Ime Udoka, the Celtics’ rookie coach, said “experience is overrated in general.”
Making his debut as a starter on the bench, Udoka recalled that he does have experience in these great challenges. He was part of the San Antonio Spurs coaching staff, under the magnificent Gregg Popovich, with whom he lost a league (2013) and won another (2014).
In the first game of the NBA Finals, held last Thursday in the San Francisco Bay Area, the well-versed Warriors (their hard core has participated in six of the last eight decisive playoffs) became “static mounds of experience”, that Gato Pérez sang and the Bostonians passed them over in the last quarter to sign up the first game of the best-of-seven series.
The second game started with a very tough Celtics defense, but the Warriors were not far behind and tied the series at one after beating Boston (107-88). Beyond the debate about the experience in the finals, the Californians used their pride as a team, with Stephen Curry at the helm, the game’s top scorer with 29 points and that he didn’t even need to step on the floor in the last twelve minutes. If for many they lost the status of favorites the other night, this Sunday they showed that their basketball is pure spectacle, and a winner. Fist bump on the table.
In contrast, the Bostonian Jayson Tatum had 28, in a much higher performance than the first game (12 points then). However, the differences are understood when looking at the locker of his teammate Al Horford. He was the best of his team in the opening game, with 26 points and six triples, the best mark of his entire career. This Sunday he got two points, with a basket in four attempts.
On this occasion, the Warriors’ secondaries stood out, with Kevon Looney under the rim, Jordan Poole in long-distance shots and Nemanja Bjelica in defensive duties.
The game started with a three nil for the locals, with a triple by Andrew Wiggins. A mirage. Jayly Brown equalized on the next play, and from then on, the visitors dominated the scoreboard, with a lead that reached nine points.
While Brown and his associate Tatum kept the Californians at bay, Klay Thompson, a shadow of his usual tone, was a fail machine, and Curry suffered from a tough defense, alternating between Marcus Smart, the hardest nut to crack in the NBA, and Horford.
But an exchange of 3-pointers between the two teams, with Curry warming up his wrist, put the Warriors ahead for the first time since 3-0. The first quarter ended 31-30 for the Bay Area.
The second period began as it did in the first game. Once again, Steven Kerr, the local coach, seated Curry, whose presence, just by being there, is intimidating. Those from Boston were up five (35-40). And Curry returned. Between his shots, and the inspiration of Looney and the more than substitute Bjelica on defense, the Warriors managed a 10-0 run.
Their 45-40 lead was short-lived as the Celtics regained the lead (45-46). Despite Tatum’s inspiration, the Warriors went into the break with a 52-50 lead, with a toned-up Wiggins, a pitiful Thompson and a sense that inexperienced or not, these Celtics are pretty tough. And that Horford, the hero of the first game, finished with 18 minutes played and zero points.
The third quarter began as it ended, with Thompson missing. But finally he hit a triple. The Warriors achieved a gap of seven points … And ten. And twelve (68-56). This was another game.
With seven minutes to go in the fourth, Horford got his first two points. And unique.
The Thompson disaster followed. At this point, even if he had scored half of what he had shot, the score would be insurmountable for the visitors. That reduced the difference to six.
Then there was the click, something invisible, that transformed the crash. The magic of Curry appeared, whose contribution was decisive in opening a gap of 17 points (79-62), eleven to nil in two and a half minutes.
The Warriors showed that they are not only lethal for their three-point shots, but also know how to defend, fight for the balls. The third period ended with a signal. Pool hit a triple from almost midfield, from 12 meters away. The basket of the game and the confirmation that the Warriors are still more than alive.
The result was eloquent, 87-64. It is already known that those from the bay are specialists in the third quarter.
Despite starting the final stretch without Curry, who did not return, the locals came out like a rocket and got to 29 points (93-64). From then on, the Celtics kept their stellar triplet (Taum, Brown and Smart), while Thompson continued his festival of nonsense, a reflection of two years of unemployment due to injury, with Curry, Wiggins and Draymond Green as spectators.
The bulky scoreboard was the excuse to give minutes to players who usually do not step on the court. Everything was resolved. The score remained at 107-88 and the feeling that order had been restored: the Warriors regained their self-esteem. And it was Coach Udoka, the most experienced of the Celtics in a Finals, who lost his temper and was called for a technique.
The series travels from the west coast to the east. On Wednesday he plays in Boston.
