What the Golden State Warriors did towards the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday evening was the definition of “response.” After dropping the primary recreation of the series in entrance of their dwelling followers thanks to an abysmal fourth-quarter efficiency, the Warriors have been properly conscious that they wanted to bounce back shortly, and that is precisely what they did.
The recreation was extraordinarily shut by way of the primary 24 minutes, however within the third quarter, the Warriors kicked it up a notch and gained some severe separation. Golden State outscored Boston 35-14 in that quarter they usually by no means appeared back. They went on to coast to a 107-88 victory, they usually tied the series up at 1-1 within the course of.
Stephen Curry led the best way for Golden State with 29 factors, six rebounds and 4 assists, whereas Jordan Poole added 17 factors off of the bench. As a crew, the Warriors compelled 18 Boston turnovers they usually scored 33 factors off of these turnovers. That was a giant issue within the end result.
Jayson Tatum paced the Celtics with 28 factors and 6 rebounds, however his manufacturing wasn’t sufficient as solely two different Celtics gamers scored in double figures. Now, the series shifts to Boston for Games 3 and 4. Here are the most important takeaways from Game 2.
Regression is a harsh mistress
When Boston shot 21-of-45 from behind the arc in Game 1, Draymond Green was lower than impressed. “They hit 21 3s and Marcus Smart, Al Horford and Derrick White combined for 15,” Green said. “Those guys are good shooters, but they combined for what…. 15-for-23 from those guys? Eh. We’ll be fine.”
Turns out, he had some extent. Green had spent a lot of Game 1 sagging off of Horford to give attention to help-defense, however in Game 2, he set a brand new tone on the very first possession. Green performed Horford so aggressively that he compelled a jump-ball.
Boston nonetheless managed a scorching 10-of-19 begin from behind the arc, however completed 3-of-14 within the second half. Horford and Smart mixed for 44 factors in Game 1. They scored simply 4 in Game 2. In truth, even with rubbish time factored in, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown nonetheless managed to mix for greater than half of Boston’s factors (45 of 88). The position gamers that shot Boston right into a Game 1 victory went ice chilly in Game 2.
There’s going to be a center floor right here. Boston is best than 3-of-14 from deep and worse than 10-of-19 as a result of each crew in NBA historical past falls someplace between these two extremes. But apart from White and sometimes Grant Williams, the Warriors have been far more aggressive in hounding Boston’s shooters. In that sense, the variety of 3-pointers Boston made hardly tells the story right here. It’s the truth that the Warriors held the Celtics to 12 fewer makes an attempt (45 vs. 33) in Game 2. The Celtics did not have a counter. They could not attain 90 factors in consequence.
We’re beginning to determine who these groups actually are
Rotations have a tendency to get smaller and smaller as a playoff series progresses, and tonight was an ideal instance of why. The Celtics would love to give you the option to play 4 massive males. Robert Williams III is enjoying harm and Al Horford simply turned 36. Anything Daniel Theis might give them could be significantly appreciated. The Celtics managed to get outscored by 12 factors within the seven aggressive minutes he performed on this recreation. The second he determined to attempt to play drop-coverage towards Stephen Curry ought to have been the second Ime Udoka determined to banish him for the remainder of the series.
Steve Kerr’s revelations have been compelled upon him. Andre Iguodala was dominated out earlier than Game 2 due to knee irritation. That allowed him to give Gary Payton II, who was a DNP-CD in Game 1, 25 largely significant minutes. Not coincidentally, the Celtics dedicated 18 turnovers in Game 2, 5 greater than they did in Game 1. Statistically, this was a reasonably predictable growth. The Warriors generated 3.3 extra turnovers per 100 possessions throughout Payton’s common season minutes than once they performed with out him. Coincidentally, that’s the precise margin between Boston’s playoff wins and losses. The Warriors scored 33 factors off of turnovers in Game 2, 18 greater than the Celtics. They gained the sport by 19 factors.
The drawback with prolonged Payton minutes is that Boston has little curiosity in guarding him on the perimeter. Payton makes up for that in different methods. He’s an excellent cutter and nuclear athlete, however Golden State nonetheless wanted to inject spacing in different methods, particularly contemplating Green’s limitations as a shooter, in order that they tried Nemanja Bjelica, whose defensive weaknesses appear to have been significantly overstated. He held his personal towards Luka Doncic final spherical and he did simply advantageous towards Boston in Game 2.
As it tends to go within the Finals, after two video games towards each other, the Warriors and Celtics appear to now have a good suggestion of which gamers can survive on this series and which of them cannot. Boston appears to have landed on eight: Tatum, Brown, Smart, Horford, White, Pritchard and the 2 Williamses. Golden State has eight of its personal: Curry, Green, Payton, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney, Otto Porter Jr. and Jordan Poole. Bjelica made a compelling argument for slot No. 9 tonight. Iguodala’s observe document would possibly give him the sting. But the times of Golden State punishing Theis seem to be over. From this level ahead, we’re doubtless to see solely one of the best gamers these groups have to provide.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Thompson
Klay Thompson shot 4-of-19 from the sector in Game 2. That’s a tricky evening however hardly an unusually unhealthy one. Thompson shot under 40 p.c from the sector in 15 of his 32 regular-season video games. He’s throwing up a stinker or two per series this postseason, and even when full-game stat traces look first rate, he’ll typically want to salvage a depressing first half with a greater second one.
This is not to say that Thompson is a few form of prepare wreck. The highs have been simply as excessive as ever. His 32-point outburst to shut out the Mavericks was classic Klay. He’s nonetheless averaging practically 20 factors per recreation within the postseason. But the Warriors are determined for a second constant scorer. Jordan Poole is not fairly there but and struggled in Game 1. Andrew Wiggins has had a gradual begin to the Finals. Right now, Curry is producing nearly all the pieces on offense for Golden State. Thompson is not precisely a high-usage ball-handler, however the offense runs far more easily when the Warriors can at the least depend on him to make open photographs and generate a few of his personal seems to be inside the arc.
He hasn’t been in a position to towards Boston’s stellar protection within the Finals, and to date within the series, he is taking pictures simply 30.3 p.c from the sector. The Warriors may need defended properly sufficient to maintain off Boston tonight, however they will not win three extra video games with Thompson taking pictures like this. Their championship hopes depend on one of the best model of him displaying up extra typically than the worst, however on a night-to-night foundation, the Warriors do not appear to know which one they are going to get.
