The First Dance: takeaways from first two games of the NBA Finals / News - Basketnews.com
Credit USA Sports Today-Scanpix We are in the twilight of the second part of the NBA Finals, where the first two home games at Chase Center have already finished, and the series is moving to Boston. After losing the first game against Boston Celtics, the Golden State Warriors responded with a much-needed home win and tied the series at 1-1.
While the next game is on tonight, it is a good time to briefly review what happened during these two games on a technical level.
What were the expectations beforehand, and to what extent of these expectations we actually witnessed on the court? How did the Celtics steal the home-court advantage, and how did Golden State bounce back from that defeat for damage control?
Some food for thought before the third meeting.
Game 1: The Surprise, The Recall, The Veteran
Many people fairly thought that the parameters of defensive efficiency would determine the fate of the series. All in all, these were the top 2 defensive teams during the regular season in the NBA.
While GSW's defensive intensity was somewhat lower than in the first part of the regular season, the Celtics' defense molded with toughness and tenacity during their 7-game run series against Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat.
The first game started with a rather unexpected offensive bonanza. The Celtics looked unsure of themselves on how to stop GSW's regular ball movement and contain offensive firepower. Left in a limbo of drop coverage and chasing the cutter or the ball handler around the screens, the open 3s were raining down.
A simple case would suffice to exemplify: Steph Curry sent 6 threes in the first quarter alone.
At that time, even with the very regular and predictable actions of GSW like the split cut, the much-hyped Celtics defense looked shaken and confused about the strategy on how to slow their opponent down in these instances. The difference was already at double digits around the mid-2nd quarter.
However, the ability of this Celtics team to fight through adversity was well-tested during the regular season and the playoffs. The first signs of being able to hold it in times of crisis were discernible towards the end of the 1st half.
Ime Udoka's men were slowly figuring out how to spoil GSW's flashy demonstration of their offensive prowess yet again. In the example above, Robert Williams, who was struggling with the decision on switching and dropping back during the pick and rolls at first, looks somewhere closer to the right balance to contain the Steph Curry shot or dribble attack.
Another example: despite his excellent 13:2 assists/turnover rate, Jayson Tatum could hardly be deemed as explosive in the offense for the entire game (12 pts, 3/17 FG). However, he did not let himself go down, missing shots after shots, and tried to compensate by improving his defensive impact.
In many possessions, he gave a tough time to Klay Thompson on his favorite catch and shoot attempt despite the effective screen of Kevon Looney. With all these nuances, it was becoming clear that the Celtics were willing to contest their opponent and started to turn the balance of the game on their side inherently.
This would become crucial to the momentary defensive intensity. After a brief lapse of memory, the Celtics started to recall their identity.
But it was not as easy as Thanos snapping his finger to wipe out the Warriors' offensive fluidity and rhythm. It looked like Game 1 was in the hands of GSW after the 3rd quarter.
Outside shooting (6/13-3 FG), better transition scoring, and the second-chance points, thanks to Kevon Looney's dominance on the boards, helped GSW outscore their opponents 38 to 24 in the 3rd quarter.
The Celtics were in dire need of extra energy to pull a comeback at that point. The secondary unit of Al Horford, Payton Pritchard, and Derrick White came into the picture.
While Pritchard and White did so much better than Marcus Smart on Curry's and Jordan Poole's defense in alternating one-on-one assignments, Al Horford used his dynamism and switching ability to cut GSW ball movement and off-screen creation.
Once the defensive adjustments were fully re-instated, which saw a sneak preview in the 2nd quarter, the Celtics started to turn into a two-way monster unit. Fuelled by the morale of seeing their defensive tactics are working, they also became lethal on the offense with good floor spacing and creating good quality shots.
One sequence to epitomize how the Celtics just cracked the code of this game was the one above.
GSW was trying to create a shot by their usual elusive actions like zipper cut (by Draymond Green), ghost screen (by Kevon Looney), and the fake stagger off-cut (by Klay Thompson), but the Celtics were ready to cover all the options.
Al Horford deflected the Draymond pass on a diagonal angle, joined the offense as a well-timed trailer, and shot the big three.
If we need to pick one big name to be the hero of the game, that would be Jaylen Brown. But all that efforts would've vanished into the air if Al Horford failed to deliver a big-time playoff night.
After 15 seasons and 143 games of playoff experience, the veteran just scored 26 points in his very first game in the NBA Finals. Celtics produced a brilliant comeback win at the Chase Center. In the process, their excellent 3 FG accuracy made a great difference which helped them big time (21-41, 52%).
