• Full Coverage: 2022 NBA Finals
BOSTON — It’s been 12 years since this city hosted the NBA Finals and 14 years since they won one. That’s not a long dry spell for three-quarters of the league, but people are thirsty in Boston.
So here the series moves into a building held together by banners for the next two games. The Warriors have won at least one road game in 26 straight playoff series, while the Celtics have lost just one straight game since mid-January after a stumble in Game 2, and that’s in a third game in four nights in March.
Something must then give. Here are four things to look out for in Game 3 (9 ET, ABC) of a series that suddenly gets testy and physical, right where a certain Warriors antagonist wants it:
Table of Contents
1. Draymond is getting physical… and mental
Decades ago when the Bulls were all the rage in June, Dennis Rodman was snagging rebounds and playing tight defense and doing something else that didn’t statistically qualify. Rodman was an expert in the art of teasing. He would do something cunningly ominous — jab in the ribs, maybe trip someone, rub his mouth, or just push a button — to knock someone out of his game.
And now Draymond Green is bringing a master’s degree in distraction and trying to get under someone’s skin like a tattoo. In this series, he does it with intelligent defense, switches, body positioning, and fighting punches. It’s something to behold and underscores just how well Draymond is at his craft. But there are also the extras – the work of the umpires and exchanging a word or two with different Celtics – that add up to the full picture.
“For me, you just go where you need to go,” he said, “and for me, that’s where I go.”
To the referees: They are not inclined to give him a second technical and an automatic kick. Twice this postseason, Green had brief verbal exchanges with a player who would normally pull a harmless double tech while carrying a tech. But once they realized Green already had one, in every instance — once in the West Finals, then again in Game 2 of the NBA Finals — the umpires refused to make that call. It’s a fine line. Green is struggling because he knows the referees aren’t willing to potentially influence the outcome of a game in the league round with a kick. Unless, of course, Green kicks someone in the groin, which he doesn’t want to do again.
So that’s something to study for the rest of this series. Green has clearance to play the physical and mental game, with the umpires and the Celtics caught in the crossfire. Will players like Jaylen Brown, who took offense at Green’s foot in his face as the two unraveled in Game 2, take the bait again?
“We don’t have time for that. Just come out and play basketball. Everything will take care of itself. Don’t get caught up in all the antics,” Brown said.
Celtics coach Ime Udoka said he would likely get “a double technical” if he played Green but doesn’t think his players will unravel. He said: “The most important thing is to keep your composure. I don’t think it’s so much about the talking, it’s about the physicality… tune out the other stuff and meet physicality with physicality.”
2. Who is third for the Celtics?
Boston has two sources of consistent rating in Brown and Jayson Tatum. In fact, it’s been that way all season and obviously good enough for Boston to make it to the finals.
But now that they’re here – and playing against a loaded Golden State team – do the Celtics need a third source of power just to keep up and increase their chances of winning? In the case of the Celtics, the identity of this third player is constantly changing. Sometimes it’s Marcus Smart or Al Horford, but those are the only other players to average in double figures this postseason, and even Smart and Horford aren’t volume shooters.
Smart and Horford can also vaporize like they did in Game 2 when they combined for four points. None of that matters when the Celtics’ defense is so solid that there’s no urgency to engage in a scoring battle with the Warriors that they would lose. The concern for Boston is that eventually either Klay Thompson or Jordan Poole or both will regain their hitherto patchy batting technique and force the Celtics into a comeback.
Is Derrick White that guy? Grant Williams? Or nobody? On that trip, the Celtics played the Bucks without Khris Middleton and a Miami team with a limping Tyler Herro. The opponent missed a 20-point scorer in each case. Not so now; The Warriors bring four players (Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Thompson and Poole) who can score 20 points or more each night.
“There are some areas where we can position ourselves to get better shots,” Horford said.
3. Will Steve Kerr be forced to make a choice: Klay or Poole?
This isn’t about changing the starting line-up, not at this stage. This is far too risky and would be unprecedented and actually not necessary.
This is about the moment of truth in a tight fourth quarter and, as he has for much of this series, Thompson cannot make peace with the hoop. Would it beg Kerr to bench Thompson for Poole when he’s unable to keep three guards on the ground?
That would be quite a bold move should the coach stand still. Kerr understandably has a strong loyalty to Thompson, a player who helped Kerr get rings and make millions, and is responsible for one day inducting Kerr into the Basketball Hall of Fame. As just reward for battling two serious leg injuries coupled with Championship experience, Thompson has an argument for being involved in such a scenario should Game 3 call for it.
Kerr said Thompson was “pushing a little bit” and “wanted to do so very well that he took some bad (shots)”.
That said, if Poole and Thompson went in opposite directions, wouldn’t team loyalty trump everything else? Poole has proven he’s not afraid of the bright lights and is ready and able to handle the weight of the fourth quarter.
Kerr admitted that, saying, “He’s never scared. He’s never afraid. I think the greatest thing about Jordan is that he just has great confidence and belief in himself.”
Speaking of weight, as for Thompson, who’s 10-to-33 this series, his teammates, no surprise, are throwing theirs behind. Especially his colleague Splash Brother.
“There’s so much confidence that he can go anytime,” Curry said. “The story with him has shown that there is no predictor. He can just take it to another level. Regular season, playoffs, he’s only ever found a way to get going. Especially in the playoffs just to make a loud impact. It’s usually very noisy.”
The Celtics don’t fall for what they saw from Thompson either. Brown said: “wewill continue to make it difficult for him. This player can start it at any time. We are aware of this. We’re trying to prepare for that not to happen.”
4. Celtics need a heaping helping of home remedies
The Celtics have collected all the flowers for being such an intrepid road team this postseason. They are 8-3, winners of two elimination games. But perhaps this effort arose out of necessity because their domestic stability is nothing special.
They’ve gone down twice each in the last two rounds against Bucks and Heat at TD Garden, and other home games have been hard-fought wins. On the one hand, if the Celtics win their three home games in this series, they will become champions. But what are the odds, given what we’ve seen of them?
The Finals have an opportunity to level the playing field, so to speak. In this phase of the game, where there are two elite teams, the home game is not the big advantage like in the previous rounds. In 2019, the last time the Warriors made it to the finals, the home team won once. Also, the Warriors lost championships twice on their floor, 19 to the Raptors (obviously sans Kevin Durant and Thompson getting injured) and in 2016 to the Cavaliers. Also, the Suns couldn’t maintain their advantage last year, losing to the Bucks.
The last final game at the Garden took place in June 2010. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett put the Celtics 3-2 up with a strong finish and won. And they needed every ounce of that energy because of the force of nature emanating from the Lakers: Kobe Bryant scored 38 points. The players have changed, but the setting remains the same. Having since been closed to business in June, the garden awaits the chance to regain that winning feeling and restore the glory of the finale.
“There is a lot of history in this building, in this city. Should be an amazing vibe,” Curry said. “Everything is possible.”
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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can email him here, his archive can be found here and keep following him Twitter.
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