The Boston Celtics dominated the Golden State Warriors in the fourth quarter en route to a comeback win in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night. A lot of that had to do with several Celtics role players catching fire at the right time, but Patrick Beverley thinks one particular leader failed to step up for Golden State late in the game.
Beverley, who has been working as an analyst for ESPN, was asked after Game 1 if anything stuck out to him while looking over the box score. He pointed to Draymond Green’s performance in the fourth quarter.
“I’m gonna (look at) the person who played the second-most minutes in the fourth quarter, Draymond Green,” Beverley said. “Obviously he’s been playing well throughout the playoffs coming back from an injury. But tonight, you see in the fourth quarter (he had) two turnovers and three fouls. Obviously we’re not looking for him to score 30 points, but his job is to impact winning at an elite level, especially at winning time.”
The Celtics have youth on their side in the NBA Finals, and that was evident down the stretch in their 120-108 win. The Warriors simply could not keep up with Boston’s ball movement in the fourth quarter. That led to great looks for guys like Al Horford, Marcus Smart, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard. Jayson Tatum shot just 3-of-17, but he impacted the game in a big way with 13 assists.
Boston shot 51.2% from three-point range. Green was quick to point out how they cannot expect that same production going forward, but the Warriors still need to make major adjustments. Horford’s ability to stretch the floor became a problem for Green. Klay Thompson also had no answer defensively for Jaylen Brown.
There is certainly no need for panic after one game, but the Warriors showed their age on Thursday night.
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