Game 2: The Response, The Hustle, The Reinforcements
You may win one game in the NBA finals, but it takes some other things to capitalize on that achievement to make sure it actually means something. Otherwise, you might find yourself just waking up a sleeping giant.
This is exactly where the experience factor came into play. As mentioned very often before the series, most GSW players know what it takes to win an NBA title.
A total of 123 games of Finals experience against 0 is not a statistic that you should easily overlook.
With all this prior knowledge on possible dynamics in the finals series, being able to react after losing at home with a much higher level of physicality is a must-need material for an NBA title.
That was what GSW just did in the next game. They elevated their tenacity when it needed the most.
This "nothing be held back" approach was very discernible from the first ball when Draymond Green jumped on the ball in the hands of Al Horford.
Suddenly, it was obvious that this time, the game was going to be formed in a much more defensive form, as was predicted before the series. This was surely meant to be a big hustle on the court.
While scoring only 20 points and the iffy shooting until the last 2 minutes of the first quarter (Warriors scored 3 of their 4 attempts beyond the arc) made Chase Center some nervous, there was a bright side in defense.
The Warriors managed to force the Celtics to 7 turnovers and scored 13 points off those ones during the first quarter while committing only 2 by themselves. Once the tone was set, the game's fate was settled by the Warriors in the 3rd quarter.
Coming back from the locker room, the Celtics repeatedly sought to exploit the mismatches where Kevon Looney was pulled towards the 3-point line to stretch the defense or post-up attempts of Al Horford on Klay Thompson and even Jayson Tatum and Steph Curry.
The priority of the Warriors was to stop the Celtics from infiltrating the paint at all costs. Steve Kerr took the required precautions against these attacks by engineering an excellent help defense.
Whenever any Celtics players penetrated from the top, they hit that yellow garrison around the paint, commanded by Kevon Looney and Draymond Green.
The Celtics scored only 2-12 from mid-range and the rim zone during that 3rd quarter. As for the entire game, they were only 15/42. Compared to the first game, the Celtics hit 22/44 from 2 FG. That is a massive improvement.
Besides, the number of turnovers was piled up to 19 at the end of the game, which was the Celtics' second-highest figure in their entire postseason. The differential of +21 was the franchise record in a given quarter during the Finals.
While it was a clear defensive victory for the Warriors, some other things might enter as an additional parameter into the equations of the remaining games.
Regarding the offense, Steph Curry again delivered with 29 points and 4 assists (with 5/12 3 FG), while Jordan Poole's 3-pointers stole the spotlight.
His 5/9 threes and 17 points were very handy for GSW to stop the Celtics from running away when the engines were not activated to the full extent.
Similarly, the contributions of Nemanja Bjelica and Gary Payton II on both ends of the court cannot be overlooked. With extra energy, defensive variability, and game IQ provided by the duo, GSW had access to secondary unit support that GSW lacked in the first game.
Utilized as a small-ball five, Bjelica just proved that he could be one of the key players of this series. He stretched the Celtics' defense when Kerr let him function in the outer zones of the perimeter, but he also made an excellent switch defense on Jayson Tatum.
Perhaps, this great sequence where he stopped Tatum, made a wise off-ball cut for a layup, and brought help to stop the rim shot says it all. We might see him with more extended minutes in the remaining games.
Gary Payton II also made an incredibly fast comeback from his fractured elbow injury, which is very impressive. Although he needs more time, the level of tenacity he has shown around the perimeter on Derrick White and sometimes Jayson Tatum was not bad for a player who did not play for almost a month.
It is more likely that when his physical condition gets a little better, his worth regarding the defense and the offensive spacing would be even higher.
Heading towards Game 3
So what to expect in the third game? Not very hard to predict. More toughness. The Celtics witnessed how the Warriors (and Draymond Green with his antics) reacted to a loss in the Finals series. This is what it takes to win a championship ring. They need to match that physicality in TD Garden Arena and capitalize on the first win away.
It was also revealed that the games are decided in very small details like usual for the Finals. One key quarter was enough for both teams to open a path all the way to victory.
While the usual suspects like Steph Curry and Jordan Poole delivered for GSW and Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown for the Celtics, the role players are already making a significant impact. For the Warriors, it was Bjelica and Gary Payton, while for the Celtics, Derrick White and, to some extent, Payton Pritchard.
Could it be enough for the Celtics to stand firm in defense? It might not, as they are more prone to turnovers than the Warriors.
When they try to attack the rim, they need to kick out and send 3-pointers, as they did so well in the first game (51%) and not bad in the second game (39%). But these were well beyond their season and playoff average, and they cannot be deemed as a sharpshooting team.
Whether they can sustain that remains a concern and might be determining where the series would lead us.
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