Another Late Collapse Prevents Celtics from Taking Stranglehold Over Warriors
June 10, 2022
On Friday night at TD Garden the Boston Celtics had the opportunity to take a 3-1 series lead in the NBA Finals, and all but put the Warriors away. They came out with the proper level of intensity and with focus, and for about 40 minutes it appeared that the Celtics were on track to take that commanding series lead. But the Warriors had other ideas and put on a two-way clinic for the final few minutes to take the lead and then pull away for a 107–97 win to even the series at 2-2.
The biggest story of game four was the brilliance of Stephen Curry. Curry poured in 43 points on 14/26 shooting and 7/14 from three to go along with 10 rebounds and 4 assists. He was the focal point of the defense, and asked to create a ridiculous amount of shots on his own, yet was able to deliver time and again with a display of contested shot-making for the ages. Boston didn’t make major defensive adjustments to take the ball out of his hands, generally relying on their guards to battle through screens and force Curry to beat them with quick pull-up jump shots off the dribble. And that is exactly what Curry did. Nobody should ever question the legacy of Steph Curry, but still this felt like a legacy-cementing performance in many ways, as he turned in one of his best NBA Finals performances ever when his team needed it most. The game required him to be a total offensive engine for his team, and he delivered.
The Celtics certainly had their chances. Even with Curry going nuclear, Boston was able to keep the Warriors offense in check for the most part, allowing very little beyond the Curry bombs. The bigger issue for the Celtics was their stagnant half court offense, especially down the stretch. Boston was able to scrape by in the first half and put together a solid performance offensively, leading 54-49 at the break. Everyone knew the typical third quarter Warriors avalanche was coming, and they still were able to erupt for 30 points. But the Celtics weathered the storm, scoring 24 points of their own, and were within one point heading into the decisive fourth quarter. The Celtics came out strong in the fourth and actually built back up a five point lead with 7:32 to play after Jaylen Brown made back to back baskets. But it was all downhill from there. Golden State finished the game on a 21-6 run, putting the Celtics away and stealing back momentum as the series shifts back to San Francisco.
It’s hard to say it wasn’t a disappointing performance from Jayson Tatum. After a solid first half he finished the game with just 23 points on 8/23 shooting. He also had six costly turnovers and shot just 4/15 from inside the arc. He just didn’t look like himself out there. It’s seeming to be increasingly likely that his shoulder is bothering him and he hasn’t been able to consistently put pressure on this Golden State defense. At times Tatum is driving too recklessly and is too focused on drawing contact and trying to get to the line rather than just finishing with force. It may not be a bad idea to see if he can get himself going with a steady diet of jump shots, perhaps “settling” for some of those mid range pull ups instead of barreling his way through defenders trying to get to the basket. One way or another, the Celtics are going to need a much better display from Tatum to finish off this series.
Tatum’s supporting cast didn’t exactly rise to the occasion either, and wasn’t able to pick up the slack on his rough night. Brown was solid but not spectacular, adding 21 points on 9/19 shooting. Marcus Smart chipped in 18 and 5 on 7/18 shooting, but attempted a team high 9 three pointers. Al Horford was quiet and looked tired, especially down the stretch. Robert Williams was arguably the Celtics best player in the first half but he re-aggravated his knee injury and wasn’t able to finish the game. Despite that, Grant Williams played just 12 minutes and was a virtual non-factor. The Celtics can get by without a ton of scoring output from their big men, but the way they got dominated on the glass was a major concern. After winning game three behind a dominant rebounding performance, the Celtics were crushed on the glass 55-42 and 16-11 in offensive rebounds. Steve Kerr did a good job of mixing up his rotations, bringing Kevon Looney off the bench to counter the lineup changes that Ime Udoka made in the previous game. Looney responded with a great performance off the bench, giving the Warriors some much needed size around the basket. Draymond Green actually got benched at one point down the stretch, but was able to come in and make a few huge plays defensively down the stretch. Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson were able to knock down a few big shots as well. But perhaps the most impactful Warrior outside of Curry in game four was Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins turned in one of the best two-way games of his career, doing a great job defending Tatum, hitting just enough shots to keep the defense honest, and absolutely owning the glass with 16 massive rebounds. A big knock on Wiggins over the course of his career has been a lack of effort and energy, but he was flying all over the place on Friday night and helped put his team in position to win the game.
So the Celtics let a golden opportunity slip away and instead of going back to Chase Center with a commanding 3-1 lead, we are now facing a best of 3 series for all the marbles. Golden State, of course, gets to host games 5 and 7, but frankly the Celtcis have been just as good, if not better, on the road during these playoffs. The Celtics have responded to adversity at every turn and followed up every single playoff loss with a win. That’s what they will be required to do again on Monday night, or else they will be on the brink of elimination and forced to defeat the Warriors twice in a row. The extra day of rest should be helpful for Tatum’s ailing shoulder, Rob’s ailing knee, Al’s aging body, and really for the entire team in general who has faced a draining and exhausting run. But one way or another that run is coming to an end and there will be plenty of time for rest soon enough. The Celtics need to make sure they take advantage of this opportunity and play their absolute best basketball for the next two (or three) games. Chances like this don’t come around every day and this is the time to leave it all on the court. If they lose, they lose, but the last thing anyone wants is to finish the season with regrets or thinking that things could have been done differently. If Boston can focus on the task at hand and turn in two more high level performances, there is a good chance they will end the season as champions. If not, they will have a long summer to stew on blowing their shot.
Ben Handler