The game opened with Boston looking confused defensively. Steph Curry was continually getting open looks and being the great shooter he is, knocked them down. Boston adjusted and stopped dropping their big man in pick and roll defense. This took away the open looks Golden State was getting early.
Draymond Green has to be unafraid to shoot when wide open. It looked like he had no interest in shooting and it reflected as he shot two for twelve from the floor and zero for three on threes. If he can’t provide offense having he and Kevon Looney on the floor at the same time is rough. Golden State cannot survive having two non shooters on the court at the same time.
Jaylen Brown was the key for the Celtics in their comeback. In the fourth quarter when Brown broke them down Golden State had two problems. They don’t have a big man at the rim causing Golden State to drop to try to stop his drives. This allowed Al Horford, Derrick White, Marcus Smart and Peyton Pritchard to shoot wide open threes and they made them.
Despite a horrible three for seventeen shooting Jayson Tatum was a factor in the game. Golden State swarmed him when he got the ball but he was able to pass out of this and ended the game with thirteen assists. He also was a plus sixteen.
Steve Kerr must coach his team like it is the Finals not a game in February. By that I mean he needs to shorten the rest time for Draymond, Curry and Klay Thompson. They each played thirty-eight minutes. Andrew Wiggins played thirty four minutes. He was Golden State’s best defender, they need him to play more minutes. For Boston, Tatum, played forty-one minutes and he and Brown regularly played over forty minutes in earlier playoff rounds. I understand the Golden State players are older than Boston’s player however this is the Finals and they will have two days off between games one and two.
Coming into the series I thought Boston would go at Steph Curry, trying to wear him down by making him defend. I was wrong because in this game Boston went at Jordan Poole. Jaylen Brown’s fourth quarter offensive show was with Poole defending him. If Poole is not shooting well, he was two for seven from the floor and one for five on threes and a minus sixteen, he can’t help Golden State and his minutes will be shortened.
The Celtics finished the game with a forty-eight to twenty-one run.
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