Andrew said his aggressive mindset and attacking mentality led to his performance. There is a time and a place for this.
The NBA Finals allow for the smallest of errors. In a seven-game series, opponents are too valuable to lose. The Boston Celtics' sins of commission in Game 5 were too much for the Golden State Warriors to overcome. The Warriors are one win away from their fourth title.
The finals have been a defensive affair with the exception of a few individual performances. Both teams executed their defensive game plans well in the fifth game. The Celtics tried to turn the Warriors' shooters into drivers, offering shots from long distance when the Warriors settled for them, while Golden State relied on its superb help defense.
In a Game 5 in which both teams struggled to maintain consistent offense, the Celtics coughed up possession 18 times. The Celtics faithful have been waiting for a game from their star player, and the loss wasted a chance.
In his most dominant output of the series, the first-team All-NBA star scored 27 points. Stephen Curry gave the Celtics another opening to exploit when he turned in one of his lesser performances.
Curry missed 15 of his 22 attempts from the field, including a 0-for-9 night from behind the 3-point line, and the Warriors were one of the few offensive bright spots. Golden State has found a new star in the form of Wiggins. The Warriors don't have a lot of individual shot creation off the dribble since Kevin Durant left the team.
It's thrilling for the Warriors to watch him attack the paint and crash the boards, even though it's unreasonable to expect him to fill the void left by KD. He shot 12 for 23 from the field and zero turnovers. He played a big part in the Warriors' victory.
When he has taken on the assignment of primary defender on Ja Morant and Luka Doncic, he can claim to be one of the best individual defenders in the playoffs. The Celtics' star was forced into a number of difficult attempts by the man who carried the bulk of the load.
One of the highlights of the game came midway through the fourth quarter when he forced an air ball from Tatum then took a pass from Curry on the left wing and drove to his right for a floater over Horford that gave the Warriors a 11 point lead. With just over two minutes remaining, Wiggins dunked over White to produce the dagger.
The game was out of reach for the Warriors when Andrew went hard to the rim and dunked.
Draymond Green came back to form as one of the game's most impactful, creative players after spending much of the series in an emotional spiral. He got off to a good start with two buckets in the first 5 minutes. Green did his usual functions on defense and on offense.
Interested parties will be able to listen to more analysis on Green's show. Green focused on the task at hand and delivered great results for a few hours. The Celtics were 0-for- 10 when Green was in the middle. In the 35 minutes he was on the field, he had 8 points, 8 rebound and 7 assists.
The Warriors emphasize that their team is different from the ones that won three titles during Curry's prime. In this tractor pull of a series, that has been the case. For all of the aesthetic flaws and ugly offensive efforts, this Warriors squad still has the same capacity to win high-stakes games as its predecessors.
If there is one more win on Thursday, those differences will be irrelevant.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
