2022 NBA Finals: Game 2 Sheds Light On Boston’s Consistency Issues
Perhaps one of the most shocking victories in an NBA Finals game came this past Thursday, as the Boston Celtics went on the road for Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals and they beat the Golden State Warriors 120-108 after trailing by as many as 15 points in the second-half.
Outscoring the Warriors 40-16 in the fourth quarter, Boston’s display of shooting from the perimeter was flawless and as a result, they put a lot of pressure on Golden State by taking an early 1-0 lead in this series.
Game 2 of this series was played on Sunday night and while the Celtics faced a similar situation in terms of being down double-digits in the second-half, they were not able to sprout a comeback this time around.
The Warriors defeated the Celtics 107-88 in Game 2 on Sunday to even up this series at 1-1, but losing was not the problem for Boston in this one, it was their lack of consistency compared to their success in Game 1.
After Al Horford, Derrick White, Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III combined for 73 points and 15 made threes in Game 1, these four only combined for 18 points in Game 2, making a total of just two three-pointers courtesy of White.
In terms of shooting, Williams is not a perimeter threat offensively, but his production in the paint is just as important as a three-pointer either Smart or White can knock down.
This loss on Sunday night is very concerning for the Celtics simply because the Warriors beat them by letting Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown do whatever they wanted.
Tatum and Brown combined for 26 of the Celtics' 30 first quarter points and these two All-Stars had a combined 36 of the Celtics' 50 first-half points. In the second-half, nothing seemed to work for Boston and their secondary talents were completely dormant.
Scoring just 88 points, the Celtics offense struggled all night long and this was not a good game for them, but consistency on the offensive-end of the floor has been a slight problem for Boston dating back to before they began to turn things around midseason.
When they started out the year 25-25, the key question surrounding Boston was:
“Where will they get production from outside of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown?”
This is a much different team both personnel-wise and mentally since then, but this same principle is being brought up now in regards to the Celtics being tied at 1-1 with the Warriors in the NBA Finals.
Al Horford and Derrick White both had career nights in Game 1 of this series, nights that likely will not be replicated, Robert Williams’ knee is definitely not 100% and Marcus Smart was completely taken out of the picture in Game 2 by the Warriors.
Not only are the Celtics going to have to be aggressive moving forward in this series, but they will really need to find ways to get those around Tatum and Brown involved more offensively because the Celtics’ two All-Stars cannot carry them in this series alone.
Turning the ball over 18 times in Game 2 and not having a flow to their offense like they did in the fourth quarter of Game 1, the key for the Celtics heading home will be to value the basketball.
“We do got to take better care of the ball. They got a lot of points off that, off our turnovers,” Tatum said after Game 2. “That's something we've got to be better for next game because we know throughout the Playoffs, the games that we have high turnovers, we kind of result to a loss. That's definitely a point of emphasis, taking care of the ball for next game.”
Almost all of the Celtics players and even head coach Ime Udoka pointed out the turnovers being the main problem in Game 2 and they even cited some frustrations with the way the game was being officiated, but the fact of consistency and getting production from their secondary talent was not really brought up.
In the back of the minds of the Celtics, this has to be something looming large over their heads because the Warriors’ won not only the game, but they found out how to guard Boston.
What kind of adjustments Boston makes heading into Game 3 will not only be key in terms of them winning this game and staying alive in this series. Should the Warriors win and go up 2-1, all of the pressure will be on the Celtics in Game 4 to avoid going down 3-1 heading back to San Francisco in what would be a close-out game scenario.
Defense will play a huge part in Boston retaking momentum in this series, however, their offense must reawaken and find success moving the basketball without turning it over.
Al Horford, Robert Williams III, Derrick White and Marcus Smart are going to have to combine for at least 40 points in every single game the rest of the way in order for the Celtics to have a chance in this series, especially if Klay Thompson finds his shot and gets going for Golden State.
Related stories on 2022 NBA Finals
- Complete 2022 NBA Playoffs Results and Schedule: Fastbreak on FanNation updates the results and schedule for every 2022 NBA Playoff game. CLICK HERE.
- 3 Things We Learned From Celtics-Warriors NBA Finals Game 2 On Sunday: The Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics 107-88 in Game 2 of the 2022 NBA Finals on Sunday to even this series up at 1-1 heading to Boston for the next two games. CLICK HERE.
- Here's What Jayson Tatum Said After The Celtics Lost Game 2 On Sunday: Jayson Tatum met with the media after the Boston Celtics lost Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night in California. CLICK HERE.
