3 things we learned in the Warriors’ win over the Celtics

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/01/28/warriors-celtics-score-golden-state-warriors-boston-celtics-stephen-curry-highlights-kyrie-irving-video-news-nba-2018/



MY NOTE:  This article is from the San Jose Mercury News, a local newspaper.



Kurtenbach: 3 things we learned in the Warriors’ win over the Celtics





Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry reacts to a referee’s call during the first half of the team’s NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)





By DIETER KURTENBACH | dkurtenbach@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
January 28, 2018 at 6:00 am






It was one of Stephen Curry’s best performances in his Hall of Fame career and the best home game performance for the Warriors all season.


But it might have portended something larger.


The Warriors and Celtics played an incredible game Saturday — a back-and-forth affair with equal parts great defense and brilliant offense. And while Golden State won 109-105, the Celtics proved themselves to be worthy adversaries of a Warriors team that can no longer expect to trounce whichever opponent comes out of the Eastern Conference, should Golden State advance to a fourth straight NBA Finals in June.


Saturday game left me with the feeling that we’ll see these two teams face off again in a few months — here’s what we learned from the contest:

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The Celtics are closer than we thought — and that makes them the Warriors’ biggest threat

(Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) 




Earlier this season, we saw the end of the Cavaliers-Warriors rivalry as we know it. The re-tooled Cavs simply couldn’t keep up with Golden State.


We also saw the Warriors beat a good Raptors team twice. (The second time, Golden State blew the doors off the Raptors, before letting Toronto back into the game by taking their foot off the pedal.)


And while we saw Houston give the Warriors some trouble — they won the season series 2-1 — Golden State holds a ton of advantages over the Rockets. Any chance of Houston winning a seven-game series — while not nil — is slim.


And yes, the jury is still out on whether the Spurs and Thunder are threats, but it’s unlikely that they’re really in the class of Golden State.


The Warriors winning an NBA title seemed like a borderline inevitability — before Saturday, only Houston appeared poised to slow Golden State down in their quest to claim three in four years.

But the Celtics — well, the Celtics might be young and relatively inexperienced, but if you were looking to pick one team to beat the Warriors in a seven-game series this year, they’re the new odds-on favorite.


Why?


Well, because while Houston was able to control pace on one end of the court in their three matchups with Golden State this season, they can’t do anything to stop the Warriors from imposing their will when Golden State has the ball.


Boston is the only team I’ve seen dictate the terms of engagement — on both sides of the court — against the Warriors this season. And while it might have been a fluke that they were able to do it in the teams’ two games this year, looking at how they did it, I have a hard time believing that it’s not replicable if the Warriors and Celtics meet again.


Indeed, Boston has been able to control tempo when they had the ball against the Warriors this year — so long as the bewitching Kyrie Irving was on the court.

And on defense, the Celtics have made the Warriors’ life hell. Boston’s length and activity on the defensive end have proved perplexing for Golden State, turning a Warriors team that entered Saturday’s game having dished out 40 and 37 assists in their last two games — they were really whipping the ball around the court — into what was effectively a one-or-zero-pass, isolation offense. The Warriors only assisted on 50 percent of their made field goals Saturday.


Perhaps the Warriors were giving the Celtics’ defense too much credit from the start, too much deference, but Golden State — either because of Boston’s defensive prowess or because the Warriors simply didn’t try hard enough (there’s no clarity on this, sorry) — didn’t look anything like themselves Saturday. If not for the incredible, incendiary play of Stephen Curry, the Celtics’ defense would have been the victor in the battle of the NBA’s best defense against the NBA’s best offense.


Don’t overlook that.


Because, if we’re being honest, it wasn’t until the Warriors actually started playing some active, championship-level defense themselves that they pushed into the lead.


Boston might not have the firepower to keep up with the Warriors, basket-for-basket (unless we can expect a near 75 percent shooting game from Kyrie to be the norm) but Saturday’s game proved that this Boston defense can go toe-to-toe with the Warriors’ offense — arguably the greatest in NBA history — and win.


And when you combine that all-world defense with Irving’s propensity to slice and dice Golden State’s defense — his ability to create his own shot and take over games has always challenged the Warriors in nearly existential ways — and you have an excellent formula for beating the Warriors.


Will it happen? I don’t think so — the Celtics have too many weak points that Golden State has not properly exploited — but who else in the East is going to challenge the Warriors?


The Raptors? Maybe…


The Cavs? Don’t jest.


