweep. I still think they are just too deep and too good defensively for GSW, playoff experience or not. You gotta remember, Time Lord was considered to Boston's frontrunner in the DPOY race until he got injured, and then Smart won it. Boston isn't even as good as they could be yet.

Uhhhh they lost game 1 to Miami

Yeah that was my bad. I realized I had misremembered and replied to myself to correct it a few minutes before you posted this. But the rest of my logic still stands. And I still think Boston wins this.

[ballup]

The Warriors had issues on offense. A good portion of that is the Celtics defense and the other is the lack of offensive production from the Warriors.

Steph got hot in the first quarter. The Celtics were defending him poorly, dropping on screens and general miscommunication. Of course those do happen to the best defensive teams sometimes throughout a game, but it shouldn't happening consistently throughout one quarter. The Celtics adjusted their coverage to better suit defedning Curry, which led to him slashing more. However, he wasn't getting the same open looks.

The Celtics dared Draymond to try to score and it worked. Whenever he tried to score within the arc, the shot was contested most of the time and the shot ended up looking like Draymond wildly threw it up.

Klay isn't fully back. We saw some usual Klay actions, but it's not as relentless as his prime. He has also been opting to shoot off the dribble more, which isn't his strongsuit.

Wiggins was fine as a role player. Made smart cuts, drives, and open 3s.

Poole is the one the Warriors needed to step up. The thing with having your backup guard play a lot like your starting pg is that it simplifies the assignment for the defense. He ended up taking 7 shots compared to 12 that Draymond took. That has to be flipped if the Warriors want a different result. Just like Jaylen was busting the defense when Tatum wasn't hitting his shots, Poole has to do the same for his team in order for them to be successful.






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[Bostondave]

Curry is kinda punkish. Some of his antics turn me off. But....

I know I've mentioned the Celtics having a "magic" level. What they did in that 4th qtr wasn't quite it. Almost but not quite. Tatum wasn't hitting. The Celtics magic level has EVERYBODY hitting their shots. Amazing passing, defending. Lobs to Timelord from half-court. It truly is an amazing thing to see. What we all saw was just a small glimpse into that zone the Celtics get in sometimes. If they could bottle it or summon it at will.......forgettaboutit.

[Zvaart]

Good game by Boston , congrats. Who would have thought Derrick White will kick our ass while Tatum laid an egg? And while of course we laid a bigger one in the 4th....

[FJS]

Let's not overreact after one game. Golden State will make adjustments and will win the series. Remember just a year ago Milwaukee was down 0-2 in the Finals and they came back and won it all. Boston lost game one in their two previous series and we all know how those series turned out. Golden State lost game one before on their home floor only to win the series at the end. Games two and three will be very telling in how this series will play out.

Since 2014-2015 they only did it vs OKC in 2016 (with them choking) and they were really lucky. They have been more times 1-1, but losing 2nd game, not first.

[Fencer reregistered]

Can anyone give a rundown why GSW only scored 16 points in the 4th quarter?

Because they only won garbage time 3-0?

Yeah, during the competitive 11 minutes of Q4, the Cs more than tripled up the Ws, at 40-13.

[shi-woo]

Glad Celtics won, but we can't read much into one victory. I remember when OKC beat Miami handily in Game 1 of 2012 Finals, and I felt they would cruise to a series win. Instead, they got destroyed in the next 4 games

This is the feeling I had going into the series, and as a Celtic fan, i'm trying to enjoy the moment but not get to ahead of myself.

But that's hard, because I Ultimately think Tatum/Bown/Smart now is better than KD/Westbrook/Harden back then. I think taking game 1 in this series is a big deal because Boston is also the more physical team, and they are up one in terms of adjustments.

The refs let them play tonight, and the game was great. That favors Boston no doubt, and if Steph and Klay have to play extended minutes, they might wear down. We'll see if that plays a role, because it did last night for sure.

Boston made it known they are going to head hunt Poole off the floor. If GS can't consistently win the small match-up, does GS really have enough offense playing guys like Looney, Green, and Iggy? Nope. I expect to see some GP3 and way more Porter Jr at the 5 in this series

[jfs1000d]

I am concerned for GSW for two reason.

