Although the Golden State Warriors have the experience that only comes with multiple trips to the NBA Finals, some in the media thought the young upstart Celtics squad was the better, more talented team, including one of the men calling the Finals, Jeff Van Gundy.
During an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show on Tuesday, Van Gundy retracted his stance after having front-row seats during Game 5. The former Knicks coach gave a lot of credit to the Warriors for beating Boston despite Steph Curry having a poor shooting night.
"I think for the Warriors to win a game where Curry shot the ball so poorly and to win and win easily down the stretch, is remarkable," Van Gundy told Eisen. "I think the last two wins by the Warriors, with their roster composition, it has been remarkable [of a run] as I remember. I'm so impressed with how they've played and how they figured out ways to win really hard-fought games. I thought Boston was the better, more talented team from the start and right now I look very wrong."
The ESPN analyst says the officiating has certainly been an issue during these Finals but says the constant chirping by the Celtics at the zebras may not be helping their cause.
"I think what they have to do is really ask themselves, does our constant complaining, discussing, however you want to term it, does it give ourselves our best chance to play our best game. Some guys can play very well running their mouths at the officials, other guys can be distracted very easily. I think it's incumbent on the Celtics to really look at how their behavior is impacting their performance."
Whether it is the refs getting in their heads or just the magnitude of the moment, Boston has been giving away the ball like it's on fire. Monday night, Boston coughed up 18 turnovers, accounting for 22 points on the other end for Golden State.
In a low-scoring game that was only decided by 10 points, those turnovers could've meant the difference between being up 3-2 heading back home, or being down in the series and having to fight for your life in Game 6.
To really hammer home how turnovers have not just affected Boston in the Finals but how it's affected them during the entire playoffs. When they turn the ball over 16+ times a game, the Celtics are 1-7, when they're under that number, they're 13-2.
With a potential series-deciding Game 6 back at TD Garden, the game plan for Ime Udoka should be holding on to the rock and limiting turnovers.
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