Celtics vs. Warriors, NBA Finals
- Thread starter Devizier
- Start date
I doubt GS will shoot 6-20 from three like Miami did tonight, so Boston better step it up. But there are flaws with GS that Boston can exploit. But man, I need a few days off after this one.
Takes me back to the 80s Lakers Celtics. The Celtic survive two physical wars out east while the West champion has a much easier path.
Very tough test for the Celtics.
Very tough test for the Celtics.
I don't buy the chatter in recent game threads that GS will mop the floor with whoever comes out of the East. The East was a more difficult path. Yes, we haven't faced their level of shooting, but has Golden State faced this kind of length and defense yet?
We start 0-0, and anything is possible.
FWIW, sharp sportsbooks have GSW at -155 and 59% implied win probability right now.
We start 0-0, and anything is possible.
FWIW, sharp sportsbooks have GSW at -155 and 59% implied win probability right now.
The Celtics will win. The Warriors are about to get dragged into an alley and stomped to death. Steph’s ankle won’t come out of the locker room after six quarters. This is team came from The Big Three, and passed every test.
This was a Game 7 ALCS type of win. Bring on the San Francisco Warriors
This was a Game 7 ALCS type of win. Bring on the San Francisco Warriors
Smart's injury seems like something which 3 days of rest could do wonders for. Not sure about TL. Rest up fellas!
Can we spend the whole series chasing them off the 3pt line? Them splashing consistently is my biggest fear.
The Warriors started out great in the reg. season, hit a skid and seemed to obviously bounce back. Going to be tough.
Isn't that just where the number starts at with now expected Boston money coming in after they've won tonite?
You don’t understand. The Celtics are fine. It’s the Heat that has 27 guys on their death beds but still playing, valiantly. (Well, they were playing.)
And remember, Klay and Steph are coming off injuries…
Interested to see how the two bigs match up. Al is going to be put in the pick and roll a bunch.
I am really hoping Williams shows some health improvement. He’ll make a big difference in the Warriors mid range and drive game. Even if he’s limited I feel like they need to take a page out of the Heat’s book and make this an uglier series. Warriors have been playing great but there’s a lot of miles on their tires.
The C's were more talented than Milwaukee (sans Middleton) and Miami, and still needed 7 games to get rid of them. Now, the talent gap is smaller and the other team is healthier, better rested, more experienced, and has home court. Unless the C's figure out how to figure things out, they are dogs. But this season is now a success no matter what. They've answered three really hard questions and taken another step.
3 days off will be nice, then 2 more after game 1. Need Rob and Smart back strong, Rob sure hasn't looked good the last couple games. Horford could sure use a few days off too.
This team plays with so much heart, but man they struggle down the stretch of games. They're going to need to win a couple tight ones late to beat GS.
This team plays with so much heart, but man they struggle down the stretch of games. They're going to need to win a couple tight ones late to beat GS.
Yeah.. this is the key. The one major difference in the Celts favor is that they are tall. So their closeouts on threes should be a lot different than what GS has seen so far. GS beat Dallas, but they were exploitable on D.. and Dallas isn't nearly as good as the Celtics usually are/can be on offense. Should be/ hopefully it is/ an interesting series.
Their home record on the other hand..
edit: GS has YET to lose at home in the playoffs.
The Warriors' defense is better than Miami's (#2 v #4 in the season); and they're getting two good-to-great defenders back for the Finals in Payton and Porter, plus possibly a third in Iguodala. And their offense is obviously much better than Miami's.
I think it's pretty close to a coin flip. I agree that the Cs have had a much tougher path, and that people are too easily swayed by recency bias.
They had the Warriors as a 0.1% shot going into the season (i.e. 1 in 1000, or 30x less likely than the Blazers).
Feels like Rob is one more MRI from an "out for the playoffs" diagnosis. He couldn't move out there and looked much worse the earlier in the series. Not exactly fitting with a healing bone bruise, seems more likely meniscus/cartilage related to me, hope I'm wrong.
I think fully healthy, neural court, same rest... Celtics are the better team.
But obviously that's not the case and going down 2-0 would be a tough hole. Need to win one of these first two games in GS.
I think fully healthy, neural court, same rest... Celtics are the better team.
But obviously that's not the case and going down 2-0 would be a tough hole. Need to win one of these first two games in GS.
This series reminds me of 2004 Pistons/Lakers, and we’ll see if the outcome is the same. The Lakers were back in the Finals after a year off and looking to continue their dynasty, tons of experience, Hall of Fame players/coach, homecourt. Detroit was the defense first team, no Finals experience, from the “weaker” Eastern Conference.
18 Towel in roof is pretty amazing. How does one so consistently have this much success posting nonsense that is fairly hysterical?
This is a 50:50 series. Maybe 55:45 GS. But the Celtics match up ridic well with GS and always have.
If they pull this off, it would be an absolutely legendary run with who they went through, but I think the health just isn’t there (Timelord looks cooked), they’re too worn down, and they’re likely to give away a game somewhere where things go off the rails. Great season regardless, but I have Golden State in 5. The emergence of Wiggins and Looney has changed my opinion on this matchup.
I think Pritchard should have better use in this series? Poole seems like a pretty meh defender, so they need to just constantly attack on that end.
