It’s the dynasty’s battle against the rookie, the legendary squad that still maintains greatness against the franchise that finally takes off after repeatedly hitting a wall at the gates of the NBA Finals. Now, the Golden State Warriors host the Boston Celtics in Game 1 on Thursday, so we’ve summoned The Athletic’s Warriors writer Anthony Slater along with Celtics writers Jared Weiss and Jay King to discuss the most important issues in this series. long awaited.
Jared Weiss: The Warriors have returned as never before, while the Celtics have finally overcome the hump of the conference finals. It seems appropriate that the 75th NBA Finals have the original dynasty of the league against the current one that seeks to regain its throne. Boston reimagined itself for more than half the year and became a giant, while the Warriors watched the losses pile up due to injuries at the end of the season (Marcus Smart had something to see with that) and recovered just in time for a Run the finals.
These two teams have gotten here on the back of their elite defenses, so let’s break down how they match. Slater, Draymond Green’s return from injury has rekindled the Warriors ’system, so what have they been doing in the postseason to be so effective?
Anthony Slater: Mostly a family formula. Steph Curry is the offensive engine. He doesn’t even look like he’s had that playoff explosive, but check the stats and his 60 3 facts are more than anyone in the league. His 99 assists are the fifth most. But you never have to touch it to make an impact. This gravitational pull still causes leaks in the creepy defenses. The Warriors have an NBA offensive high of 116.1 in the playoffs. That’s a lot of curry.
But not everything is Curry. Jordan Poole’s quick jump came at an absolutely necessary time. Curry needed another shooter by his side. Poole has had the playoff scoring nights of 27, 27, 29, 30 and 31. Those 31 came in Game 1 in Memphis. If he doesn’t, the Warriors may not be here.
Klay Thompson can still warm up. Andrew Wiggins is beginning to dominate his role as a small ball forward, leading the playoffs with 42 offensive rebounds. Green has been more aggressive lately. Suddenly, Kevon Looney is finishing and bouncing better than at any time in his career. I know this looks like two elite defenses facing each other. But the Warriors’ attack has been their best drive in the last six weeks. This side of the court, the Warriors attack on the Boston defense, is the most interesting part of this upcoming chess game, in my opinion.
What do you think will be the initial strategy? Previous opponents have struggled to adjust and defend this unique system at the beginning of the series. Are the Celtics changing strength or starting in a more traditional way?
Jay King: I think they will change a lot. They will not be ashamed to put any of their guards, with the possible exception of Payton Pritchard, in Green or Looney. Two factors that I think will be extremely important are Al Horford’s ability to hold the switches and Robert Williams ’limited mobility. Horford tested more in isolation than any other player this season, but only conceded 0.723 points per possession in this type of scenario, according to Synergy Sports. It’s an elite number. He’s already spent time with Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jimmy Butler during this playoff, but Curry is a totally different kind of test. Can Horford do enough to limit Curry to the perimeter when the Celtics change that clash? If Horford can hold out to a certain point, the Celtics will be able to change almost everything and keep their defense intact. With him and Grant Williams, Boston has a couple of extremely comfortable front-line players on the perimeter, but Curry has a way of killing comfort. The Celtics could avoid changing it as much as possible.
Can Robert Williams also play on the perimeter? According to his appearance in match 7 of the Eastern Conference final, I doubt he will be too helpful during the finals. It was still a presence while clearly limping at the end of this series, but one thing is to serve as an assistant defender to Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, who do most of their damage near the hoop, and quite another do it to Curry. Thompson and Poole, who operate outside the comfort zone of an older man. At his best, Williams transforms the Celtics defense, but that could be a tough showdown for him as he struggles with knee problems. The Warriors have a lot of player movement and ball movement to deal with. It is almost impossible for a center with committed athletics to keep up. If he is unable to recover physically, the Celtics could regret not shutting down the Heat in the sixth game while the Warriors sat at home resting.
