After seven months of NBA basketball, we have finally reached the final level of this season: the 2022 Finals. Which legacy will be most affected by the results? Who wins and in how many matches? Our crew looks at six key questions for the Celtics-Warriors clash.
Photo by Noah Graham / NBAE via Getty Images
1. Is Jayson Tatum the best player in this series?
J. Kyle Mann: Tatum’s two-way and gameplay evolutions have been phenomenal, but Steph Curry is still the Voldemort of basketball – say his name and the defenses collapse. It’s pretty close, though, and at 24 that’s an impressive thing for Tatum.
Seerat Sohi: I’m giving you a little advantage right now. He’s spent the postseason working through much more formidable defenses than the Warriors and blocking at the other end, while Curry’s magic shot hasn’t been as reliable.
Zach Kram: Steph Curry is the best player in the series. But pausing for a second to answer that question shows how far Tatum has risen in the NBA ranks.
Dan Devine: With all due respect to the two-way iron man from Boston, who has improved significantly as a creator of floor reading games … no. I still go with the guy who is beating and beating Tatum by the minute and by possession in this postseason, whose constant application of the pressure of the gag on opposing defenses was born and still gives life to a dynasty, and which has won . two MVPs and three championships.
Tatum is great. Steph is Steph.
Logan Murdock: Yes. Tatum has been more consistent during the postseason than his star counterpart, Steph Curry, and has sometimes had to carry a larger offensive load as Curry has struggled to find his shot.
Rob Mahoney: I mean, the dynastic superstar who made six of the last eight finals is sitting right there. And I mean he did them; regardless of the outcome, every confrontation Curry gets into becomes Curry, just for the attention and focus it requires every second he is on the ground. Tatum is fantastic and one of the most balanced superstars in the league. But he’s not that, at least not yet.
Wosny Lambre: Tatum’s shooting, play and defense have been more effective this postseason than ever, but he still won’t be the best player in this series. It’s Steph, who even at the age of 34 plays at an all-time high.
Justin Verrier: It’s a new twist from an old favorite: in past years, the Warriors who eliminated the regular season competition didn’t offer Steph a chance to extend his already high offensive numbers; now, the Warriors who have easily sent their Western Conference competition have limited the amount of great gameplay opportunities Tatum got through a Game of Thrones battle in each round. If we limit ourselves to what we’ve seen this postseason, Curry-Tatum is probably closer than most are willing to admit, especially when you consider the defense. But a few Steph performances along the way and we wouldn’t even ask the question.
Photo by Ezra Shaw / Getty Images
2. Which player other than Steph and not Tatum will have the biggest impact on this series?
Mahoney: Draymond Green. Breaking the different fronts of Boston’s incredible defense is the highest order Golden State faces in this series, which means that Green falls heavily — as a trigger in the center of all the actions of Boston’s pets. Warriors — to direct the action toward any momentary weakness. can find. He turns to the other side of the ball and Green will once again be in the middle of the box, holding the center of the Golden State defense and defending the biggest and most athletic opponents in the cup. No player in this series can participate more consistently and crucially.
Lambre: Marcus Smart will be in charge of protecting the best offensive player of his generation in Curry. What Smart will have to do in screen navigation, both inside and outside the ball, along with what he will be forced to face in isolation against Curry will be one of the determining factors in the outcome of this series.
Verrier: Al Horford. He’s the key to keeping Boston big, whether it’s closing the edge with Robert Williams III on a big front track that propelled the Celtics to the league’s biggest defense; control the boards (9.6 rebounds per game this postseason, first among the remaining players) against a smaller Golden State front line; or forcing Kevon Looney, the only mid-sized human left in the Warriors’ rotation, to go out on the perimeter or on the bench.
Horford has also been the stabilizing force of a Celtics team that has shot itself in the foot over and over again (and again, and again …), the type that will score enough to drive the attack during the droughts of Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and the guy who will rush back into the transition – in his 44th minute of a game 7, at almost 36 years old – and will force a poor shooter to try a pull up 3 instead of an easy cube on the edge.