My father passed away last summer at age 95 (he had me late). He introduced me to Providence College basketball at age 7, got us season tickets, met many players and coaches through his local connections. You saw the run the Friars has this year. He was also the biggest Celtics fans I knew and never missed a game on TV. The night he got married a second time he wanted us to get the reception over with so we could watch a C’s west coast game against the pathetic, at the time, Clippers. He was obsessed and got me obsessed.
The moral of this post……..we are winning the freakin NBA Championship this year and have an enormous spirit on our side!!!! LFG!!!!!!
The moral of this post……..we are winning the freakin NBA Championship this year and have an enormous spirit on our side!!!! LFG!!!!!!
That's a match-up overall that favors the Warriors imo. The Cs are almost certainly going to go at Poole hard. But ditto the Warriors and Pritchard. Poole is more likely to get it back on the other end.
Celts have been my team since birth, but I moved to the Bay Area in 2000 and have followed and rooted for the Warriors that whole time.
The Warriors have some weaknesses:
(1) they are super-sloppy with the ball for long stretches (but usually tighten things up when the chips are down);
(2) they struggle against teams that protect the rim. They killed Dallas on drives to the hoop and rebounds, while they really struggled against Memphis on both scores;
(3) their defense is good, but not what it once was. Klay in particular is not the guy he used to be on D; and
(4) Draymond can be nearly unplayable on offense. You can sag off of him as long as you are prepared to defend him driving and dishing.
Looney's emergence and Wiggins playing up to his potential make the Warriors a very tough squad. If Payton and Porter can come back, the Warriors have 12 playable guys (and Kerr will go 12 deep if it suits him). Also, Curry is still an all-time superstar who can carry the Warriors and border on being undefendable.
Initial thoughts about the Celtics:
(1) Jaylen is going to have to protect the ball better. Iguodala has taught the whole team all his tricks and they are very good at knocking the ball loose without fouling.
(2) I expect the Warriors to dare everyone but the Jays and White to shoot 3s until they prove they can hit them.
(3) The Mavs had some luck trying to hunt Steph, forcing the Warriors to switch Steph onto Luka. I assume the Celts will try to get Klay matched up with Tatum or Steph on Jaylen as much as possible. Even though Luka scored a lot of points, Wiggins did a pretty nice job on him. Celts need to get Wiggins switched off of the Jays.
For all the talk about the Conference Final taking a lot of out Boston, there is a risk for GS that the Mavs may have given the Warriors a little false confidence. The Mavs just don't have much other than Luka.
There is no outcome from this series that will surprise me other than one team blowing out the other for four straight games.
The Warriors have some weaknesses:
(1) they are super-sloppy with the ball for long stretches (but usually tighten things up when the chips are down);
(2) they struggle against teams that protect the rim. They killed Dallas on drives to the hoop and rebounds, while they really struggled against Memphis on both scores;
(3) their defense is good, but not what it once was. Klay in particular is not the guy he used to be on D; and
(4) Draymond can be nearly unplayable on offense. You can sag off of him as long as you are prepared to defend him driving and dishing.
Looney's emergence and Wiggins playing up to his potential make the Warriors a very tough squad. If Payton and Porter can come back, the Warriors have 12 playable guys (and Kerr will go 12 deep if it suits him). Also, Curry is still an all-time superstar who can carry the Warriors and border on being undefendable.
Initial thoughts about the Celtics:
(1) Jaylen is going to have to protect the ball better. Iguodala has taught the whole team all his tricks and they are very good at knocking the ball loose without fouling.
(2) I expect the Warriors to dare everyone but the Jays and White to shoot 3s until they prove they can hit them.
(3) The Mavs had some luck trying to hunt Steph, forcing the Warriors to switch Steph onto Luka. I assume the Celts will try to get Klay matched up with Tatum or Steph on Jaylen as much as possible. Even though Luka scored a lot of points, Wiggins did a pretty nice job on him. Celts need to get Wiggins switched off of the Jays.
For all the talk about the Conference Final taking a lot of out Boston, there is a risk for GS that the Mavs may have given the Warriors a little false confidence. The Mavs just don't have much other than Luka.
There is no outcome from this series that will surprise me other than one team blowing out the other for four straight games.
I'll be crushed if the Dubs lose, but the Cs regaining their rightful spot alone at the top of the all-time mountain (with no near-term prospects of the LOLakers joining them) would be as good as it gets, consolation-prize-wise.
I think you could credibly make the argument that every team the Celtics beat on the way to the Finals is better than any team the Warriors faced doing the same. It's certainly not definitive, but I wouldn't look at someone like they're insane for arguing that any of the KD+Kyrie Nets, Bucks, or Heat are better than the Grizzlies or Mavericks.
Doesn't necessarily mean much, but this team is absolutely battle-tested at the very least.
Doesn't necessarily mean much, but this team is absolutely battle-tested at the very least.
Difference is that the Celtics aren't particularly obliged to play Pritchard while the Warriors are still going to want Poole out there, often alongside Curry, for thirty minutes a game. In other words, Poole-Pritchard ain't the matchup, it's more like Poole-Brown or Poole-White.
Agree with all the above. Two bigs bogs the Warriors down - its been a subtle subplot that has been lost because it didn't matter in the end. Also, Looney had success but he has yet to face a frontcourt as tough as Boston's, even with a hobbled TL. He may be exposed as well.
Tonight was one of the few games I can remember this year where they won despite TL, not because of him. I agree that they need to figure something out with him because tonight's version isn't going to cut it. Stashing him in Boston and saving the flights seems reasonable.