After sinking nine of their 12 fourth-quarter three-point attempts, it’s tempting to say that the Warriors’ 120-108 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game One of the NBA Finals was a fluke. But a closer look at these advanced stats for the NBA Finals tells a different story.
Lets be real….Celtics shooting like this in the 4th again?????
— warriorstateofmind (@warriorsmind1) June 3, 2022
???
The Boston Celtics Were “Open” on 38 of Their 41 Three-Point Attempts
Shooting stats for the NBA Finals are tracked in several ways, one of which being the distance the nearest defender is from the player taking a shot.
NBA scorekeepers classify a shooter as being “open” if the nearest defender is between four and six feet away. If there is no defender within six feet of the shooter, the shooter is “wide open.”
That means that on 38 of the Boston Celtics’ 41 three-point attempts, they were left either “open” or “wide open,” as the NBA defines it.
Furthermore, the Celtics took 23 three-point attempts that would be classified as “wide open” by NBA scorekeepers.
By contrast, Boston only took three three-point attempts that would qualify as “tight” coverage (the nearest defender being between two and four feet away from the shooter). They took no shot attempts that fall under the “very tight” category.
The Warriors got crushed in the fourth quarter of Game One because they allowed the Boston Celtics to get hot from deep. But what can they do to prevent another wave of three-pointers from taking them out of the game next time?
Warriors’ Perimeter Defense Untested Before Now
The Golden State Warriors got to play against three teams that give too many minutes to suspect shooters. The Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies, and Dallas Mavericks all give heavy minutes to non-shooters or “streaky” shooters because they need to be on the floor for defense, playmaking, or a plethora of other needs.
Things are done differently in Boston.
Yes, the Celtics also play suspect shooters. But their suspect shooters came to play, and their best player didn’t do too much in Game One.
Jayson Tatum made 1 basket in the last 3 quarters.
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 3, 2022
The Celtics won by 12. pic.twitter.com/ctR9EkhyyK
The Boston Celtics will not shoot fewer three-pointers unless the Warriors force them to do so. Golden State clearly focused on taking Jayson Tatum out of the game, and it worked.
They didn’t count on Boston’s role players catching fire, but that’s what happens when you give NBA players open shots.
Gary Payton II was available for Game One, but Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr kept him on the bench anyway. His presence alone will bolster Golden State’s perimeter defense, but a larger adjustment will be needed if the Warriors want to get back into this series.
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