2022 NBA Finals: Why The Celtics Should Be Very Concerned After Game 5 Loss

Losing 104-94 on Monday night in Game 5 of the 2022 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics now trail the Golden State Warriors 3-2 in this series, casting a ton of doubt on their ability to come back and win the title.

Brett Siegel | Jun 14, 2022

2022 NBA Finals: Why The Celtics Should Be Very Concerned After Game 5 Loss /

Following Game 3 of the 2022 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics were up 2-1 and they were within two wins of shocking the NBA world and winning what would be their 18th championship in team history, a new NBA record.

Following Game 5 of the 2022 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics are still two wins away from shocking the NBA world, as they now trail the Golden State Warriors 3-2 in this series and are on the verge of seeing their season come to an end empty-handed.

This is not an unfamiliar spot for the Celtics to be in, as they came back from a 3-2 deficit in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Milwaukee Bucks and then they beat the Miami Heat after trailing 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals, but this scenario against Golden State seems different.

It is not that the Celtics are not capable of coming back and forcing a Game 7 here in the 2022 NBA Finals, but Game 5’s loss is very concerning for this franchise because of the way they lost.

When you break things down and look at the numbers, perhaps the biggest thing that sticks out about this game is that Boston had 18 turnovers. This is definitely not ideal, but they still had a chance to win this game.

Two other things that tend to stick out about the Celtics’ loss on Monday night is the fact that their offensive consistency continues to be a liability and while they took away Stephen Curry, Golden State’s offense awakened.

Coming off a 43-point performance and one of the best shooting displays in NBA Finals history, Curry was held to just 16 points on 7-22 shooting, 0-9 from three-point range. His record of 233 consecutive games with a made three-pointer was snapped by the Celtics and if you put these numbers in front of anyone, they would tell you that the Celtics won this game!

Boston lost Game 5 by 10 points with Curry putting up these numbers and quite honestly, this was really a 15-plus-point win for the Warriors given that Boston’s reserves cut into the lead a little bit in the final minute or so of the game.

This is a very concerning loss for the Boston Celtics simply because they have no answers for Andrew Wiggins and because they did exactly what they needed to do defensively and still got beat badly.

Starting with Wiggins, he has been arguably the best two-way player in this series and has caused Jayson Tatum to become non-existent at times. After being one of the best scorers in the regular season and earning All-NBA First Team honors, Tatum has been held in check by Wiggins in this series, averaging 23.2 points per game, shooting 36.7% from the floor and 3.6 turnovers per game.

In addition to his stellar defense against the Celtics, Andrew Wiggins is now averaging 18.4 points per game against the Celtics in this series after dropping 26 points in Game 5 and over his last two games, Wiggins has brought in 29 total rebounds, more than any other player in this series over this span. In this series, Wiggins’ 47 total rebounds leads all players.

A complete mismatch on either end of the floor, the Celtics have shown that they have no way of stopping Andrew Wiggins, especially if all of their attention is focused on Stephen Curry, which leads us into the second key talking point for why the Celtics should be very concerned after Game 5.

The job Marcus Smart and the entire Boston Celtics’ defense did on Stephen Curry in Game 5 was fantastic, as they really limited his opportunities and did not let him get going offensively.

The game plan for the Celtics heading into Game 5 was to stop Curry by any means necessary and live with the result. They definitely achieved this, but at the same time, they helped unlock the rest of the Warriors’ offense.

Andrew Wiggins finished with 26 points, Klay Thompson had 21 points, Draymond Green had 8 points and coming off-the-bench, Jordan Poole and Gary Payton II combined for 29 points. As a team, the Warriors outscored the Celtics 50-36 in the paint and they did so a vast majority of the time with Wiggins, who is listed as 6-foot-7, being their tallest player on the floor.

For the first-time this series, the Celtics made the right adjustments on how to play Curry in pick-and-roll situations, not dropping back and instead playing up on him and forcing the ball out of his hands, yet they still could not stop the Warriors from penetrating their defense.

Boston dared Jordan Poole, Gary Payton II and Draymond Green to attack the basket and score and they did just that, these three combining for 37 points on 13-22 shooting from the floor.

Obviously the play of Wiggins mattered and the Warriors’ defense played a factor in this win, but for me, these 37 points are what really made the difference for Golden State because nobody expected Green, Poole and Payton to be big-time contributors like they were.

Gary Payton II finished +16, Draymond Green finished +11, Jordan Poole finished +2 for the game.

Between these three guys, the Warriors were +29 and that right there is why the Boston Celtics should be very concerned heading into Game 6.

The Warriors offense got their groove back in the most improbable way without Stephen Curry being a factor and now, Boston is going to have to play the guessing game with their backs up against the wall in this series.

Not only do they have to limit Curry and his effectiveness from the perimeter like they did in Game 5, but the Celtics now have to worry about Andrew Wiggins picking apart their defense on dribble-drive attempts, as well as the Warriors’ secondary talent listed above getting going offensively.

Oh, and let’s not forget that this is going to be a Game 6, which means Klay Thompson will have his “Monstars” powers and will most likely look to take over this game on the offensive-end of the floor.

This was the worst case scenario for the Celtics in Game 5 and now, heading into Game 6, it is hard not to favor the Warriors after how they played on Monday night.

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