The story of Sport 2 for the Boston Celtics was the turnovers. Boston turned the ball over 19 instances, gifting the Golden State Warriors 33 factors within the course of. Nevertheless, the underlying challenge was their stagnant offense.
Boston persistently did not make the appropriate reads, as they tried to power the problem fairly than letting the offense come to them. Regardless of his analytically pleasing scoring numbers, Tatum ended up settling for too many unhealthy appears. In actual fact, most of his effectivity got here from behind the three-point line, the place he shot 6-of-9; contained in the arc, he was simply 2-for-10.
Whereas Tatum’s effectivity in Sport 1 left a lot to be desired, he was placing on a clinic as a playmaker. His passing was a main purpose for Boston’s offensive success, and whereas it could sound backwards, he might have been extra impactful in Sport 1 than in Sport 2, regardless of the scoring margin.
Right here’s an ideal instance. This primary clip is from Sport 2. Tatum will get a mismatch on Nemanja Bjelica and faculties him. The Boston ahead is simply too fast for Bjelica to maintain up with. However as soon as he will get downhill, his eyes don’t depart the rim. He finally ends up taking a contested shot, flailing his arms seeking a foul name. (One thing Boston’s stars do far an excessive amount of.)
What Tatum evidently didn’t discover (or acknowledge) is Derrick White on their lonesome on the wing. Ime Udoka has urged the Celtics to play drive-and-kick basketball all season. Tatum drove, however he didn’t kick.
Now, take a look at this play from Sport 1. It’s not precisely the identical, however the idea is comparable. Tatum will get a mismatch in opposition to Kevon Looney, forces Stephen Curry to assist, and on the first signal of Curry sliding over, kicks it to Sensible for a 3.
Tatum saved his head on a swivel and the Celtics bought a straightforward bucket due to it. Within the first clip, it might even be argued that Tatum had a better go obtainable to him for White to get a better shot than the one Sensible took. However as a substitute, it was a contested layup. Little issues turn into massive issues.
This clip is extra of the identical, nevertheless it brings up one other key level. Boston continues to get Tatum going, however there’s no motion. White bought open behind Tatum, however that will have been a near-impossible go for him to make.
As talked about, the true challenge here’s a full lack of off-ball motion. Marcus Sensible even throws his palms up in frustration as Tatum tried to power the problem. And that was one other factor the Celtics did. As odd as it could sound, they settled for mismatches fairly than exploiting the mismatch, drawing a number of defenders, and discovering the open man.
Looking mismatches is a good way to generate offense. However when that’s the whole gameplan, it tends to backfire. That’s precisely what occurred to the Celtics on Sunday night time. They seemingly attacked each mismatch that they bought, forcing up a shot even when they might have gotten a greater one by passing out.
The entire clips above present Tatum attempting to assault a mismatch and get to his spot. Whether or not it’s in opposition to Bjelica, Looney, or another person on Golden State, he noticed a mismatch and tried to assault. He bought so laser-focused on the rim that he ended up hurting his staff fairly than serving to.
Listed here are a pair extra prime examples. On this clip, Tatum will get by Looney, however is met by Andrew Wiggins on the rim. He retains the ball too low to make a learn. Robert Williams was considerably open beneath the rim, however by the point Wiggins slides over to assist, Tatum is caught in no man’s land.
Lastly, this shot is a little more acceptable, nevertheless it falls beneath the identical class of settling. Tatum sees that Jordan Poole is on him, and the whole Celtics roster primarily simply accepts that he’s going to take the shot. He finally ends up taking pictures a contested mid-range jumper.
Golden State did an awesome job of staying dwelling and taking away Tatum’s passing choices, however Boston wanted to concurrently modify and create some off-ball motion. That didn’t occur.
Whereas that proved to be the Achilles heel to Tatum’s Sport 2, Jaylen Brown offered a complete new set of issues. After a red-hot begin from the sector that noticed him shoot 4-for-6 within the first quarter, he went 1-for-11 the rest of the sport.
A few of his misses had been simply that: misses. However a regarding variety of them had been him attempting to get himself going once more. Much like Tatum, Brown pressured the problem, however as a substitute of attacking mismatches, he was typically simply taking the primary shot that was supplied him.
