Steph Curry put on a masterclass tonight, dropping 43 points and hitting 7 threes. He carried the Warriors to victory tonight in a somewhat must-win situation. Curry hit timely buckets one after another with his back against the wall. He looked like he never got injured in game 3 at all. This was his best Finals Performance so far. Being down 3 – 1 in the finals is almost impossible to come back from. Only one team came back in the finals, being down 3 -1: the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in 2016. If y’all know, y’all know that was against the Warriors as well. The rest of the Warriors were not so good except for Klay Thompson, who hit some big shots, and Andrew Wiggins, who also hit big shots and did a great job on defense. The Celtics are still doing drop coverage. At this point, I don’t know why they are doing it and why they won’t go up on Curry. The bigs that set the screen, like Draymond Green and Kevon Looney, will go to the paint to open up space for Curry. Why are the Celtics still dropping to the paint knowing that Curry is the greatest three-point shooter this game has ever seen, and he is automatic from three. The Celtics have to be up on him to have a chance to stop him. They have to get him tough looks rather than open looks.
Ime Udoka has to make adjustments for the Celtics to win this series. Steve Kerr made adjustments tonight by going with a small ball starting lineup and subbing out Green when he wasn’t effective the whole game. Draymond Green was pathetic again, so Steve Kerr subbed him out of the game in the 4th quarter. It was confusing to me at first why the Warriors went small. They were getting killed on the glass and the interior whenever Robert Williams played in the past few games. Kerr finally decided to give Looney more minutes, and it paid off. He stepped up in all the minutes he got. He hit some key buckets and grabbed vital offensive rebounds, which led to second-chance points. Looney was also good defensively, contesting many shots that the Celtics took. Looney also had the highest +/- for the Warriors as he had +21 the entire game proving he had a significant impact on the court. When Curry was on the bench, Jordan Poole stepped up his game and hit clutch buckets. The Celtics can’t allow Curry to go off for 40 points again if they want to win the finals. Also, Steve Kerr’s decision to keep Curry on the court was crucial as the Celtics didn’t go on their huge run when Curry was on the bench. If the Warriors had lost this game, the Celtics would probably eventually won the series and the championship. However, he did not bench Curry, and the rest is history.
The Warriors took back home court and made this a series. This was a winnable game for the Celtics, but they fumbled it all. Jayson Tatum had another poor shooting night, shooting 8/23 from the field. He also wasn’t effectively getting others open, which was one of the key reasons the Celtics won games 1 & 3, as he had only 6 assists. Wiggins and Thompson should get the credit for guarding Tatum and limiting his impact this game. Jaylen Brown has been the Celtics’ best player this series, and he had an under-par performance tonight, only having 21 points. He came out after the last game and said Green can’t stop him. Brown was ok in game 4 in general. However, Tatum has to be better by passing the ball more often, which led to the Celtics’ victories in games 1 & 3. So far in these finals, we haven’t seen the real Tatum. The All NBA First team player was the key to getting crucial wins in the Celtics’ series against Miami and Milwaukee. He had consistently good games for the Celtics in these playoffs. He starred in the Celtics’ wins against Brooklyn, Milwaukee, and Miami this postseason. He had been averaging 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists on 42 % shooting from the field these entire playoffs before the finals. He needs to play like that for the Celtics’ to lift the NBA Championship. The last 5 minutes for the Celtics was a pain to watch. Everybody was missing and bricking shots. There were crucial turnovers that led to easy Warriors buckets. They completely collapsed and choked under pressure. The Celtics got outscored 17 – 3 during the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter. They shot 1/8 from the field and missed shot after shot. The Celtics need to attack the paint more since the Warriors don’t have a big man outside Looney instead of shooting threes. They never attacked the rim in the last 5 minutes of the game.
If the series continues the way it has been, where each team alternates wins, the outcome will be Celtics in 7, which was my exact prediction for the Finals. The Celtics will win game 5, the Warriors will win game 6, and the Celtics will win game 7. The Celtics, for some reason, are a better road team than home team, so it won’t shock me one bit if the Celtics win games 5 and 7 in San Francisco since they’re 8 – 3 on the road while being only 6 – 5 at home. They also won 3 road games against Miami in the ECF. They tend to play better on the road than at home, which might lead to their victories in games 5 and 7. Also, the Celtics are undefeated after a loss this postseason, being 7 – 0 so far. The Warriors are also undefeated after a loss being 6 – 0. The Warriors might win game 6 since they’ll play under desperation, and Game 6 Klay might show up as always. He always pops off in game 6, which leads to crucial Warriors victories. For example, Klay went off in game 6 in this year’s playoff series against the Grizzlies. He went off against the Raptors in the 2019 Finals before getting injured. He also went off in game 6 against the Rockets in 2018 and Game 6 against the OKC Thunder in 2016. Game 6 Klay is very lethal. I’m excited to see how the series plays out in the next few games.