Warriors fans might have had to rub their eyes at the start of the second quarter in Sunday’s Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Was that Beli on the floor? Yup.
They might have had to rub their eyes again a few minutes later when Jayson Tatum looked overmatched on a couple of possessions. Was that Beli playing defense? Yup.
Nemanja Bjelica has been a maligned member of the Warriors bench mob this season, but he contributed a solid second-quarter spurt Sunday to help Golden State temper a quality Boston Celtics team.
“At some point I was expecting to play like I did against Dallas,” Bjelica told reporters Tuesday. “My job is to stay ready. It's Finals, playoffs. Our rotations are really shorter. So every single night, game, you've got to be ready. At the end of the day that's why I'm here.”
Bjelica, 34, is averaging 11.1 minutes in the 12 games (out of a possible 18) he’s played this postseason. Signed to a veteran minimum deal this past offseason, along with Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter Jr., the 6-foot-9 Bjelica was brought on for his size, shooting and spacing. He was relatively quiet throughout the 2021-22 campaign after a rousing opener when he dropped 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Bjelica’s shooting stroke went cold at times, which isn’t great considering he’s mostly a one-dimensional player. During the regular season, only Juan Toscano-Anderson, Moses Moody and the two-way players logged less minutes than Bjelica.
Was surprised when Bjelica came onto the game but he did have + impact during Game 2 pic.twitter.com/NIv1iW7uiw
— free deuce mcbride, malachi flynn, jt thor (@bucketsdebate1) June 8, 2022
Tatum, the Celtics superstar, tried to expose Beli on a couple of possessions Sunday, but turned the ball over and clanked an awkward runner. Bjelica prevented Tatum from getting to the paint on another possession that resulted in a missed shot, and helped cause Payton Pritchard to miss at point blank range. Bjelica scored two opportunistic buckets in the paint on the other end and also grabbed three rebounds during his five-minute spurt.
Beli eventually seemed to run out of gas and turned the ball over on a bad pass, but he made an impact during his brief time on the floor.
“I think I can help my team on defense, also, like besides the offense,” Bjelica said. “It's just the playoffs are a little bit different, especially the way how we play our defense with Draymond as a group. It's like team basketball, so it's much easier to play with him. When you have a guy like Wiggs (Andrew Wiggins), Klay (Thompson), even Steph (Curry), who show a great way how to defend the first two games, so it's easier for me in the Playoffs.”
Beli also made a small impact with five points, six rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes in the Game 5 clincher against the Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals.
Bjelica got five more minutes of run in the fourth quarter Sunday when the game was in hand. He likely wouldn’t have seen the floor if Iguodala wasn’t a late scratch due to right knee inflammation.
Iguodala – staying true to the brand – provided a cryptic and hilarious health update to reporters Tuesday.
Asked how he was feeling, Iguodala replied, “I’m alive.”
Asked if he’ll be available for Game 3 on Wednesday, Iguodala said, “We’ll see.”
Not to knock on Bjelica, but Iguodala would be a much more trusted option for the Warriors if his body can hold up, considering his defensive abilities and the experience that comes with seven career NBA Finals appearances.
