Let’s Overreact To Game 1 of the Conference Finals
With game 1 of both conference finals series underway, let’s overreact! Forget solutions for second – let’s make chaos!!!
Game 1 from each conference finals series is officially in the books. So, that means it’s time to overreact. Are we overrating some teams’ performances? Which teams are genuinely in trouble? Let the chaos begin. Here are my game 1 overreactions from every series.Â
Boston Celtics – It’s Time To Panic
Boston’s Game 1 loss was a tale of two halves. After a strong first half, things fell apart in the second half. Miami’s third-quarter avalanche wasn’t pretty for the C’s. They fell apart at the seams thanks to turnovers and missed shots.
With that being said, the Celtics lost this game by just 11 points. That was without two defensive starters in Horford and Marcus Smart. Boston’s first half was very encouraging for what they’re going to be able to do throughout this series.
Let’s start with Tatum’s awesome first half. Boston hunted mismatches for Tatumcalled it, and he took advantage. It was everything we’ve asked of Tatum for years now. Sure, his second half was disgraceful. But, Tatum got what he wanted in the first half.
21 points – 5 assists – 64% FG – +14 plus/minus
Defense
Boston’s first-half defense was…interesting. I have mixed feelings about what they did on this end. Let’s start with what I liked. I liked how they were aggressive with Miami’s handoff actions. They pushed Miami far from the basket – which was great. Tatum got an early steal on one of these handoffs.
Other than that, it was a mixed bag for the C’s. Boston threw a ton of variety at Miami in that first half. At times, they were in drop coverage. Then, they would blitz Miami’s ball-handlers. They got beat when Miami dumped the ball inside a few times.
But, overall, the defense was solid in the first half. Boston forced 7 turnovers and held Miami to 29% shooting from deep. They have some adjustments to make, but they have something to build off of. This play, in particular, pleased me;
Takeaways
Add in a Timelord party on both ends, and there’s a lot to like about Boston’s first half. I think that their spacing and screens on offense worked well. In the second half, they got away from that. Tatum got more pressured and turned the ball over six times.
57% of Boston’s shots in the second half were threes. That was especially disappointing after they scored 42 points in the paint in the first half. Boston simply went away from everything that worked in the first half.
Not having Horford or Smart was felt throughout this game. Hopefully, they can return shortly, but this was a winnable game for Boston. They won every quarter but the third. At times, they were bullying the Heat.
Now, it’s time to be more consistent heading into game two. And maybe stop switching Payton Pritchard onto Jimmy Butler. That helps, too.
Miami Heat – They’re The Better Team
I know I just downplayed Boston’s loss, but Miami deserves some credit. They looked soft in the first half. Their offense was out of sorts. And, worst of all, they gave the Celtics what they wanted defensively.
After Boston’s first-half statement, Miami responded swiftly. They opened the 3rd quarter on a 22-2 run. The Celtics shot just 2/15 from the field and turned the ball over eight times. Jimmy Butler outscored the Celtics by himself. It was pure dominance.
Am I that impressed? No. But, I still want to talk about what Miami did in the second half. It boils down to three simple things;
- Jimmy Butler masterclass
- More pressure on Tatum
- Forcing turnovers
I really want to highlight those first two bullet points. First, let’s talk about Butler. His dominant postseason continued as he took full advantage of Boston’s constant switching. His 43.2 game score was the highest of his career in the playoffs.
In short, Butler did everything. These next two plays sum up his offensive performance;
So, not only was Butler taking advantage of Boston’s schemes, he was hitting all the contested shots in the world. That resulted in this statline;
41 points / 9 rebounds / 5 assists / 4 steals / 3 blocks / 63% FG / 17/18 FT / +25 plus/minus
Defense
Let’s not give Jimmy Butler too much credit. In the second half, Miami’s defense stepped up to the plate. Boston had their way in the first half. Miami’s defense single-handily made sure that didn’t happen to end the game. They were everywhere.
Miami got into Boston, making it hard for them to bring the ball up the court. They pushed Boston away from the basket, forcing them to take more outside looks. Jayson Tatum was far less effective as Miami stopped giving him the mismatches he wanted.