Mann: Klay Thompson’s self-awareness in this scenario could be huge, because it could oscillate in any direction. If you have it, it will be a doomed factor to consider. If not, what temptation will it take to force it?
Become: green. On defense, he will have to coordinate coverage against a Celtics team that leads all teams that came out of round 1 in passes per game and passes opponents across screens off the ball as often as the Warriors. When the Dubs change, he will have to face Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart in isolation; when they don’t, you’ll have to keep Al Horford and Grant Williams from partying with pick-and-pop jumpers, and fight Robert Williams III in the cup. On offense, you’ll have to open up Golden State shooters with stiff screens, thread the needle to explode any cracks in Boston’s change scheme, and push the pace to hunt down the early attack against a defense that has been, with difference, the most stained half-track unit. in the playoffs, but ranked 13th out of 16 postseason teams in points allowed per transition play.
Green is capable of being the best defensive player in the world and the heart of the most difficult attacking game in the league. To win a fourth championship ring, it will have to be both.
Kram: Smart has the dual responsibility of organizing the Boston attack and defending the most important Golden State player. His two-way game could decide the series, for better or for worse.
Sohi: Green. The key to beating the Boston no. The first-place midfielder’s defense will be in transition. While Andre Iguodala, Otto Porter Jr. and Gary Payton II work back, the load falls on Green to generate stops, secure rebounds and push the ball to the ground.
Murdock: Andrew Wiggins. After protecting Ja Morant and Luka Doncic for extended periods during the last two Golden State series, he will have plenty of time with Tatum and Jaylen Brown. And with Steph, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole struggling from time to time to find their shot, Wiggins will be a welcome fourth goal option for the league’s first postseason offense.
Photo by Michael Reaves / Getty Images
3. Whose health will have the biggest impact on this series: Gary Payton II or Robert Williams III?
Devine: As useful as it is for Steve Kerr to be able to turn Payton into Tatum, Brown, Smart and Derrick White, I think it’s Williams. Its ability to deter drivers from entering the paint, prevent attempts at the edge, use its length to wrap guards at perimeter switches and fly out to play triples makes it a threatening piece for Ime Udoka to move through. chess board; there’s a reason Boston has allowed 7.3 points less for every 100 possessions with Time Lord on the court in these playoffs than when it wasn’t available. The only time the Warriors’ offense didn’t seem to dominate this postseason was when Memphis had Steven Adams cover the paint and Jaren Jackson Jr. protecting the edge and harassing the shooters; a healthy Time Lord next to Horford could allow Boston to do the same, at an even higher level.
Sohi: Payton. The Boston receptacle of great replacements (Al Horford, Grant Williams, Daniel Theis) has written Williams well enough for three rounds. Golden State needs as many perimeter defenders as it can to keep Tatum, Brown and Smart at bay.
Mahoney: Williams, though more or less by default. This isn’t really the game for Williams, and especially not for a version of Williams lame from a knee injury. Still, at least there’s more recent work and a higher, more established ceiling on how Williams can change a playoff game. It would be great to see Payton have a role to play in this series after fracturing his elbow in the second round, but we are managing our expectations for a player who has not yet fully cleared, hypothetically filling a role in a rotation then stacked without playing basketball for almost a month.
Verrier: It’s Williams, who has the best defensive rating in the playoffs (98.5) among a potentially historic unit, but don’t forget The Mitten. Whenever Kerr needs to solve a problem, he often looks at the little big man. Payton stabilized the Warriors when things got awkward against the Nuggets, even hitting six of eight 3s; and started against the Grizzlies, in a Nü Death lineup, until he was injured. If the size of the Celtics wears out the Warriors, don’t be surprised if Payton is Kerr’s first stab at a solution.
Kram: Payton was a more central member of the Warriors’ rotation when …