The most exceptional turnaround of the 2021-22 NBA season is now historical past, with a lowercase h.
The Celtics, losers of three straight for the primary time since Dec. 29, melted in a multitude of turnovers and rushed offense on the way in which to elimination of their 103-90 Game 6 loss to Golden State.
The Warriors grew to become the one opponent apart from the 1985 Lakers to clinch an NBA title on the Garden parquet, and on this one the Celtics had been flattened early.
The Warriors’ championship pedigree was instantly obvious of their fourth NBA title in eight years, in addition to their sixth Finals look over the identical span.
For all the playoff expertise boasted by Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Al Horford, the Celtics shrunk on their house court docket with a well-recognized drawback taking good care of the ball. A 12-turnover first half left them in a 15-point halftime gap from which they by no means absolutely recovered.
Tatum barely answered the bell offensively with a 13-point, five-turnover efficiency, together with 1-for-4 from 3-point vary. Instead, it was as soon as once more Jaylen Brown on the lead of the Celtics offense with a 34-point efficiency, albeit marred by seven turnovers. For the Warriors, Steph Curry led the way in which. draining six 3-pointers on the way in which to a 32-point efficiency.
But the mistake-prone Celtics melted underneath the burden of their very own errors, with Golden State changing 22 Celtics turnovers into 20 factors. The Celtics completed the postseason 1-8 once they turned the ball over 16 instances or extra.
Tatum picked up his fifth turnover with 3:32 left when he traveled whereas making an attempt to spin to the basket, handing the ball again to Golden State with a 93-81 lead. Curry had eight factors within the quarter, all on simple drives in opposition to protection.
Curry got here out of a timeout with a 3-pointer after side-stepping Marcus Smart, and Tatum missed on the rim, with Rob Williams lacking off the tip.
Brown hit from downtown, however the rebound off an Andrew Wiggins miss bounced to Green, who then fed Wiggins for the 3-pointer and a 99-86 lead.
Though Golden State opened the third quarter with an 18-11 run comprised solely of 3-pointers, together with three from Curry, Brown led the Celtics again on a 15-2 burst. The end result, by the top of the quarter, was a whittled down 76-66 Warriors lead, with Brown engaged on a 24-point, 9-for-17 evening.
The Celtics thus opened the fourth with three misses and two turnovers, together with Brown’s fifth fumble of the evening, enabling the Warriors to open an 82-68 lead with a fast 6-2 run.
Horford’s throwaway with 7:20 left was the Celtics’ nineteenth turnover, transformed by Curry down the opposite finish, left the Celtics trailing by 14.
But Brown triggered a Celtics mini-run, this one a 5-0 burst that additionally included a Grant Williams three-point play that reduce the Warriors result in 84-75 earlier than Curry simply drove the lane.
Brown answered from downtown with 5:34 left, solely to be matched by Wiggins’ nook bomb. Brown turned it over for the sixth time and Green transformed. Horford reduce the margin to 10 with a nook 3, just for Curry to beat Horford to the rim, this time for a 12-point Golden State lead.
Tatum traveled for his fifth turnover with 3:32 left.
The Celtics had been laid out by a pair of mammoth first half runs by the Warriors – a 21-0 burst that bridged the primary and second quarters, and a 15-2 run that opened additional area for Golden State. The end result was a 54-39 halftime lead for the Warriors, together with 11 factors off 12 Celtics turnovers.
For a workforce that had found out that they may beat nearly anybody by defending the ball, the Celtics had been enjoying free and harmful.
The Warriors had been taking pictures at a 43.5% downtown clip (10-for-23), with Derrick White’s 1-for-5 efficiency – largely on the rim – epitomizing the Celtics’ struggles once they really had an opportunity to shoot the ball.
Green opened the third with a clock-beating nook 3 and, regardless of three bombs from Horford, the Warriors pushed out to a 72-50 lead by hitting six 3-pointers over the primary 5:48 of the quarter. Curry had three of the deep photographs, Otto Porter two others, along with Green’s opening shot.
But thanks largely to Brown, the Celtics chopped the Golden State lead all the way down to 9 factors (74-65) with a 12-2 run that included seven straight factors from the Celtics wing and a Horford three-point play.
Horford adopted up his swing by blocking Poole, although Green capped the possession with an up prime jumper for a 76-65 lead. Brown reduce the result in 76-66 with a free throw.
Source: www.bostonherald.com