June 14, 2022 at 12:05 PM EDT Show
Draymond Green’s fingerprints are all over Warriors’ Game 5 winSAN FRANCISCO — Jayson Tatum picked up his dribble as the whistle blew for the timeout. Down 12 with 4:40 left, the Celtics’ dwindling chances likely hinged on a late spurt from their star. So two of the Warriors’ ball hawks, as Tatum held onto the ball, were determined to prevent him from getting up a practice shot. This was a version of a player taking a shot during a dead ball and an opponent swatting it out of the air. Can’t let shooters see the ball go in. Can’t let scorers steal confidence between whistles. So Gary Payton II stayed glued to Tatum, lest he tried to sneak some rhythm. Draymond Green came over to double-team. Play had stopped. The Celtics were headed to the bench for their timeout. But the Warriors’ ball pressure didn’t let. A defiant Tatum, unwilling to show signs of surrender, responded by keeping the rock and taking it to the bench with him. So Draymond followed Tatum all the way to the Boston bench, backpedaling into a hedge of green like the Homer Simpson GIF. The Warriors star didn’t care that he was surrounded by the entire Celtics roster. He was following the ball. He was being a nuisance. He was sending a message. He was doing what Draymond does. (Photo: Kyle Terada / USA Today) Senior Columnist, Bay Area GO FURTHER Draymond Green’s fingerprints are all over Warriors’ Game 5 win June 14, 2022 at 11:29 AM EDT Warriors step up in Steph Curry down gameSAN FRANCISCO — When it comes to basketball body language, Steph Curry has always been pretty easy to read. You get the moments like early in his Game 4 masterpiece in Boston, when he flexed as if he were on the cover of Men’s Health after a first-quarter 3-pointer and shouted at the Celtics fans who had been dropping f-bombs on his most beloved teammates. Translation: “Here I come…” But then there are the times like late in the fourth quarter of Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night at Chase Center, when Curry misfired on a 3-pointer for the ninth time in nine tries, but Gary Payton II corralled the ball for a putback layup and a 16-point Warriors lead with 1:19 to go. Curry, his arms spread wide in exasperation and his head angled toward the sky as if he were some poor sap who was stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire, turned back toward Payton and gave him a hearty hug. Translation: “Strength in Numbers is a beautiful thing.” Or something like that. (Photo: Kyle Terada / USA Today) GO FURTHER Warriors step up in Steph Curry down game, now stand on brink of another title June 14, 2022 at 10:58 AM EDT Andrew Wiggins is finding his best self exactly when the Warriors need it mostAll Andrew Wiggins ever needed, we now know, was more pressure, not less. The biggest spotlight against the toughest opponent, not the murky sidelines against nobody-cares-who. All he really needed was multiple future Hall of Fame teammates leaning heavily, happily and broadly on his shoulders. Every other supposition about his often-criticized career? Wrong. Overstated. Hastily concluded on a twitchy Timberwolves sample size. Far, far too much of an underestimation of Wiggins’ heart and his burning desire to win. All he wanted and needed was the chance to play with the Warriors, get into the playoffs, win several rounds and then match up with the Celtics, who have two of the best two-way wings in the NBA and consistently wallop any opponent lacking in any way at that position. (Photo: Jed Jacobsohn / Pool Photo / USA Today) Senior Columnist & EIC, Bay Area GO FURTHER Andrew Wiggins is finding his best self exactly when the Warriors need it most June 14, 2022 at 9:38 AM EDT Warriors’ stingy defense has delivered them to the doorstep of an NBA titleThe last Warriors title team had five usable centers with varying skill sets, Kevin Durant during his best rim-protecting season, younger versions of Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, pre-injury Klay Thompson and a 6-foot-7 backup point, Shaun Livingston, who could guard wings. You could construct every type of lineup combination imaginable to deploy any defensive scheme. The current Warriors don’t have that luxury. No healthy player on the roster is above 6-foot-9. Their only true center, Kevon Looney, isn’t a leaper. Their wing depth has lessened. They have three recent lottery picks they don’t yet fully trust in the highest-leverage playoff situations. Their best small-ball group includes Jordan Poole, an explosive young scorer who has had a target painted on his back defensively this past month. So more creativity and regular attention to detail have been needed for the Warriors to cultivate and maintain a championship-level unit on the defensive end. But they’ve done it. (Photo: Cary Edmondson / USA Today) GO FURTHER Warriors’ stingy defense has delivered them to the doorstep of an NBA title June 14, 2022 at 9:07 AM EDT NBA Finals MVP watch through Game 5
GO FURTHER NBA Finals: Warriors-Celtics Game 5 key stat, key moment, MVP watch June 14, 2022 at 8:47 AM EDT Celtics’ fourth-quarter offense burns outSAN FRANCISCO — Draymond Green and Gary Payton II wanted Jayson Tatum to feel them everywhere he went. So when Celtics coach Ime Udoka called a timeout with under five minutes remaining in the game and Tatum wanted to go take a layup just to see the ball go through the net, they absolutely refused. As Tatum tried to walk past them with ball in hand, the broadcast preparing to head to commercial break, the Warriors defense continued to double-team him all the way down the baseline and to the bench. He sat there holding that ball, in disbelief that everything he figured out all evening would eventually be taken away by a defense that has figured him out all series. “They didn’t want me to shoot the ball, so I said f— it,” Tatum said. “I just took the ball with me to the timeout and I kept the ball the whole