Golden State Warriors have felt Boston’s best punch
By Tony Pesta
Okay… the Golden State Warriors can confidently say they have seen the Boston Celtics’ best punch in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
Many might assume the Dubs have already seen this, getting rattled in the fourth quarter of Game 1. Yet, even the most confident Boston fan would admit the Celtics’ 40-16 run in the final 12 minutes was not sustainable.
While the Celtics might not be able to score 40 points in a quarter every game, they can hold the Warriors down long enough to build a lead.
We saw this in the fourth quarter of Game 3, with the Dubs scoring just 11 points — their fewest in a quarter of the NBA Finals since Game 6, 2016.
The key? Limiting turnovers and multiple-effort plays on defense to stop the Warriors from getting the Celtics into scramble mode.
The Boston Celtics have delivered their best blow. Can the Golden State Warriors overcome this and tie the series in Game 4?
The Warriors score in a variety of ways but their two most effective weapons are in transition or when finding a lapse in focus from the defense for an easy bucket.
Thus far, the Celtics have mostly avoided these two things.
They limited turnovers in the fourth quarter, only committing one at the three-minute mark. This attention to taking care of the ball helped Boston control the tempo of the game.
Defensively, their bold strategy of playing drop-coverage on Stephen Curry has… oddly been successful? I plan on doing a deeper dive into this later in the week — but Al Horford’s role in covering the pick-and-roll has helped limit the Warriors from getting the defense on its heels and getting into their freelance offensive sets.
On the other end, Boston nailed all of the big shots. Role players stepped up and the duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown completed dazzling moves to stave off a Warriors’ run.
So, this is it. If the Warriors want to win a championship, they will need to rise above this version of the Celtics. This is the best punch they can throw on a nightly basis.