This series will be very different, and much more problematic, for the Celtics defense schematically after playing stars who did not want to shoot in each of the previous two series. At the other end of the court, I think one of the strengths of the Celtics should be their positional size against a defense that can sometimes be quite small on the perimeter. Although the Warriors finished second in the defensive standings during the regular season, injuries and rotation decisions have affected a bit what they can do during the postseason. Can the Celtics pick them up? Or will they be able to hide their weaknesses, as they do so well?
Al Horford and Robert Williams. (Nathaniel S. Butler / NBAE via Getty Images)
Slater: Certainly, the Celtics could and should choose mismatches, when available. We’re mostly talking about when Poole is on the court. Poole increases the Warriors’ attack, but is weak and prone to evil in individual environments. The more often Boston is able to get Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum or even Smart to face him, the more awkward Steve Kerr will be to keep him on the court, which is a victory for the Celtics.
But Kerr’s defensive options seem to be expanding. Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr. and Andre Iguodala have returned to training this week. Goalkeeper looks likely for Game 1. Payton, quite surprisingly after that fractured elbow, will likely appear at some point at the start of the series. Iguodala is an unknown constant. But Payton in particular offers the Warriors a defensive threat on the perimeter that can eliminate weaknesses in various five-man combinations. They didn’t have it against Luka Dončić and the Mavericks, obsessed with mismatch. I don’t think Boston will be able to hunt that easily.
Weiss: And the fall of Boston often sinks in the hunt for mismatches. They had to do it against Miami and Milwaukee because those defenses packed the paint very well and had dangerous attack point defenders that could turn you upside down. They needed to find some mismatches that would give them comfortable perimeter looks or force a double team that the Celtics could get past. But with Green and Wiggins out there, the Warriors will often change and turn early knowing they are able to pile up the misaligned isolation and then recover on the weak side on the jump passes.
The Warriors want teams to try to tie two and throw them on the court more than almost any team in the league. Boston needs to be disciplined to keep their push and kick attack flowing and rely more on Tatum and Brown moving after taking the ball. Much of this also depends on how small these teams are. They both like to play big doubles and tend to get smaller as the game progresses. But we were able to see them both close the big double, as they sometimes did at the conference finals. This was mainly due to the fact that his opponent was small so that he could dominate the cup, which worked. Derrick White is probably too vital for Boston’s defensive scheme not to close, while the Warriors should rely on Poole to attack space or Payton to defend Tatum / Brown.
So how do we see these teams closing out games?
King: Since you raised White, I just want to emphasize how excited I am to see him and Smart chasing the Warriors shooters. These guys are magicians when it comes to avoiding screens, tracking guys on the court, and even finding ways to play a shot. It should be great to see them try it against Curry and Thompson, the kings of shooting and moving off the ball. Poole, though less experienced, has a similar style.
Unless Robert Williams’ health improves significantly, I think the Celtics will close with Horford in the center alongside Smart, Tatum and Brown. Fifth place should be for White or Grant Williams. One factor that could determine the choice: the success of the Warriors in forcing the Celtics non-shooters to make bricks. As Slater pointed out in his preview of the series, Golden State has done a great job of reducing the low percentage shooters during the playoffs.
The Warriors are smart and committed to following the game plan. Can whites do enough, either shooting or creating for others, to stay on the court in high-level moments? He shot 6 of 10 from the 3-point arc during the last two games of the Eastern Conference Finals, but on the other hand has been ineffective from that distance since joining the Celtics. His shot has been raised as an important issue for Boston’s rotation during the playoffs, especially since the Celtics also have Marcus Smart’s dubious shot to cover. They almost coughed up Game 7, in what would have been a terrible collapse, as the Heat repeatedly used Smart’s man to beat Tatum. Ime Udoka knows that the Celtics will have to be clearer about this kind of strategy in the finals.
“If they’re going to get it out of Jayson’s hands, we’ve seen it all year and we’ve treated it and sometimes we’ve treated it well,” Udoka said. “We missed a good open shot, and that was his goal. Jayson had a great time and they are obviously …