The forthcoming NBA Finals matchup pits two teams that could potentially put together one of the best defensive championship series we've seen in a long time.
Both the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics have made defense a supremely important part of their identities. Marcus Smart won Defensive Player of the Year this season, while Draymond Green routinely is one of the game's best defenders.
Each team has its share of guys who have the potential to pop offensively, but when asked on his podcast for one thing each team can do to win the series, Green's responses were focused on the potential impact Boston's defense could have.
"The Warriors will win the NBA Finals this year if we control our turnovers," Green said (35:40 mark in player above). "This is a very good defense, we have to be crisp with our passing, understand that they have great length, they play passing lanes, they're very aggressive, they're a switching defense. So, it's very important. The Warriors win the Finals if we control our turnovers. ...
"The Celtics will win the NBA Finals if their defense is able to, one, stop Steph Curry. I think that's where everything starts at. If they ultimately are able to disrupt our offense – now, what does disrupt mean? Ultimately, taking you out of the things that you want to do. So if they're able to disrupt our offense, then the Celtics win the NBA Finals."
How Boston plans to attack the Warriors remains to be seen. For the Celtics, their aggressive defense should help exacerbate Golden State's turnover issues if the Warriors don't button that up. If the Warriors do, then their offense can be such a finely-tuned unit that their ability on that end simply might be too much for the Celtics, even if Boston is able to occasionally disrupt their offense.
Tip for Game 1 is set for Thursday at 9 p.m. ET from Chase Center.
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