money 3 observations: Warriors choke away lead, lose Game 1 of Finals
The Golden State Warriors hosted the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night. Golden State wanted to set the tone with a victory in the series-opening affair. Boston wanted to steal homecourt advantage with a victory in Game 1. The Celtics outscored the Warriors by 24 points in the fourth quarter to complete a 15-point comeback in victory, 120-108.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 34 points on 12-for-25 shooting. He also secured 5 rebounds, dished 5 assists, and registered 3 steals.
Al Horford led the Celtics with 26 points on 9-for-12 shooting. Derrick White scored 21 points on 6-for-11 shooting.
Here are 3 observations from Game 1.
Curry has the drop
Golden State took advantage of a disjointed Boston defense in the first quarter. The Celtics were not communicating well or in proper position as Steph Curry peeled off screens. It wasn’t just ball screens; off-ball screens were problematic, too.
The problem was traceable to Ime Udoka. The Celtics featured drop coverage in their defensive scheme to open the game. So, high ball screens allowed Curry to generate momentum in the open floor as he stepped into open looks from deep.
Udoka then inserted Daniel Theis, who played just 6 minutes in the game. The backup center’s lack of mobility and agility limits him strictly to drop coverage because he cannot recover to the rim if the ball gets behind him. So with the personnel on the court, and, by extension, the defensive scheme, Curry was able to cut out to the arc on Split actions and pick-and-roll play and step into threes unabated.
He hit 6 triples in the first quarter, missing only 1 attempt from the midcourt logo as the quarter expired.
"This isn't the Heat series."
The Celtics built their equity throughout the season by communicating with one another and buying into Ime Udoka’s leadership through the ups and downs. That DNA was as visible as ever in Game 1. Marcus Smart, mic’d up as part of the broadcast, could be heard pleading with his teammates to proactively play up on Golden State’s shooters instead of affording them space, which is what the Celtics did against the Heat.
Smart’s leadership hit the right spot, as the Celtics were far more aggressive in keying on Curry throughout the rest of the game. They played high and showed 2 on the ball, hedging and blitzing on ball screens to keep him from seeing light after peeling.
The size and increased pressure worked, as Curry struggled to shake free off the ball or find creases of space for open looks out of pick-and-rolls after the first quarter.
After a 21-point outburst in the first frame, Curry scored just 13 points the rest of the night. After a 6-for-7 showing from deep to start the game, Curry shot 1-for-7 from downtown the rest of the way.
Warriors fail to capitalize
Jayson Tatum scored just 12 points on 3-for-17 shooting. He distributed 13 dimes, but that’s still a bad scoring night for Boston’s best player. Who knows how many of those he’ll have the rest of this series, but the Warriors needed to capitalize on a down night for him.
Instead, they completed collapsed in the fourth quarter. As Al Horford drilled dagger shot after dagger shot down the stretch, the Warriors were completely disrupted on offense. Draymond Green was taking threes and bricking free throws. Steph Curry couldn’t get his open looks to fall and even got back rim on a layup.
The Warriors, who led by 12 going into the final quarter, completely combusted in the game’s closing minutes en route to a 12-point defeat, squandering a night on which Tatum wasn’t at his best.
The Warriors (0-1) will look to tie the series at 1 game apiece before heading back to Boston. Game 2 will tip at 8 PM, Eastern time. You can catch the action on ABC.
This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
