After 3, the Celtics are down 87-64, and Ime might as well run Team Fitts out there for the fourth.
On the one hand, the Celtics got the better of this first trip to Golden State, taking one game and homecourt.
The big story of this one is that the Celtics took another big steaming third quarter dump, this one to the tune of 35-14.
Taking a wider view, the Golden State defense held the Celtics to 34 points over the middle 2 quarters. After a back and forth first, Golden State cranked up the D and shut the Celtics offense down, alomost completely, for more than 2 quarters now (GS opened the 4th with 6 straight, running their lead up to 29). Leading Ime to call time and then wave the white flag (pull his starters, though it is regular rotation guys plus Nesmith and Theis, not Fitts and company yet.)
If this is a true indication of how good the Golden State D is, they are going to win the series easily, maybe even in 5.
The best the Celtics looked all game was in the first quarter, which they lost by only a point, 31-30, but part of the story of that quarter was that they undid themselves with turnovers - seven of them, with Smart and Tatum the chief offenders. They should have had a 10 point lead or more.
The second quarter was more of a defensive battle, 21-20, with Golden State up only 2 at the half.
Then came the third quarter dumpster fire, which continued into the fourth until Ime mercifully pulled the plug with 10:45 to go.
It would be difficult to say which Celtics was worst tonight, but for me that is Marcus Smart, who problely played his worst game of the season and perhaps hos worst-ever playoff game. In 25 minutes, he shot 1-6 from the field, scored 2 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 turnovers. In the first quarter, when the Celtics had it going offensively, Marcus threw away two posessions trying to force the ball to a cutting Tatum in the paint.
Tatum was connecting from three early, but not doing much else (6-9 from three, 2-10 from 2 on the night) and also turning the ball over (4 times). Golden State moved into his game 1 passing lanes and picked off his passed, and Tatum and Brown also did the standard December Celtic thing of getting swallowed up on drives.
Ime saw where the third quarter was headed early and called a time out with the Celtics down 7 and 9:21 left It made no difference. Whatever adjustments Ime might have tried to make, they had no impact.
Another thing that went on in this game was some officiating bullshit and some Dryamond Green bullshit. There was definitely a tight whistle on Brown and Tatum in the first quarter, and a light tough on Draymond all game long.
Ime eventually picked up a tech, which he rarely does.
Hopefully he will have an answer, hopefully part of the problem here was the Celtics beliving too much in their own inevitability.
The Warriors also opened up their offense a lot by going to a lot of Curry pick and rolls, but on that side ot he ball, I feel pretty confident that Ime and the Celtics can fix things on the defensive end. It is the absolutely stifling defense/atricious offense - held to 34 points over a 25:15 stretch - that worries me.
Game, 107-88, but it was nowhere near that close.