Right here’s one instance. Certain, there are 10 seconds left on the shot clock, however that’s much more than it sounds. Brown decides to assault Draymond Inexperienced in the midst of the ground, is pressured to choose up his dribble, and takes an terrible mid-range shot.
Once more, although, the Celtics don’t do a lot to assist him. Everybody finally ends up floating across the three-point line ready to see what Brown can do. Inexperienced is without doubt one of the best defenders in NBA historical past. The Warriors had been by no means going to ship assist, so there was no “getting open” on the three-point arc. Brown put himself on an island and bought stranded.
This clip extra instantly shows Brown desperately looking for a rhythm. Brown finds the ball within the paint after Sensible’s go will get tipped and takes one other contested mid-range shot.
All of the whereas, Al Horford is standing on the three-point line. Looney is totally centered on Brown and had sunk off of Horford. However as a substitute of holding his head up, Brown pressured up a contested bounce shot in opposition to Wiggins, one among Golden State’s higher ISO defenders.
Each Tatum and Brown did not make the additional passes all night time lengthy, settling for contested appears and poorly attacked mismatches. However they weren’t the one points throughout the Celtics’ offense on Sunday.
The Celtics let Horford fall into an analogous lure as Tatum and Brown did. Horford solely tried 4 pictures in Sport 2, and two of them had been post-ups. As soon as once more, Boston settled for mismatches, permitting Horford to work within the paint with zero off-ball motion supporting him.
And even when Horford was fouled (or type tackled) in that second clip, the purpose stands that the Celtics gave him no assist. Sensible was open as soon as Inexperienced sunk in a bit, however Inexperienced did an awesome job of taking part in each guys, and nobody else on the Celtics moved (aside from Williams, who was attempting to get in place for a rebound).
White and Sensible additionally struggled to assist a lot. Neither shot fairly as nicely from three as they did in Sport 1, as Sensible went 0-for-3 and White went 2-for-4 (which is respectable, however he simply didn’t get as many appears in Sport 2). However along with that, they too missed some passes that might have helped Boston’s offensive movement.
Right here, Sensible will get previous his man on the drive, and Williams is wide-open within the paint for a lob. It’s not essentially a straightforward go to make, nevertheless it’s one we’ve seen Sensible make earlier than. As a substitute, he drives to the paint, getting stuffed within the course of.
What might have been a straightforward lob for Time Lord ended up going out of bounds off Sensible, and an damage to Williams. The large man would stand up and carry on going, however Sensible fell into his knees fairly arduous after what ought to have been a candy alley-oop.
White missed some simple reads as nicely. On this play, simply as Sensible did, White will get by his man on the perimeter, however as a substitute of taking a floater (which he loves) or kicking it out to Grant Williams (who was open), White tries to power a go into the paint to Daniel Theis.
Now, the upside of this play is that White tried to make a play, however the draw back is that he made the unsuitable one. He might have had a straightforward floater or a straightforward go to Williams, however he simply made the unsuitable learn.
Boston bought caught up in attempting to power the problem all night time lengthy, however as soon as once more, the Warriors’ protection deserves a ton of credit score.
In The Finals opener, the Warriors had been decided to decelerate Tatum. They introduced assist, sagged off of shooters, and let Boston damage them from three-point vary. Throughout his post-game interview, Inexperienced mocked the truth that Sensible, White, and Horford shot so nicely from three, implying that they wouldn’t do it once more. However as a substitute, the Warriors merely took away a few of these pictures.
In Sport 1, the Celtics generated 26 wide-open pictures (23 three-pointers) and 33 open pictures (15 threes). As famous, the Warriors had been so locked in on Tatum, they allowed different shooters to harm them In Sport 2, these numbers had been reduce down dramatically. Boston solely scrounged up 17 wide-open pictures (13 three-pointers) and 24 open pictures (18 three-pointers). Golden State flipped the script, and the Celtics fell into the lure.
They let Boston assault the mismatches, sending assist on the final attainable second, thus stopping Tatum and the remainder of the Celtics from making good reads. Steve Kerr did an outstanding job of adjusting, and Boston did not match it.
