Can the Celtics get their act together?
Ime Udoka’s Celtics have proven themselves a worthy opponent of the Golden State Warriors in their first Finals run - on one side of the ball. Nobody can deny the smothering defense Boston plays, be it their wings’ length, Rob Williams III’s rim protection, or Marcus Smart’s scrappiness and fast hands.
The Celtics’ issues are in their offense, and they’ll be difficult to fix between games 5 and 6.
Boston’s most glaring problem when the ball is in their hands is how easily they give it up to the Warriors, through loose handles and bad passes. Their primary ball handlers – Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Smart – combined for 13 of the team’s 18 turnovers in Game 5.
That doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and credit Golden State for producing 22 points off those turnovers. But so many of the Celtics’ turnovers are self-inflicted, it started looking like a trend they decided to live with back in the Miami series, when they put up 17 turnovers in that Game 6.
Now, it could be what ends their Duckboat dreams.
It’s also difficult to put up points when your stars aren’t shooting well, or shooting at all. Udoka sat Tatum seven minutes into the first quarter of Game 5 after he failed to attempt a shot, getting the team off to a lurching start offensively. The Celtics looked like they were running through mud under their own basket.
Jaylen Brown didn’t do much to help, shooting a ghastly 28% from the field and failed to sink a 3-pointer.
Udoka, who spent months molding this team into a powerhouse defensive unit, now has to find offensive solutions as his team stares down the best shooter in NBA history on the other side.
“For us, we want to focus on the offensive end, because I think we’ve guarded enough to win. Game 4, if we finish the game off well, not that five-minute stint, we’d be in good shape,” Udoka said at Celtics practice Wednesday.
But at this point in the series, does this team have the firepower to score the 100+ points that got them victories in Games 1 and 3? Tatum is at the very least banged up in his shooting shoulder, which may be affecting how he finishes at the rim and takes contact. Brown shows signs of life for quarters and halves, but was a no-show in Games 2 and 5 offensively. The Celtics’ bench has shrunk away from the moment. And Grant Williams’ 3-point corner office looks closed for the season.
Above all, they’ll need to find consistency quarter-to-quarter.
The Celtics have their backs up against the wall in Game 6. Defense got them this far, but only a much-improved offensive effort will get them to Game 7.