Well, Golden State wrapped up the title by closing out Boston in Boston. I have just a few brief notes on the series.
-- I thought that the initial series odds of Golden State roughly -160 were a little steep, but I wasn't going to argue much with them, given that the Celtics were coming off back-to-back seven-game series.
-- Celtics coach Ime Udoka summed up Boston's problems really well when, after dropping the fourth game to fall into a series tie, he said that if the Celtics had played proper offense, they would have been up 3-1 at the least.
-- I think two things happened. For four games, Boston was suckered into playing a style of offense like Golden State. Sometimes when the other team does things in what appears to be an easy fashion, you tend to fall into an emulation of them, almost a matching of style and priorities. This, of course, is almost never a good idea. I think that for four games, Boston was seduced and cajoled into a mirror type of game flow and judgement. Then, when the coach bluntly pointed out the mirror issue, I think the Celtics went too far stylistically in the other direction. They did more Hoosier-passing, they passed up quick open shots and quick drives, they looked to attack in the paint off the dribble too much. In other words, they made too much of an emphasis on being the non-Warriors in style and priorities. Frankly, they wasted too much time, they went to post attack with a ball occupier too much, they skewed their priorities too far in a non-Warriors direction.
The irony of losing in Boston due to flow and priority decisions wasn't lost on me. You see, back when Bill Russell led Boston, those Celtic teams were noted (and Russell has emphasized this in biographies) for being able to win games with any style. They could win fast; they could win slow. They could win finesse shoot-'em-ups. They could win physical wars in a slog. They had a huge range of optimal ways to play.
The 2022 Celtics, in contrast, never operated in their optimal style for any significant stretches versus Golden State. Horford's career game won one for them, but they never settled into their best pace or best style. Almost all of their game-flow adjustments were reactions (and over-reactions) to Golden State's dictation.
Bob Dietz
June 21, 2022
