Boston, MA – This year’s NBA Finals has been a great breath of fresh air.
The main reason for that is because, we have no idea who is going to win this series. The tide has changed through 4 games so far and not sure if that’s going to change going forward.
The Warriors not named Steph Curry haven’t looked their best and Klay Thompson even said that they need to give Steph more help going forward. Steph has been fantastic and is certainly on his way to a Finals MVP should the Warriors win this series. The others though? They have been inconsistent. Draymond has been virtually a no show, Klay’s first 2 games were bad and he’s came along the last 2, Jordan Poole has made an appearance but it’s nothing like previous series, and Andrew Wiggins has probably been their 2nd best player but it just isn’t enough.
It has seemed like for the Warriors to win, Steph has to be super human. If he can do that then great but if he can’t it’ll be looked at as one of the more wasted great Finals performances.
For the Celtics, they have seemed like the more talented team yet they too have been a little inconsistent and haven’t played the smartest basketball. That could be due to their youth but that hasn’t really mattered much to them.
Jayson Tatum hasn’t been able to find his shot consistently but he’s still found a way to be very effective with his defense and playmaking while Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart have stepped up and so has Robert Williams defensively. Yet, they can’t seem to put it all together for a full game except for game 3. They have been able to take every Golden State punch and haven’t really just given a game away. However, their inconsistency at times and bad 3rd quarters have allowed the Warriors to take 2 games.
So what’s going to happen going forward?
I picked the Warriors to win in 6 and I could see that happening but it seems like the series is headed for 7 games. It doesn’t seem like either team has been able to really figure out the other.
Golden State has taken the momentum in this series and the Celtics haven’t been able to figure out Steph yet so that probably gives them a slight edge. Having the best player in a series can take you a long way. Especially when he’s been on this stage before. They’re returning to San Francisco with a hot Steph, a Klay that has seemed to find his rhythm a little, and a Jordan Poole that has more confidence. That’s a dangerous mix.
The Celtics will need to try and find a way to play the same way they did in game 3. That was one of their best games of the season. Especially defensively. They will also need Tatum to try and step it up in the scoring department a little bit. He’s their star and he will have to be the star if they want to win their 18th championship.
In my opinion, the Warriors are likely going to return to The Bay and win game 5 and the Celtics win in game 6 with a game 7 for everything on the Warriors home floor.
Now who do I see winning it all?
My head and heart says the Warriors. It seems like the tide will go fully their way. The Celtics have played much better basketball while the Warriors have been relatively bad and it’s still a tied series. Going back home with a tied series is crucial for them. As we all know, role players play better at home and for guys like Draymond, Poole, Wiggins, Looney, etc one or more are probably due for a good game. That could be game 5.
It seems like the Warriors guys have gained a little more confidence after game 4 also. Plus, the Celtics not being able to slow down Steph is going to be a huge problem going forward. Especially if Tatum can’t be the star he needs to be for Boston.
As stated above, I do expect the Celtics to figure out a way to win game 6 in Boston because they’ll be able to feed off of the crowd that has brought an insane amount of energy in the Finals but having a game 7 at home plus having the best player in the series is going to be too much for the Celtics to overcome.
Now, all of this could be wrong and the Warriors could completely fold, but one thing is for sure, the remaining games will be good and we really don’t know who is going to win which is a really good thing for the NBA.