8:00 PM EST, ABC – Line: Warriors -4, Over/Under: 215.5
To the surprise of absolutely NOBODY, the NBA Playoffs continues to go off script, as the Boston Celtics look to follow their stunning victory in Game One by taking a commanding lead before the series shifts to Beantown, while the Golden State Warriors look to avoid falling into an unenviable hole in Game Two of the NBA Finals from Chase Center in San Francisco, California. Well, that was something else, wasn’t it? For about three and a half quarters of basketball it certainly appeared as if the Celtics (51-31, 2nd in Eastern Conference) were going to drop their third straight opener in this postseason, only to flip the script midway through the fourth period and put together a furious rally to stun the Warriors in a 120-108 victory. After the two sides traded blows throughout the first half, the hosts erupted after halftime with a 38-24 third quarter in which the visiting side began to run out of gas, shooting just 7-of-19 from the field (36.8%) and committing as many turnovers as assists (5) en route to falling behind by as many fifteen points. It would have been understandable had Boston flamed out in Game One, having just completed another grueling seven-game series with a number of injuries rising to the surface along the way. However, (Head Coach) Ime Udoka’s troops weren’t having any of that nonsense, as they absolutely HAMMERED Golden State in the final frame. How bad was it, you ask? Well, let’s take a moment to look at the numbers. The Celtics outscored the Dubs 40-16 in the quarter, which turned out to be the largest point differential in a single quarter in NBA Finals history. The visitors shot an overwhelming 15-of-22 from the field (68.2%), including a torrid 9-of-12 from beyond the arc (75.0%), with twelve assists opposed to just one turnover. Conversely, Udoka’s defense, which has been the best in the Association during both the regular season and playoffs, tightened up on the perimeter, choking the home side’s ball-movement (five assists, four turnovers), and closed out on their shooters in timely fashion (2-of-8 3FG). During the period, Boston helmed a 17-0 run to turn the tables on the Western Conference Champions, led primarily by (veteran Forward) Al Horford (10.2 PTS, 46.7% FG, 33.6% 3FG, 84.2% FT, 7.7 REB, 3.4 AST, 0.7 STL, 1.3 BLK, 16.7 PER) and (All-Star Swingman) Jaylen Brown (23.6 PTS, 47.3% FG, 35.8% 3FG, 75.8% FT, 6.1 REB, 3.5 AST, 1.1 STL, 18.9 PER), who combined for twenty-one points on 8-of-10 shooting (80.0%) and 4-of-5 from downtown (80.0%). It was a watershed performance from Horford, who was making his first appearance on the NBA’s grandest stage after previously appearing in a whopping 146 postseason games, which was a league record. Before turning 36-years old on Friday night, the five-time All-Star turned back the clock to personally deliver the Celtics the lead in this series, totaling twenty-six points on a stellar 9-of-12 shooting (75.0%) and 6-of-8 from three (75.0%), along with six rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Brown added twenty-four points despite struggling on 10-of-23 shooting (43.5%), particularly from deep (2-of-8), but more than made up for it with seven rebounds, five assists, a pair of steals, and a block. Coming off the bench, (veteran Guard) Derrick White (11.0 PTS, 40.9% FG, 30.6% 3FG, 85.3% FT, 3.4 REB, 3.5 AST, 0.6 STL, 0.6 BLK, 12.9 PER) showed out with twenty-one points on 6-of-11 shooting (54.5%) and 5-of-8 from long-range (62.5%), along with three assists. As a team, Boston buried 21-of-41 treys in the affair (51.2%), marking the fourth time in which they reached at least twenty triples, with each outing resulting in victory. Needless to say, the money ball has been a MAJOR factor in their playoff success, for in recording a staggering 263 three-pointers thus far, they are tied for the sixth-most in any single postseason run, and if this series lasts six or seven games, they could very well find themselves owning the all-time record, which just so happens to belong to their opponent, who set the mark (306) back in 2016. Interestingly enough, this triumph occurred despite the struggles of (All-Star Swingman) Jayson Tatum (26.9 PTS, 45.3% FG, 35.3% 3FG, 85.3% FT, 8.0 REB, 4.4 AST, 1.0 STL, 0.6 BLK, 21.8 PER), who could muster just twelve points on a miserable 3-of-17 shooting from the field (17.6%), including 1-of-5 from three (20.0%), though did make an impact as playmaker with a game-high thirteen assists. It was just the tenth time this season in which the 24-year-old shot less than 20% in a game in which he logged ten or more field goal attempts. With that said, he’s come back with a vengeance in the games that followed, averaging 23.6 points on 47.0% shooting in the next contest. Much was made of the fact that nobody on the Celtics roster possessed a single game of Finals experience, though that clearly didn’t seem to matter as they put together a 48-18 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to draw first blood in this series. And why is that significant, you ask? Well, in the long and storied history of their franchise, Boston has taken a 1-0 lead in the Finals on FIFTEEN occasions, leading to a Larry O’Brien trophy in thirteen of the fourteen previous instances. The question on everyone’s mind at the moment though, is can they do the unfathomable and take an absolutely commanding 2-0 lead as the scene shifts to TD Garden later in the week? Well, we wouldn’t put it past Udoka & Co, for with EIGHT road victories in this postseason, which is a franchise record, they’ve proven more than capable of getting it done away from home. And that largely comes down to their stellar defense, which once again proved indomitable in Game One. The Celtics relegated the Warriors to just 42.2% shooting from the field, including 46.5% on two-point field goals, while stymying that fluid ball-movement to the tune of twenty-four assists and fourteen turnovers, which they managed to parlay into twenty-one points.
