Adamo Marinelli
June 2, 2022
The Golden State Warriors are back in the NBA Finals for the sixth time in eight years and are looking to win their fourth championship in that time, which would reassert their dominance from the past decade and continue their elite dynasty.
The Warriors, after finishing dead last in the NBA in 2019-20 with a record of 15-50, are back in the Finals only two years later, after finishing third in the Western Conference this season with a record of 53-29, thanks to the best three-point shooter in the NBA Steph Curry having a tremendous season, a breakout year from Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson excelling in his return from injury and excellent two-way play from Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins. In addition, Steve Kerr is one of the best coaches in the NBA and knows how to win in the playoffs.
They will play a Boston Celtics team who is relatively inexperienced in the playoffs compared to the opponents, but who has the talent, depth, schemes, and high-level coaching to give the Warriors a run for their money in their first finals appearance since 2010.
The Boston Celtics are led by an extremely talented duo of elite two-way all-stars in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown who are tenacious defensively, can move the ball extremely well and are excellent shooters. In addition, the Celtics were rated as the best defensive team in the NBA this season and they have an incredible first-year head coach in Ime Udoka who has proved a lot this year and has the opportunity to win a title in his first year in charge like Nick Nurse in 2019.
The Warriors and Celtics tied their season series 1-1. Both wins came on the road. The Warriors won a close game 111-107 against the Celtics thanks to Curry’s 30 points and five three-pointers. Later in the season, the Celtics blew out the Warriors 110-88 after Tatum and Brown both scored 26 points and Curry exited with an injury.
The Warriors are the more rested team after round three. They defeated the Dallas Mavericks led by Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson in five games to advance to the Finals while the Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat number - the one team in the East - in a hard-fought seven-game series to advance to the Finals. The team that has more depth and the team that gets more bench production will have a huge advantage in the series.
Both teams have star-studded starting lineups. The Warriors starting five consists of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, and Kevon Looney. Their bench includes names like Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga, both are very promising prospects who have played well this year, Otto Porter and Andre Iguodala.
The Celtics starting five consists of defensive player of the year Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jason Tatum, Robert Williams (a fantastic perimeter defender), and Al Horford who is finally making his first Finals appearance. They have a lot of talent on their bench too, with guys like Grant Williams, Daniel Theis, and Derrick White.
Currently, the Warriors roster is better because they have more playoff experience than the Celtics. The Warriors roster also has players who’ve won a combined 14 rings vs the Celtics who don’t have a single player with a ring.
However, despite winning their last title 10 years before the Warriors won their last title and despite having less playoff experience on the roster, the Celtics are the better defensive team, and as the adage goes "defense wins championships", which should help them out against Golden State as it did against the Heat.
It’s been a difficult journey for the Warriors since losing to the Raptors in the 2019 finals. Klay Thompson missed over two full seasons with injury, Kevin Durant left to join the Brooklyn Nets and even Steph Curry missed a season as the Warriors failed to make the playoffs for the next two years and critics were saying their dynasty was over. They proved the critics wrong and showed the world their dynasty is not ending anytime soon, even without Durant.
They finished the regular season well and cruised past the Denver Nuggets in five games in round one. Despite not playing their best in round two, they still managed to defeat an up-and-coming Memphis Grizzlies team in six games in round two. Round three is when they really started heating up and they played their best basketball of the postseason against a very good Dallas Mavericks team led by Luka Doncic who can score at will.
Curry averaged 23.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 7.4 assists, shooting an incredible .439% from three. Klay Thompson only got better as the series went on and was red-hot once again in a closeout game, scoring 32 points in game five. Green continued to be a physical force defensively that can limit high percentage shots and force turnovers. At the same time, he was a facilitator on offense with his playmaking. Wiggins played tremendous defense all series and was a good depth scorer and Looney recorded 19 offensive boards in five games, helping his team get more possessions.
Off the bench, Jordan Poole has also been a threat offensively, averaging 16.4 points per game, while shooting a whopping .636% from the field and .400 from three. The Warriors will need to move the ball well against an elite Celtics’ defense to generate open shots and they will need all their shooters to consistently play lights out if they hope to win. The Warriors also have the home-court advantage which is huge considering they have not lost at home this postseason.
The Warriors are a fantastic shooting team, especially from three and they have several players (Curry, Thompson, Poole) that can consistently knock down shots from three or anywhere else on the floor. They are extremely versatile, they can move the ball very well to create open shots for each other, they are fantastic in transition and the Warriors also have a ton of players who can create their own shots, which is important against such a talented Celtics defense. They are not only good from the field, but they can also play physically in the paint too with Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, and Andrew Wiggins.
Despite their playoff experience and excellent shooting ability, the Warriors have historically had hard times playing against two types of teams in the playoffs in the Steve Kerr era. Teams with LeBron James on them and teams that have multiple athletic, agile, switchable, and long defenders that can guard any player in any position on the floor, just like the Celtics can.
The Celtics have the best defensive rating in the NBA with a rating of 106.2 this season. They have been just as good in the playoffs. As a team, they excel at getting into passing lanes, forcing turnovers, and limiting teams’ high percentage scoring opportunities by closing out shooting lanes, forcing the opposing offensive players to the outside, and by sending help to shooters. The Celtics also switch on almost half of their opponents' screens, which will make life a little tougher for Curry and the rest of the Warriors to get open looks. Their zone defense allows Robert Williams to protect the rim while also enabling other players to guard the middle and the three.
