2022 NBA Finals Game 1 Observations

 For each game during the Finals, I will take notes of random things I observed or thought throughout the game and will post it either the day of or day after each game.  These are my notes regarding Game 1, which the Celtics won 120-108 after a massive run late.


Quarter 1

·         Interesting how both teams seem to be willing to have wings or guard target mismatches against bigger guy.  The issue with this is that I don’t like either team targeting Robert Williams or Kevon Looney; both are good at defending the wing.

·         Already the Warriors are exploiting Boston’s weaknesses in transition.  That was one thing I expected them to play at a faster pace initially and their offense has looked good so far.

·         There are points where it has looked a tiny bit sloppier than I expected.  I’m not surprised the Celtics have some miscues early but even Steph Curry missed his first free throw attempt

·         I’m going insane about the fact that the Celtics keep allowing Curry to be open.  He moves a lot which can be difficult to keep up with but still, he’s too good to be open

·         It looks like Andre Iguodala isn’t seriously hurt on the play while guarding Jayson Tatum.  That’s good because I don’t like players being injured, but I’m also glad because I expect Steve Kerr will try to say Tatum made a dirty play when it was a normal basketball play (sound familiar with Marcus Smart?)

Quarter 2

·         The Celtics are allowing too many offensive rebounds.  They cannot allow that to happen.  Daniel Theis was on the wrong end of the rim boxing out nobody and looked surprised when an open Draymond Green got the rebound.  Why is he out there?

·         Wow, the Celtics are lucky Derrick White has been good offensively.  Aggressive White really is crucial for them to do anything offensively

·         I used to find it a bit arrogant and haughty when people said they couldn’t listen to the broadcasters on games, but I have recently started to agree; I feel like playoff basketball is using the broadcasters to target people who haven’t heard of the sport, but it makes me feel like they’d rather dumb down the people who have knowledge about the sport

·         It’s crazy that the Warriors have gotten good looks without doing too much advanced work.  Like they literally have either played fast or used off-ball screens to get several open looks

·         I like the adjustments the Celtics have made in forcing turnovers.  That’s a weakness for the Warriors offensively

·         There have been a few plays where they’ve played Klay Thompson differently off the screen; rather than switching, there have been a few off-ball screens where he was passed the ball where they played through it.  On one in particular I liked, Tatum stayed close to the screener and took the quickest legal route to contest the shot

·         I don’t blame Curry for being mad about the offensive foul there.  He pushed him but Smart sold it in a major way

Quarter 3

·         Robert Williams has to move up on Curry when a screen is set.  He allowed an open shot for Curry because he opted to drop back, which you cannot allow

·         The Celtics have already allowed multiple offensive rebounds and attempts less than 4 minutes into the quarter.  They cannot do this because they will lose

·         A couple minutes after I wrote the note about Williams dropping, he played up on a screen and blocked Curry’s shot.  That was an amazing adjustment by him

·         Curry has been playing so well against the Celtics defense so far.  I’d honestly rather have Celtics players help on him and let somebody else beat him, but they’re not doing that as much

·         The Celtics haven’t had a lot of good looks this quarter.  Tatum can’t hit anything and when that happens Jaylen Brown often tries to overcompensate, though he’s also struggling

·         The Celtics really needed that Tatum floater.  It’s interesting because I thought they had nice offense on their prior shots too, but that one was really smooth

·         This is a tough run for the Celtics, they’re getting some really good looks but haven’t made many of them.  They need to play more aggressive defense since they’re allowing multiple open looks

·         Well this quarter is turning into a mess.  Golden State has been smart on both ends and making really smart plays, especially on offense, while the Celtics have been sloppy offensively and lazy defensively

·         Jaylen Brown really needs to pass it more.  He’s taking so many difficult shots that are unnecessary

·         Andre Iguodala making a contested 3 means that everything is going right for Golden State

Quarter 4

·         Tatum just missed a wide open 3 and a player on the bench (I couldn’t tell who it was) first looked annoyed then looked distraught and then sad.  This guy is so relatable

·         The Warriors have been playing so well offensively that I was startled when they had a sloppy turnover

·         Jaylen Brown seems to be passing the ball a bit more this quarter, which is something I think will help his game as they can’t afford double teaming him with the knowledge that he’d shoot

·         I have the volume on for the broadcast again and if I hear another story about Jaylen Brown playing college basketball nearby at Cal…this will be a tough one

·         Jaylen Brown has the loosest dribble I’ve ever seen a superstar have yet I’m not at all worried when he has the ball halfway through this quarter

·         I think a good chunk of casual fans are trying to figure out who Kevon Looney is.  He has been largely a non-factor offensively but he has been so good defensively for them.  He guarded Luka Doncic well last round and I think they’re using a similar formula against Jayson Tatum

·         Geez, Derrick White has been so good this game!  I was giggling in shock after he made the contested 3 with the shot clock winding down

·         Interesting for Boston to go with the full court press out of the timeout, but Golden State has looked a bit flustered and proceeded to turn it over

·         Curry has had a few consecutive shots that were short this quarter; I wonder if he’s starting to get a bit tired

·         Draymond Green got fouled on the play, but I love the way they handled Derrick White losing his man after the push-off with the immediate switch after the offense crashed the rim

·         This has been a game of some of the weirdest runs.  With 1:20 left the Celtics are still on a 17-0 run.  What a strange game

·         The Celtics have looked so good this quarter on both ends.  They really haven’t allowed many good looks and it seems to have gotten into the Warriors head.  It also helps that they were making in almost all their shots

·         Al Horford has 26 points?  I knew he was playing incredible offense and shooting well but I didn’t expect that.

·         I felt confident saying Golden State would win Game 1 because I expected how they played in the 3rd quarter to remain consistent throughout.  I also expected the Celtics offense would continue to struggle as Tatum did, but Jaylen Brown was awesome in the 4th quarter and a trio of Al Horford/Derrick White/Marcus Smart shot very well today, especially in the 4th.  I can’t say I would have predicted that.

 

What did you think of Game 1?  Were you as surprised as I was?  Let me know in the comments!


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