The main fear for every Warriors fan after Saturday’s game should be simple: make sure the Celtics don’t get any better.


Saturday’s game might convince the Celtics to stay the course — that they’re close now and will only get better in the years to come. But it might also convince them to go for broke now and acquire Antony Davis, with whom they’ve been making clear overtures for more than a year.
A mixture of Irving, a dribble-drive point guard who attacks some of the Warriors’ biggest weaknesses, playing alongside an improved version of the already really good (particularly against Golden State) Al Horford? That’s more than a title contender — that’s a matchup nightmare for the Warriors. And that might just make Boston the title favorite.

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Stephen Curry is still the Warriors’ everything

(Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) 




I think everyone in the world knows where I stand on Stephen Curry’s 2017-18 season by now.
I think he’s peaking — that he’s at the height of his otherworldly powers. Saturday’s game was another example of that greatness.


The Celtics, as previously mentioned, turned the Warriors into something they are actively trying not to be — an isolation team — and while Golden State is as well equipped as any squad in the NBA to succeed in that kind of offense — they have Kevin Durant after all — it was Curry who ultimately gave the Warriors a chance to win Saturday.


Curry’s 49-point outburst was superb, but what was more impressive was how effortlessly and seamlessly he took on the responsibility for the Warriors. He realized that Boston was going to shut down the Warriors’ typical means of offense and that Irving was having an insane shot-creating game on the other end, so he simply took over the game.


Yes, Durant could have done it, but he didn’t — it was Curry.

Such a game is a rarity for Curry these days — for good reason: the Warriors have Durant and Golden State is rarely challenged in a way that requires such heroics.


But when the Dubs needed it, Curry was there. Boy, was he there.


I try to talk about Curry’s “gravity” often — about how his presence on the court creates so much for others, even if he doesn’t touch the ball — but he didn’t need gravity on Saturday, he just needed the ball.


And unlike Kerr, who opted to trap Irving more in the second half, at times forcing the ball out of the incredible point guard’s hands and forcing another Celtic to make a play, Boston coach Brad Stevens never blitzed Curry.


Knowing that Curry might be more dangerous to the Celtics without the ball than with it, he dared Curry to beat him.


As a result, Curry showed off his own shot-creation brilliance and was able to make 8-of-13 3-pointers.


One reason I’m hoping we get another Warriors-Celtics game: to see if Stevens makes the same choice again.


But more importantly: If Curry’s in-your-face performance doesn’t serve as a reminder to his greatness — and to how good he is at this moment in time — then nothing will. And if that’s the case, I’m sorry you live such a sad, bitter life.


Durant is incredible and he has shown that he’s one of the best players in NBA history countless times over the last 16 months. But Curry is a revolution — one that he proved, again, on Saturday is still in full throws.

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Andre Iguodala will let you know if it’s a big game

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr chats with Golden State Warriors’ Andre Iguodala (9) and Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson (11) during a timeout against the Boston Celtics in the fourth quarter of their NBA game at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics 109-105. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) 




Andre Iguodala had four points Saturday. That’s nothing worth writing about, for sure.


But Iguodala’s effort on Saturday night — that’s worth noting.


I joked before the season that Iguodala — in an effort to save his body for the playoffs — was only going to play hard in five, maybe 10 regular-seaosn games. So far this year, that prediction has been spot on.


But Saturday was one of those games.


If you’re wondering if the Warriors respect an opponent, just watch how hard Iguodala plays on defense — Iguodala is a smart guy, but he’s not good at feigning interest.


On Saturday, he was nearing NBA Finals intensity. So yes, again, it’s fair to say that the Celtics concern the Warriors.


This play, in particular, shows how engaged Iguodala was Saturday.
Video Player


https://my.mixtape.moe/dppllr.mp4?_=1




Iguodala’s wild variances in regular-season effort level have to be taken heavily into consideration when handicapping the Warriors for the postseason. When Iguodala is playing at full bore defensively, the Warriors are likely as stout on defense as they are on offense. When he’s not, the Warriors are typically average when he’s on the court.


Iguodala was a plus-six Saturday — that’s no fluke, despite his lack of box-score numbers. His performance was a reminder that he still has the juice to make a huge, possibly game-changing impact on the Dubs, playing a major role on defense and providing much-needed secondary ball handler capabilities in the offense.


I’m not sure when we’ll see the next full-bore Iguodala game — perhaps in 10 days against the Thunder? — but I do know that the next time it happens, it’ll be obvious. It certainly was Saturday, when the Celtics brought out the best in Iguodala


He, in turn, brought out the best in the Warriors.

