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Tim BontempsESPN
SAN FRANCISCO — There were so many things that happened in the Boston CelticsIn Game 5, the NBA Finals,’Favored by’
Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry The first time he made a 3 in a postseason match, he didn’t succeed. After struggling all series with his shot, Jayson Tatum We had a great shooting night.
The Celtics were able to win the game, and not only did they avoid being beaten by the Warriors in the final quarter, but also outplayed Golden State during that frame.
After all that, the Celtics felt a sense of regret as Boston scored five points in the first eight minutes and Golden State pulled away for the win. 104-94 victoryThis gives the Warriors a chance at closing out the series Thursday night at TD Garden.
“Obviously, we are a bit discouraged after such a strong third to come out of the fourth and not execute as we needed to.” Al Horford said. “We felt that we had opportunities and we started to play like we were earlier in the game. This is definitely, you know.
“Our backs face the wall. This is the moment when we can look at each other and figure it out. This is our chance. We have to work it out. We have no tomorrow.”
Despite how badly the Celtics started the game, it looked like Boston might still have hope for a brighter tomorrow. The Warriors exploded out of the gate like a firework, causing the Chase Center to erupt in rapturous applause. But the Celtics spent the first few minutes of the game moving around like it were a regular-season match in February and not Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
Turnovers, the most egregious stat in Boston’s postseason, were once more evident. The Celtics committed 18 turnovers in Game 5. This is continuing a trend that has seen them go 14-2 when they have 15 or fewer turnovers and now 0-7 when there are 16.
Many of them were played in the Celtics’ trademark style, Boston hurling the ball around carelessly, but it was also a result of Golden State speeding up the Celtics into the rhythm Boston is so good at maintaining.
“Credit them!” Jaylen Brown said. They are a very good defensive team. Sound and disciplined. They force us to do things we’re not good at. We have to remember the game, be able to see it and adjust in-game. You must take care of the ball.
“Another game that has too many turnovers. It cost us.”
Tatum and Brown were also outplayed by Warrior in another game. Brown had 18 points, nine assists, nine rebounds, and four assists, but was only 5-for-18 from the field. He was also 0-for-5 in 3-point range. Tatum shot the ball well and was 10-for-20 from the field. He was also 5-for-9 from 3-point range. However, Tatum had four turnovers in the fourth quarter and went 1-for-5. It looked like Tatum may have been tired after playing for over 44 minutes.
“We rode the them a bit longer,” Ime Udoka, Celtics coach said after being asked about Boston’s fourth-quarter loss. “Fatigue could have played a role in that, whether it was physical or decision-making, and turnovers there. The hot hands were what got us back into the game.
After the disastrous first quarter, which saw Boston trailing Boston by only 12, the Celtics were likely to lose by twice as much. The Celtics then turned their script around and scored the first 10 point of the second period. Golden State was completely outplayed in the third quarter.
Golden State scored eight in the last 80 seconds of the quarter to regain the lead heading into the forth. Boston was then outscored 18-5 within the first eight minute of the fourth quarter, putting the game out of reach and pushing the Celtics to their limits.
Although Golden State is again to be credited with the Celtics’ demise, this was just the latest reminder of how crazy this Boston team swings backwards and forwards. After missing their 12 first 3-pointers, the Celtics scored eight straight, creating one clean look after the other. As they tore apart the Warriors’ third quarter, they executed their game plan repeatedly and clearly.
The fourth quarter began, and everything fell apart.
Udoka indicated that they have increased their physicality. They’re switching a lot more. As you can see, if we don’t let ourselves get stuck, we need to go one against everyone.
“Like I said before, you just need to have carryover from one game to the next. Not just quarter to quarter, but every quarter. It’s a 35-point quarter in which we move the ball, get into the lane and penetrating, kick, and get the wide-open shots that we want. We must carry that into the fourth. The fourth quarter was quite different from the third. We had 14 players, and then the young men came in late.
Boston is still confident that it can get out of this hole, even after all of this. Why? Boston has been in the same position multiple times in this postseason.
“I’ve heard it before: You should be confident, right?” Tatum asked. Tatum responded, “We can’t win two games in one night. We only need to win one game Thursday.
“We’ve been there before. But it is not over. We must win Thursday. This is all that we have to worry about for now.
The defending champions lost 3-2 to the Celtics Milwaukee Bucks In the Eastern Conference semifinals. Tatum scoring 46 points in Milwaukee in game 6. After that, Tatum went on the road and won Game 6. Finally, Tatum returned home and won Game 7.
Boston went on the road to win Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals against The. Miami HeatThe game was won by the Celtics, even though they had to overcome a near-historical collapse in the last minutes of the fourth quarter.
Now the Celtics must dig a new hole in order to hang Banner 18 in TD Garden rafters.
Brown responded, “I don’t have any choice,” when Brown was asked about why he was more optimistic than ever about his team’s chances to win the NBA title. “We don’t need to choose. At this point it is win or go home. To get to this point, we worked hard throughout the season. I feel that we still have so much better basketball than we played in the two previous games.
“I hope that we will play Celtic basketball in the next two games and show our best, as I know we can. I know that the city will be behind us. It will be a huge Game 6. It’s a great game.