Getty Draymond Green, Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics have already come up to San Francisco and taken back home court after stifling the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the fourth quarter—holding them to 16 points while catching fire from behind the arc and pouring in 40 points.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t the Jayson Tatum show during the 40-point outburst. Tatum finished 3-for-17 from the field but chipped in with 13 assists thanks to his teammates. Boston shot 9-of-12 from three in the fourth quarter, with two apiece from Al Horford, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and Derrick White.
“They hit 21 threes, and Marcus Smart and Al Horford and Derrick White combined for 15 of them, Draymond Green says after Game 1. “The guys are good shooters, but they combined for, what, 15 out of 8. Smart, 7, 8, 15-for-23. My math right? 8, 7, and 8. Yeah, that’s 23, right. Yeah, 15-for-23 from those guys, eh, you know, so, we’ll be fine.”
All these role players going off at the same time is an anomaly, but seeing Tatum shoot that poorly is also something that probably will not be common. The fact Boston still managed to win the game even with their star player shooting so poorly is at least some cause for concern.
Boston Role Players Are Still Confident Despite Green Comments
After practice on June 4, some reporters asked some of the Celtics’ players for a response to Green’s remarks. At least publicly, they did not seem to care too much.
“Hopefully we do the same thing tomorrow, you know what I’m saying,” Robert Williams said. “It’s always a hard-fought game when we play these guys. We have to stay together for 48 minutes, and know that they are going to go on runs and we are going to go on runs, and just have to withstand them.”
Williams had four blocks and was a nuisance around the rim against the Warriors. The big man’s ability to switch and guard smaller wings has created problems for Dubs players not named Curry throughout Game 1.
“I mean, we knew what their game plan was going in, so it’s just up to us to make shots. I mean, it is what it is,” White said in response to Green’s comments. “He said what he said. Just going into Game 2, just have the right mindset and whatever it takes to help us win games.”
White has been on a tear the last three playoff games, dropping 11-for-18 from the perimeter. He has been known as a streaky shooter, so the Dubs will hope White cools off.
“I’m not really listening to all that,” Payton Pritchard told the media on June 4. “I don’t think any of us are. We’re all NBA players at the end of the day, so we’re all capable of getting hot and making shots. I’ve seen those guys, D-White and Al, put in the work, so I know what they’re capable of.”
The second-year guard has been known to knock down timely threes during his brief NBA career. With Prichard shooting 41.2% for his career, the Dubs will be wise to make adjustments and avoid leaving guys like him open from three too often.
Warriors’ Steve Kerr Doesn’t Think Green’s Comments Were in Bad Taste
Kerr spoke about Green’s comments and dispelled the notion that Green was being disrespectful for what he said.
“I don’t think anything was said with any sort of disrespect or whatever. It’s nothing like that,” Kerr said after practice. “We know how good Boston is, and we have great respect for the way they played.
Hopefully, the Warriors can bounce back and back up what Green said after the first game—stymie the role players from going off and tying this series at 1-1.