How the Warriors would game plan for the Boston Celtics
The Celtics went through a renewal midway through the season as they finally started moving the basketball and trusting each other, being arguably the best team in the league since halfway through January. Even so, they do have areas where they mightily struggle.
The Celtics have spent the last few years letting Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum essentially play isolation to close out close games.
While they have stopped doing that against man-to-man defenses like what they saw in the first round against the Brooklyn Nets, they still do that against a zone defense like what they are struggling against with the Heat.
When they see a zone, many times they will give the ball to Tatum or Brown and get out of the way, oftentimes leading into a double team against a wing and a big with little time left on the clock to make a play.
The Warriors have some of the best players available at each position for any type of zone defense, Curry, Thompson, and Poole are all incredible off-ball defenders and really show their defensive value in the zone.
Green, Wiggins, Payton II, and Looney are all players who can defend any position and have had success against elite scorers like Luka Doncic, Ja Morant, and Nikola Jokic during this playoff run alone.
Not to mention Moody, Kuminga, and Toscano-Anderson who all might get minutes against this team to limit wing scoring.
The Celtics have also shown issues against small-ball rotations as Horford gets up there in age and can no longer keep up with smaller guys.
The Warriors’ complete dominance when it comes to running a smaller rotation is no secret. Draymond Green is the best small-ball center the NBA has ever seen up to this point.
This could lead to Boston having to give heavy minutes to Robert Williams who is still recovering from multiple injuries and could end up in some foul trouble as well.
While Boston has depth, so do the Warriors, making it difficult for Boston to get any advantage on the mix of veteran and young/energetic players the Golden State Warriors have.
The next two weeks will be huge for the Warriors as they look to add a seventh trophy to their championship repertoire. They definitely have some clear advantages against both teams though, making number seven more than a possibility.