1. Way too cocky. They go 38-24, started dancing, and got taken to the woodshed. Enough with the pretty boy act.

2. Xs and Os. Curry is great. But Klay isn’t what he was. Where do they go for scoring? They play Looney and Green, Boston gonna put them in a vice grip. I think GSW has to go small, but that makes them really small.


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[soxfan2003]

I had Celtics in 6 or 7 before the series but thought series could go either way. I still think that.

Curry will get his points but the Celtics defense needs to improve against him which it did after the first quarter. But way too many wide open shots from 3 in that first quarter. Nice to see Horford back making shots, the last few games of Miami series, he not only missed but he had more bad looking shots than he has had throughout the playoffs. Horford doesn't need to be a score in the double digitis for the Celtics to win but it helps a lot when he is a threat and needs to be taken seriously.

Nice to see Derrick White continue his really good shooting. I've liked him all along on the Celtics since he is such a high IQ basketball player that usually makes good quick decisions. Like everyone else that every plays basketball, he can make bad plays/passes but it is usually trying to do something reasonable.

If Gary Payton can't come back for the Warriors that is helpful to the Celtics.

Celtics need to go for the win in game 2 since the Celtics have not been as good at home.

[50yrceltsfan]

When this Celtics edition is at their best, they can't be beat. They are the more talented team here, cajey vets who can all shoot and defend, and who have great size. On defense they switch constantly without losing leverage, with a terrifying shot blocker behind them who can also block shots at the 3 point line. On offense they're extremely unselfish and balanced, with a couple of weapons in Brown and Tatum who can go off at any time. Not to mention Smart-White-Horford who ALSO can go off at any time. And you can't leave out Pritchard and Grant Williams, who ALSO can go off at any time. They are loaded.

[robbie84]

Let's not overreact after one game. Golden State will make adjustments and will win the series. Remember just a year ago Milwaukee was down 0-2 in the Finals and they came back and won it all. Boston lost game one in their two previous series and we all know how those series turned out. Golden State lost game one before on their home floor only to win the series at the end. Games two and three will be very telling in how this series will play out.

Let's not overreact after one game but then say that down 0-1 the Warriors will make the adjustments and win the series... Wut?
The Warriors are aging. They had a cakewalk of a Western Conference playoffs against a Morantless Grizzlies and Luka Doncic and 7 other scrubs.
The Dubs are now a less athletic, older, smaller version of their championship teams and they are playing an athletic, huge, physically defensive juggernaut of 25 year olds with uncle Al Horford steadying the ship.
It's only going to get harder for the Dubs as the series goes on. Klay Thompson looks absolutely cooked, and there's no KD to help Curry now. The Celtics defense just wears opponents down and by the 4th quarter, it's that much tougher to score on them, but also defend them because of their physicality in the 3 quarters before that.
Jordan Poole and Draymond Green are going to have to shoot the absolute lights out when they are open or this could get ugly, really quickly.

Of course they have a chance at winning- their experience alone should win them some games. But this is a game they should have won if they were going to take one. Curry was firing. Home crowd, Celtics nervous to start. Does it get much easier for the Warriors than this with Tatum shooting 3 of 18?

[Beethoven]

Boston has to approach game 2 with their Game 7 mentality

[D.Brasco]

Boston has to approach game 2 with their Game 7 mentality

I think they will. Yesterday they could have coasted a bit as soon as they got up on the warriors but they put their boot down on the Warriors neck and almost blew them out. That is a winning mentality to have.

[G35]

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.

Boston's defense always keeps them in a game and allows them to hang around enough to overcome any deficit. They have shown it enough in these playoffs.

The Warriors have had advantages in their other series, but in this series, they can't out-small ball the Celtics, they will lose big. They also can't just out-shoot the Celtics either, because of the Celtics defense is very motivated. This Celtics team is resilient.

One of the weaknesses I have seen with the Warriors is they do not focus for 48 minutes. They try to blow you out either in the first half or blitz you in the 3rd quarter. The Celtics withstood the Warriors best punch. I would be very concerned as a Warrior fan.

I have never seen a G1 finals where the home team collapsed like that. There should not be any smiling or flexing or shimmying. I want to see the Warriors come out and play a concentrated 48 minutes.....