What to Watch For vs Warriors

The Boston Celtics (14-14, 5-9 away) visit the Golden State Warriors
(20-10, 9-4 home) on Saturday night at Oracle Arena (10:30 p.m., CSN).
Here's what to watch for:


* WON'T BE EASY TO BOUNCE BACK:
After the Clippers pounded Boston to start this little three-game
west-coast swing, things don't get much easier in the Bay Area against a
Golden State squad that has won 10 of its last 13 overall. This has
always been a tough place to play for Boston and -- yet again -- Boston
must remain focused on 48 minutes of consistent basketball in order to
compete.


* SYNERGY SNAPSHOT: The Warriors rank ninth in the league
averaging 0.934 points per play, according to Synergy Sports data.
What's more, they rank third in spot-up shooting (their top play type),
averaging a whopping 1.077 points per play and shooting 44.2 percent in
those situations. No surprise, Steph Curry is the leader of that band,
but Klay Thompson also thrives in spot-up situations. Carl Landry has
quietly been super efficient overall (1.058 ppp, 93rd percentile), while
David Lee (1 ppp, 84 percentile) headlines the frontcourt. Defensively,
Golden State checks in at 13th overall (0.913 ppp) and are excellent at
limiting transition opportunities. The Warriors are exploitable in the
pick-and-roll, ranking 29th against ball-handlers in those situations,
so it's on Rajon Rondo to take advantage.


* DEFENDING THE 3-POINT STRIPE: The Warriors rank sixth in
the league in 3-point percentage (37.8 percent), an area that Boston has
struggled at times to defend this season. Boston doesn't want to try
matching Golden State from beyond the arc as the Warriors also rank
sixth in 3-point defense with opponents shooting a mere 33.7 percent.


* BACK-TO-BACK CHECK: This is the first night of a
back-to-back for the Celtics, who visit the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.
Boston is a mere 3-5 on the first night of back-to-backs this season,
having lost the front end all three times on the road this season (vs.
Philadelphia, Houston, Chicago). In danger of dipping below .500 with a
loss, the Celtics need an inspired effort on Saturday.



bob
MY NOTE: I watched most of the GSW game last night vs Philly. Philly made a nice rally to get within a few possessions but then GSW beared down. DO NOT leave Klay Thompson alone. Anywhere. He is a lights out shooter. Forget about help defense, Lee, just glue yourself to Thompson and let the rest of the team worry about the other players. Curry isn't much of a point guard but he is also a deadly shooter, you have to be right up on him because he has a quick release. The good news is that he doesn't have a killer crossover, so you can get up on him. Carl Landry is one of the hardest working players in the NBA, pure blue-collar. He will be a good matchup for Bass and Sully, who are physically well suited for him. Just don't take your eyes off him or assume that the rebound is coming to you, because he will fight for it and he has outstanding instincts. David Lee is a lefty. Remember that, write it down, tattoo it inside your eyelids. He is a lefty. You have to go out to him, he's VERY good from mid-range, but if he puts it on the floor force him to go to his right. Jarret Jack is fast and can shoot. Why isn't Barbosa playing? They will run at every opportunity, our transition D must be alert. Ezeli and Biedrins will challenge every shot so be prepared, KG and Collins, to move to the rim when Rondo penetrates. HACK-A-BIEDRINS. HACK-A-EZELI. Biedrins' ft% is 44% and Ezeli's is 36% (those are not typos). Having Collins and Sully beating on them is the easiest way to get an empty possession out of GSW. Pierce should give Harrison Barnes fits, but if he doesn't Green should. He's good, but he's brand spanking new.

GSW is 20-10. That is not a typo either. This will not be easy.

Go Celtics!


bob


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Defend the perimeter, take care of the ball and defend the defensive glass.

There is no secret fromula to success. It is all about fundamentals.

dboss

cowens/oldschool wrote:Warriors have a great blend of youth, energy, shooting, so many players can light it up, Jarret Jack is a really heady smart combo guard, can play with Curry or Thompson equally well. Barnes has legit talent and skills, couldn't believe his turnaround right in Pierces face, didn't know he had that, he can defend and hes got a 3 point stroke too. As NYCelt pointed out Ezelli is a very good role playing center that can do alot of dirty work and will only get better, already does good job anchoring defense and playing with David Lee who is not a great defender, Ezelli really doing great job inside. Green, Bierdens, Jack they have some depth, can score in waves and run floor. Mark Jackson doing a great job....can't believe they're 21-10. Because of Bobby H and I have an aunt in SF I'm gonna start rooting/following them a little.

cow,

Their defense will drive you crazy at times, but Lord Knows they can score in bunches. You cannot count them out just because they're down in the 4th. They won't catch up with stops, they'll catch up because they'll shoot lights out.


bob

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sam wrote:BobH,

Actually, as I said on the Game On Thread, I thought the Warriors won on the strength of their defense more than their offense. While people will remember this game for the lights-out shooting of the Warriors, their offense had some bad stretches, including ill-advised shots and far more turnovers than the Celtics.

But their defense was extremely consistent and almost never had consecutive bad possessions. Whenever the Celtics would appear to be poised for a major run, the Warriors' defense would shut them down. They had hands in the faces of Celtics' three-point shooters all night long. Their 10 blocks don't begin to tell the story of how often they collapsed in the lane to deny Celtics penetration, while having hands in the faces of most Celtics' three-point shooters. I call it a "flex" defense, as it quickly expands and contracts as needed.

Of course, neither offense nor defense alone will win many games. They had plenty of both last night. But I was more impressed with their defense, as their offense showcased shooting skill while their defense consisted largely of cohesiveness.

Sam

sam,

Their defense was good, in the 2nd half that I saw, but in general it is their offense that wins them games.


bob


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