The match was already well played when it took place, but there was still an injury to add to the insult. Stephen Curry, who had just been injured in the first half, tried to defend Marcus Smart with just over two minutes to go. Smart, a 6-foot, 220-pound amalgam of 4, 220 pounds of muscle, grenade, and determination, delivered a compact elbow to Curry’s center section, causing the two-stroke MVP to lame painfully toward the bench as he watched for the last time.
Give up? Maybe not. But surely acquiescence … at least for one night.
The Boston Celtics took a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals on Wednesday with a 116-100 victory in the third game, and it’s not one the Golden State Warriors will soon forget. They will have plenty of time to think about it while soaking in the ice tub and doing full body massages, trying to avoid the bruises and inflammation from the punishment the Celtics relentlessly inflicted all night.
“Game 2, they brought us the heat. To us, that left a bad taste in our mouths because what we hang on to is the defensive effort and being a physical team. It certainly woke us up a bit.” said Smart after the third game victory. “We just wanted to get out, and if we had to get out here and play, the last thing was that when we got off that court we didn’t mean we weren’t physical enough.”
Boston executed their clear intention to get to the edge early and often, beating the Warriors 52-26 in the paint of the game. The Celtics also showed their strength in the offensive cup, beating the Warriors 15-6, which led to a 22-11 lead on second chance points.
A characteristic Curry heater made things close in the third quarter, but the Celtics responded quickly to put things out of reach in the fourth. More than anything, the Celtics have just beaten the Warriors. It makes you wonder how Golden State, whose key players are in their thirties, will hold up, if the series continues against a mostly young and athletic Celtics team that, as Smart said, prides itself on its physique.
Jayson Tatum didn’t have a good day today, often losing his footing on the muddy pitch.
Curry wasn’t the only one who carried the weight of the Celtics’ strength. At Horford he almost sent Otto Porter Jr. in the stands with this shoulder blow in the first quarter.
One of many good crosses from Jaylen Brown on the wing was received and skillfully taken care of by Klay Thompson, who scored for. First, Brown beat Thompson to the point and knocked him down, forcing him to change direction and almost get the ball in the process. Brown then recovered and used his length to cut the pass to the corner. Finally, Brown stayed connected as he followed Thompson to the cut across the lane, then used his athleticism and time to erase the shot on the edge. Really remarkable stuff.
When it comes to offensive rebounds, teams can sometimes get numbers inflated due to long triple-hits or random rebounds here and there. But the Celtics earned most of their offensive rebounds thanks to determination and strength. Watch here as Horford sets up the position, then works out of THREE warriors in the vicinity to secure the rebound. The rejection is lacking, but it is indicative of the kind of effort and physicality with which the Celtics have played all night.
“I thought offensive rebounds were just a killer … That was really the difference in the game,” Warriors coach Kerr said. “We made several stops, especially in the second half, where we had the opportunity to cut the lead or make a small push, and they got offensive tables. They were tough.”
Overall, it looked like the Warriors had sent more to the court in Game 3. Nothing was easy, and the Celtics ’size advantage was never more prevalent. Robert Williams III had four blocks and three robberies, and it looked like a lot more. Its length and jumping ability made even the most prudent floaters to ignite their incendiary debris.
“We’ve talked about being aware of where it is because, mostly, depending on who you protect, you can get out of nowhere,” Curry said of Williams after Game 3. “There’s a play early in the quarter, I have Grant Williams and I thought I had the light of day to make a shot, and you underestimate what’s athletic [Robert Williams III] it was and how much it could bother that shot. “
In case you’re wondering what Curry is all about, here it is. Williams didn’t even get into the box until the last second, and suddenly the ball went to the stands at the speed of a fast ball from Shohei Ohtani.
We knew the Warriors were at a disadvantage in size, length and athleticism in the face of the series, but the ramifications were really evident in Game 3. Boston found that the success was small enough to close out their victory in Game 1, and then went go to big, blunt lineups along the stretch on Wednesday. The Warriors’ only true answer for size is Kevon Looney, who only played 17 minutes in Game 3 after averaging 23 minutes in the first two games.
If the Warriors get bigger, they sacrifice shooting and space on the offensive end. If they stay small, they run the risk of what happened on Wednesday: staying buried in the glass and dominating the paint. It’s an enigma, and Kerr and his staff will have to look at it carefully as the series progresses.
“This is the game for us. We have to keep in mind what is happening on the ground, what we need, if we need spaces, we need a better rebound,” Kerr said after the defeat. “So we weren’t able to find that two-way combination other than that stretch in the third when Steph got really hot. We couldn’t find the right combination to get that balance.”