Meanwhile, though they hardly appear to be fazed after the events of Game One, the Warriors (53-29, 3rd in Western Conference) nonetheless find themselves in a position that they’re unaccustomed to being in. Since taking over back in the 2014-2015 season, (Head Coach) Steve Kerr’s troops have fell behind 1-0 in a series on just THREE occasions; they rallied to beat the Thunder back in the 2016 Western Conference Finals but fell to the Raptors in the 2019 NBA Finals. In fact, Thursday night’s 120-108 loss snapped a thirteen-game winning streak in Game Ones played at home dating back to the 2015 postseason. So, what in the name of Run TMC went wrong for the Dubs, you ask? Well, after enjoying nearly a full week of rest, the hosts certainly didn’t appear to be rusty in the early stages of Game One, shooting 12-of-25 from the field (48.0%), including a torrid 7-of-13 from beyond the arc (53.8%), with eleven assists in comparison to committing only a single turnover. (Two-time MVP) Steph Curry (25.5 PTS, 43.7% FG, 38.0% 3FG, 92.3% FT, 5.2 REB, 6.3 AST, 1.3 STL, 21.4 PER) was in rare form in this period, erupting for TWENTY-ONE points on an insane 7-of-9 shooting (77.8%) and 6-of-8 from downtown (75.0%). However, the eight-time All-Star would cool off considerably afterward, posting thirteen points on just 5-of-16 shooting the rest of the way (31.2%), including a meager 1-of-6 from three (16.6%). With that said, they still managed to wrestle control of the affair back in their favor in the third quarter, where they would lead by as many as fifteen points. Curry totaled nine points in the period, while the rest of the supporting cast began to make their presence felt; (veteran Swingman) Andrew Wiggins (17.2 PTS, 46.6% FG, 39.3% 3FG, 63.4% FT, 4.5 REB, 2.2 AST, 1.0 STL, 0.7 BLK, 15.0 PER) logged twelve of his twenty points in the quarter on a stellar 4-of-5 shooting (80.0%), while (young Guard) Jordan Poole (18.5 PTS, 44.8% FG, 36.4% 3FG, 92.5% FT, 3.4 REB, 4.0 AST, 0.8 STL, 16.1 PER) added seven points off the bench. Unfortunately, the hosts couldn’t sustain this form, as everything fell apart for them in the final stanza, where they inexplicably found themselves on the wrong end of the largest point differential in a single quarter in Finals history, outscored by a whopping TWENTY-FOUR points. As we covered earlier, Boston absolutely caught fire in the period, while Golden State struggled to create space for themselves and succumbed to turning the basketball over, which has been by far and away their biggest flaw in these payoffs. Coming into Game One, they had turned it over on 14.8 occasions in the playoffs, but in their five losses have seen that number inflate to 16.3 turnovers parlaying into 20.8 points for their opponent, which is the fifth-highest figure in the field. They committed fourteen turnovers in this one, which turned into TWENTY-ONE points for the Celtics, who were held a significant advantage in that category (+11). Kerr has lamented that this is a byproduct of how they play the game, and while he’s correct in that statement, it has also put them in a compromised position at various points of this postseason. In the end, the Dubs shot just 44.3% from the field, which is inflated by their 19-of-45 shooting from deep (42.2%). The home side actually attempted more threes (45) than twos (43), which must have had Kerr pulling out his hair after the game. The common adage in basketball is that “if you live by the three, then you will die by the three”, and while the Warriors have oftentimes proven to be the exception to that rule, they relied too much on that facet of their game. In fact, BOTH teams let it fly on Thursday night, combining for an NBA Finals record for both makes (40) and attempts (86). Apart from Curry’s thirty-four points and Wiggins’ twenty, (veteran sharpshooter) Klay Thompson (20.4 PTS, 42.9% FG, 38.5% 3FG, 90.2% FT, 3.9 REB, 2.8 AST, 0.5 STL, 16.7 PER) totaled fifteen points on 6-of-14 shooting (42.9%) and 3-of-7 from deep (42.9%), though had his hands full in defending the likes of the aforementioned Tatum and Brown, while even spending some time on Horford. Poole struggled in his first Finals affair with just nine points on 2-of-7 shooting (28.6%) and 1-of-5 from the perimeter (20.0%), though the same couldn’t be said of (veteran Swingman) Otto Porter Jr. (8.2 PTS, 46.4% FG, 37.0% 3FG, 80.3% FT, 5.7 REB, 1.5 AST, 1.1 STL, 0.5 BLK, 15.9 PER) who posted twelve points on 4-of-5 shooting from three (80.0%) along with four rebounds and a pair of steals in Finals debut, while (2015 Finals MVP) Andre Iguodala (4.0 PTS, 38.0% FG, 23.0% 3FG, 75.0% FT, 3.2 REB, 3.7 AST, 0.9 STL, 0.7 BLK, 12.3 PER) returned after a neck injury kept him out of the playoffs altogether, chipping in with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting (75.0%) and three assists. We touched upon the disparity between these teams in terms of Finals experience, with the Warriors owning 123 games to the Celtics’ zero prior to Thursday night’s opener. However, that total belongs largely to four players including Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, and (versatile Forward) Draymond Green (7.5 PTS, 52.5% FG, 29.6% 3FG, 65.9% FT, 7.3 REB, 7.0 AST, 11.3 STL, 1.1 BLK, 14.3 PER), while the rest of the rotation was largely void of any meaningful postseason experience prior to the last six weeks. With that said, that experience will keep them from panicking after suffering such a stunning loss, for after all, they’ve proven plenty resilient after defeat; the Dubs are 7-3 this season at Chase Center when following a home defeat, with three of those victories coming by fifteen or more points. Confidence aside, Golden State became just the sixth team in the last thirty years to lose Game One at home, with just two of the other five sides managing to come back and win the NBA Championship (2001 Lakers and 2013 Heat). Will the Warriors turn this around? We wouldn’t bet against them…