Finally, Marcus Smart matched up very well against Steph Curry in the regular season, if he can do it again in the playoffs, that’s a huge advantage for the Celtics. If Curry hits his shots at will, that will help the Warriors’offense get going. Steph Curry is one of the - if not the - best shooters in the NBA, but he is a very unselfish player. If the Celtics send two guys at him, he will almost certainly pass it to the open man instead of taking the shot. His willingness to make the right play and how good he is with and without the ball in his hands is one of the reasons the Warriors have been good for so long. If Smart plays him one on one, both players will have their moments. Curry will hit his shots and Smart will get his steals and blocks. If they double Curry, he will exploit the Celtics with his excellent playmaking.
If they want to win, the Celtics must continue playing excellent defense against an elite offensive Warriors team. The Warriors are one of the most efficient offenses in the league this season and are one of the best shooting teams in the league. They hit the third-most three-pointers in the league and had the sixth-best three-point shooting percentage and the eighth-best field goal percentage in the league. Not to mention Klay Thompson and Steph Curry are among the best shooters (two and three-point FGs) in the NBA.
But they also need all of their super-stars and depth players to consistently play at the top of their game offensively against a Warriors’ defense that is nearly as good as the Celtics’ defense. The Warriors have the second-best defensive rating in the NBA at 106.6 on the season. Their defense isn’t as good as the Celtics’ but they have big men that can guard the paint, agile big men that can close out shooting lanes and roll off screens, and fast, athletic and agile guards who can defend any position. The Warriors are also great at forcing turnovers, however. the Celtics don’t turn the ball over a lot, so whoever wins the turnover battle will have an advantage.
Even though the Warriors have more playoff experience, the team with the most depth will be the one to win the series. Not just depth off the bench, but also depth in the sense that you have numerous players on the floor that can score, defend, pass and shoot. The Celtics have a lot of depth. When it’s not Jayson Tatum, it’s Jaylen Brown. When it’s not Brown, it’s Marcus Smart, and when it’s not Smart, it’s Robert or Grant Williams or Derrick White.
Tatum is averaging 27 points per game during the playoffs and Brown is averaging 23 points per game, however, Tatum has been held to under 10 points on more than one occasion and Brown has been held to just 12 points on two occasions too. But when Tatum and Brown have off games, other players on their roster have great games.
The Celtics’ ability to have many high-scoring players in each game helps them win many playoff games, even tight, back and forth games. In game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Heat, Tatum had 26 points and Brown and Smart each had 24.
In addition to getting well-balanced scoring from their starters and bench players, the Celtics have numerous guys on their roster that are incredibly talented defensively including Robert Williams, who is one of the best rim protectors in the league and made Bam Adebayo’s life tough during the Eastern Conference Finals and 2022 defensive player of the year Marcus Smart. However, Tatum and Brown are also skilled defensively and cannot be taken lightly.
With multiple players on the floor able to pass, shoot, rebound, defend and play physically, Boston is one of the most well-rounded teams in the league, which is why they were able to beat great teams like Brooklyn, Milwaukee, and Miami en route to the finals. The Warriors do get great defense from everyone and can get high-scoring performances from multiple guys on their roster, but most of the time the Warriors win, it’s because of Curry, Thompson, or Green.
There is a lot at stake for both teams in these Finals. Whether the Warriors win or lose, they appear to have found long-term success without Kevin Durant as Kevon Looney is the only free agent this summer. After this playoff run, they will have a ton of chemistry. Poole, Kuminga, and Wiseman will only get better. Curry, Thompson, and Green are still playing at a high level. This will not be their last chance at a title, they could be even stronger next season.
If they do win the title, however, it proves they can win championships without Kevin Durant - as they did in 2015 - and if they win their fourth title, they will likely open next season as a favourite to win the championship. Winning four titles, with an opportunity to go for a fifth or a sixth in an era with LeBron James just explains how good of a team they are. The Warriors are already one of the greatest dynasties in the NBA, another title would continue to add to that resume.
If the Celtics win the title, they can finally leapfrog rival Los Angeles Lakers with their 18th championship, the most in NBA history and they can prove that their team-building strategy consisting of drafting and developing players works. Tatum, Smart, Brown, Grant, and Robert Williams were all draft picks from the last 10 years that the Celtics’ coaching staff have developed. The Celtics kept most of their young talent despite many early playoff exits in the last few years, which has ultimately given them a chance to win a title.
Finally, Udoka has the chance to win the title in his first year in charge of the team like Nurse did in 2019, which is an incredible achievement that takes talent, resiliency, and making several adaptions to your game plans, rotations, and strategies. Also, if the Celtics win, they will be a contender in the Eastern Conference and a threat to the rest of the NBA for years to come.
This will be an interesting series and very entertaining regardless of who wins. Despite the Celtics’ great defense, I believe the Warriors’ shooting and playoff experience will be too much to take. The Warriors are the better-coached team and will make the necessary adjustments to open up the Celtics’ defense and they will win in a hard-fought seven-game series.
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