time. They didn’t say nothing. They just didn’t want me to shoot the ball.” (Photo: Kyle Terada / USA Today) GO FURTHER Celtics’ fourth-quarter offense burns out, pushing Boston to brink of elimination June 14, 2022 at 8:33 AM EDT Warriors-Celtics Game 5 key stat, key momentWhat was the difference in this game? Once again, the Celtics fell apart in the fourth quarter, and the Warriors clamped down. Games 1 and 3 saw the Celtics outscore the Warriors a combined 63-27 in those two fourth quarters. They’ve stumbled down the stretch of the other games when they had a chance to make a run, and the fourth quarter went 29-20 in the Warriors’ favor. The Celtics fought so well in the third quarter to reverse their fortunes from previous third quarters in this series. But the Warriors jumped all over them to start the fourth and then clamped down in the middle of the quarter to keep themselves in the driver’s seat. Andrew Wiggins made five baskets in the fourth. The Celtics, as a team, made four. (Photo: Kyle Terada / USA Today) GO FURTHER NBA Finals: Warriors-Celtics Game 5 key stat, key moment, MVP watch June 14, 2022 at 8:18 AM EDT Celtics lost Game 5 and their cool vs. the Warriors. Don’t blame fatigueThe Celtics played an inspired, gritty second half of this 2021-22 season, which is why they went into the postseason as a third-rail team nobody wanted to touch. Considering they are in the NBA Finals, those fears have been justified. If you had them as the smart pick to make it out of the Eastern Conference, congrats. But something went horribly wrong for the Celtics on Monday night at San Francisco’s Chase Center, and it’s not just that they were 104-94 losers to the Golden State Warriors in this getting-testier-by-the-moment series. The Celtics lost the game, sure, but they also lost their cool. They lost their way. They lost their mojo. And to hear Celtics coach Ime Udoka talk, they may also have lost out on some sleep during that “long-ass flight” (as Jayson Tatum referred to it) from Boston to San Francisco the other day. (Photo: Kyle Terada / USA Today) GO FURTHER Celtics lost Game 5 and their cool vs. the Warriors. Don’t blame fatigue: Buckley June 14, 2022 at 8:00 AM EDT A Warriors win in Game 6 would accomplish a rare featOnly one visiting team has clinched a championship in Boston: the 1985 Lakers. The Lakers that year won Game 5 at home to go up 3-2 then closed it out at the Boston Garden. A big third quarter took control of the game. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 29. James Worthy had 28. Magic Johnson had 14-10-14. The Celtics got a combined 60 from Kevin McHale (32) and Larry Bird (28). But the Celtics didn't get much from the rest. Boston rode its starters most of the game. Bird played 47 minutes, Danny Ainge and Dennis Johnson played 43, McHale 42 and Robert Parrish 39. Feels like history could repeat itself in this series. Senior Columnist, Bay Area June 14, 2022 at 1:05 AM EDT Your move, UdokaIme Udoka was steadfast the first four games to not, essentially, jumpstart the Warriors offense by taking away Steph Curry. But after Curry went off in Game 4, he almost didn't have a choice. The Warriors played like they knew it was coming, going motion offense from the outset. Curry never got a rhythm but Udoka’s concern was realized. The punches were coming from everywhere from the Warriors. Wiggins. Thompson. Draymond. Poole. Payton II. So what does Udoka do in Boston? Senior Columnist, Bay Area June 14, 2022 at 12:51 AM EDT Klay's excited for the trip to BostonSenior Columnist, Bay Area
June 14, 2022 at 12:12 AM EDT Draymond on Steph's shooting slump
June 14, 2022 at 12:02 AM EDT Horford on Game 6: 'There's no tomorrow'
June 13, 2022 at 11:58 PM EDT Udoka weighs in on Tatum, BrownIme Udoka said Tatum and Brown may have lost some steam and their decision making and fatigue from playing the whole second half could be a part of why their offense burned out. June 13, 2022 at 11:45 PM EDT Steph shows Jay-Z, Blue some love postgameWhen Jay-Z and Blue show up, it's only right to show some love. Even if you're Steph Curry. June 13, 2022 at 11:40 PM EDT Turnovers are the name of the gameSteph Curry didn’t have a 3 for the first time in a playoff game, and that is obviously notable. He’s the greatest shooter ever. However, he had eight assists and just a single turnover. Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson had 17 assists and just four turnovers. Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown had 10 assists and 13 turnovers. You’ve got to wildly outshoot your opponents to overcome that sort of turnover gap, and the Celtics, despite their hot stretch, just didn’t. June 13, 2022 at 11:38 PM EDT Warriors take Game 5, 104-94Udoka waves the white flag sending in the back of the bench and this game is done. The Celtics will lose twice in a row for the first time this postseason. Warriors heading back to Boston with a chance to win their fourth title in the last decade on the road. Golden State takes Game 5, 104-94. June 13, 2022 at 11:35 PM EDT Hell of a night for WigginsAndrew Wiggins' night is complete: 26 points, 13 rebounds. Went 12-of-17 on 2s. Capped the win with a drive and dunk. Played 43 minutes of hounding perimeter defense. Two steals and a block. Has earned every dollar of his max deal in these playoffs. June 13, 2022 at 11:33 PM EDT Assists all aroundDespite shooting 7-of-22 from the field for 16 points, Steph Curry has a game-high eight assists. Draymond Green is right behind Curry with seven of his own. Curry moves into 10th all-time for assists in the Finals, as Green passed Michael Jordan for the seventh spot earlier in the game. June 13, 2022 at 11:30 PM EDT Again, I have to askIf the Warriors win this game, and ultimately this series, and Andrew Wiggins is the most consistent two-way player in the series, shouldn’t he be named MV (gets run over by the Mystery Machine, with Scooby Doo driving)? |