Robert Williams had a few free rolls to the hoop in the first half. Those simply weren’t there in the second half;
The Heat did what they do best in the second half. Suffocate.
Takeaway
Again, Miami played well in this game. Or, they played well for one quarter, which is basically the same thing. In all seriousness, I wasn’t overly impressed by Miami in this game. Yes, they played much better in the second half.
But, the Celtics made a run to close the gap to single digits in the fourth quarter. And the Celtics were without two of their most important players. So, to only win by 11 points is somewhat damming. I feel like I’m missing something, but I’m not.
I don’t think the Celtics are scared of the Heat. Therein lies my point. Miami will have a chance to prove me wrong in game two, but I don’t think game one was that impressive. Sorry.
Golden State Warriors – nothing.exe
I came into this article wanting to start chaos. Instead, I will marvel at how well the Warriors played in game 1. I’ve been waiting to see this for weeks. Golden State hadn’t really dominated anybody in the first two rounds. That changed after this beatdown.
Offensively, Golden State put up a clinic. Their player and ball movement were excellent. Dallas decided they wanted to double Steph Curry a lot in this game. So, the Warriors played off that aggressiveness, leading to easy shots.
They targeted Brunson and Doncic in pick-and-rolls. More impressively, they didn’t join Dallas in a 3-PT chucking contest. Easy looks were everywhere in this game.
And that wasn’t even the Warriors’ most impressive side of the ball. Defensively, they shut Dallas down. Dallas seemed allergic to the paint in this game, shooting 56% of their field goals from beyond the arc.
The Warriors had no problem switching Looney onto Doncic in this game. And he held his own. Doncic couldn’t get by him, like, at all. Doncic also struggled to get by Wiggins, who was awesome last night.
Along with Looney, Curry and Poole were picked on throughout this game. But even that didn’t work. Both Curry and Poole would show on these screens, stalling for a moment before getting back to their original defender.
Sometimes when that happened, Dallas got the ball into the heart of the defense. From there, it was scramble mode. There were countless possessions where the Warriors made multiple efforts to kill Dallas’ attack. Some other interesting tidbits from this game include;
- Draymond Green on Jalen Brunson for improved P&R defense
- Warriors were aggressive in their help defense
- JONATHAN KUMINGA SIGHTING
Overall, there’s not a lot the Warriors could have improved upon from game 1.
Dallas Mavericks – Everything?
On the flip side, everything went wrong for Dallas. In the first half, despite getting good looks, they couldn’t make anything. Things fell apart in the second half as the turnovers mounted. I talked about Dallas’ streakiness coming into this series. It, unfortunately, reared its ugly head again in game 1.
Here’s a list of everything I didn’t like about Dallas’ performance. (Note: it’s a pretty long list)
- Why is Jalen Brunson guarding Draymond Green?
- Why do the Mavericks insist on doubling Steph Curry?
- How is Kevon Looney locking up Luka Doncic?
- Did Dallas forget how to shoot?
- Do the Mavericks understand the concept of man and ball?
- Will the Mavericks stop getting fined for their entire bench standing up?
I could rant on and on and on about all the problems Dallas had in game one. Instead, I will look on the bright side. Just not defensively, because not even I can sugarcoat that disgrace. No, I want to talk about what Dallas can do better offensively. Other than not shooting 23% from 3-PT range.
Not An Island
Once again, the Dallas Mavericks struggled to make their open three-point jumpers. In the first quarter, they had one possession where they missed three wide-open ones in a row. That perfectly summed up their night.
Anyway, I was intrigued by Golden State’s scheming in this game. It was like they were sneering at Dallas. They made Dallas prove they could outgun them from deep, and they didn’t. But, Dallas created all the good looks in the world.
Even against a million difference schemes and even zone defense at times, looks weren’t the problem. It’s plays like these that make me painfully optimistic about Dallas’ chances in this series;
Takeaway
Heading into game two on Friday, the Mavericks need to do two things. They need to try and get more guard post-ups and they need to get into the paint. If they do that, they’ll put a lot more pressure on Golden State’s defense than they did in game one.
I don’t have any solutions for the defense, however. Dallas is on their own for that one. And that’s why they’re probably screwed in this series.
What Other Overreactions Do You Have From Game 1? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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