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Kudos:

• To Kevon Looney, who I thought had an excellent 8-minute stretch Saturday. The Celtics, with their beautiful offensive sets and actions (they really are tremendous — everyone is talking about them //end Trump voice), pulled Looney to the point of attack (and the ball) often Saturday, and he did more than hold his ground. Given Boston’s personnel and Looney’s seemingly growing ability to defend on the perimeter (he’s really smart about his positioning and footwork), I can’t imagine he doesn’t get serious run in a possible playoff series. Start preparing your confused tweets now.

Yeah…About that…

• Saturday’s game was made for Patrick McCaw — his length would have been a major asset to the Warriors’ defense against a long, positionless Boston team (Stevens likes to refer to players as part of three position groups: bigs, wings, and ball handlers). If he knocked down a shot or two, that would have been gravy to the Dubs.


But McCaw wasn’t available for Saturday’s game, though — he had a mild back strain — so Kerr turned to his 2-guard counterpart, Nick Young, to play against Boston.


Kerr might have been better off playing 4-on-5.


https://my.mixtape.moe/ioxnth.mp4?_=2



Young was downright unplayable in his 6:32 Saturday, missing all three of his shots and by a wide margin and generally proving to be a ball stopper when he did get the rock.


Yes, Saturday’s game was an isolation possession game, but Young needs to learn to leave the scoring to the professionals. When he’s open, knock down the shot — otherwise, kick it and move.

https://twitter.com/DrewShiller/status/957440354281603073


Drew Shiller@DrewShiller

[ltr]Nick Young missed Steph Curry open 2x, and then took this shot...[/ltr]








6:29 PM - Jan 27, 2018

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Young’s embarrassing performance — the only positive that can be said about it is that Kyrie Irving missed a shot while Young was “defending” him — put him on the bench in the second half, with an out-of-practice Omri Casspi getting his minutes instead.


Young’s look-at-me game and the failure that came from it should raise red flags. Saturday’s game had a playoff atmosphere — for Young to play that poorly has to make Kerr wonder if he can trust Swaggy P in the postseason.


And if he can’t, what was the point of this whole experiment?




bob




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Interesting he raved about our defense and we were without some say our best perimeter defender in Smart, our best perimeter defender is Jaylen, he has been all over Durant and has the length and tenacity to bother him. I wish going forward Smart who definitely was missed in defending Curry can develop more an offensive role like Igoudala, in other words just defend and take shots close to the basket....get shooters the ball and defend.

Hi,
Thanks, it's a really interesting article.
Another thing that the author didn't mention about Celtics (besides Smart) was JT's very bad performance. If, by the playoffs time, he comes out of the current slump - who knows, anything can happen...
But I agree with the main point of the article: with the current state of affairs in EC the Celtics are the most probable and very credible threat to GSW in the playoffs.

AK

If Tatum can’t get out of his slump, I don’t think we have the firepower to get to Finals with no Hayward and you never know what you can get out of Smart, Rozier and Baynes.

Cowens is correct and right on the team's pulse.

Brown is better at defense than Smart only in that he has physical advantages. It's why there are different weight classes in boxing. I'd say pound for pound Marcus Smart is as good as any NBA player on defense.

He has so much potential on offense but needs to focus on high percentage shots. He was turning into a decent pg. It was not uncommon for him to put up seven or eight assists. Now I expect nothing more from him than Rozier or Larkin for ball distribution stats.

Tatum is fine. There's no rookie wall. He needs to go back to the simpler role that worked for him earlier. They are relying on him too much.

Brown is the one who might take a leap now to provide third or fourth option power on offense. The playoff roster is still not set.

It's a puncher's chance. Morris is a dark hole. Theis seems the most consistent. Baynes looks shaky as a shooter. He might be the one with the yips. Tatum is getting some yips because he is not ready for a big role. He needs to be like younger versions of Rondo or Perk in 2008. Fill the role to the best of one's ability. A man has to know his limitations.

Hayward is the missing big three piece. Tatum could have been the sixth man.

But anyway, I'm trying to respond on Marcus Smart. if he survives the trading deadline, he is probably the biggest wild card of them all. It'd be nice if he could regroup and play smarter on offense. He needs to build on his positives. Not everyone can be Kyrie Irving. Maybe Jaylen Brown can. There's a puncher's chance.