Kurtenbach: The Warriors miserably failed their playoff stress test
Golden State Warriors 88 – Boston Celtics 110: Steph Curry’s injury will
grab the headlines, but the Warriors’ loss to the Celtics was far more
problematic than that.
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 16: Golden State Warriors’ Draymond
Green (23) argues with a referee in the second quarter of their NBA game
against the Boston Celtics at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Wednesday, March 16, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 16: Golden State Warriors’ Draymond
Green (23) argues with a referee in the second quarter of their NBA game
against the Boston Celtics at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Wednesday, March 16, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
By DIETER KURTENBACH | dkurtenbach@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News
Group
PUBLISHED: March 17, 2022 at 5:00 a.m. | UPDATED: March 17, 2022 at 7:34
a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/03/17/kurtenbach-the-warriors-miserably-failed-their-playoff-stress-test/

SAN FRANCISCO — All those good vibes from Draymond Green’s return on
Monday and the Warriors’ four-game winning streak?

Yeah, those are gone, bludgeoned to an unrecognizable pulp over 48
minutes the Boston Celtics Wednesday.

Yes, the Warriors were taught a lesson by the NBA’s best defense. It
came through loud and clear:

You’re not ready for the playoffs.

Disagree with Boston’s tactics all you want — blast Marcus Smart for his
reckless play for the next three days, three weeks, or three months —
but the Celtics’ physicality, energy, and connectivity on defense
carried the first half, and subsequently the day, at Chase Center Wednesday.

They are a truly elite defense playing at a level you only see after 82
regular-season games, and the Warriors only found out that they showed
up to a knife fight after they had been stabbed a few times.

Every possession for the Warriors took an eternity. The vast majority of
those possessions ended with bad shots. Outside of Jordan Poole’s drives
to the basket — avoiding three Celtics every time — nothing worked
offensively for the Warriors.

Boston blitzed Draymond Green at the point, turned Klay Thompson from a
catch-and-shoot option into an isolation player, and left Stephen Curry
scrambling and then hobbled.

Now, Curry missed the second half of the game after Smart dove into his
leg late in the second quarter, and his absence informed the final score
as the Celtics took ‘er easy as they started a four-game West Coast road
trip.

But the first half told the story of the game.

It was anything but flattering to the Dubs.

Thirty-two points scored through the first two quarters.

No, that’s not per quarter — that was the total at halftime.

The more granular data was even more damning: 36.7 effective field goal
percentage, eight turnovers to seven assists, three fast-break points.

The Celtics were incredible on the perimeter — fully committing to
forcing players into the lane, where the Timelord, Robert Williams, lurked.

He had four blocks in the game, each as spectacular as the first.

--
Dieter Kurtenbach
@dieter
My god, was the Timelord good vs. the Warriors.

Here are his four blocks, all terribly impressive.
[video]

12:58 AM · Mar 17, 2022
17 Reply Share
--

Now the Celtics’ defense is a one-of-one. My goodness, can that squad
can lock down. But there are other good defensive teams in the Western
Conference — Dallas, Phoenix, and Memphis are all top-five units since
the calendar flipped to 2022.

Even if there is a drop-off from Boston to those squads, the Warriors
didn’t look anything like a squad that could challenge those teams, either.

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Perhaps, in time, they can reach that level. But this team doesn’t have
much time.

The Warriors have 12 games remaining in the regular season.

Is that ample opportunity to figure out how to play against
playoff-caliber defenses?

Such a question might be moot, as, at the moment, it’s not known how
many of those games Curry will be able to play — if any.

But to answer the question: After Wednesday, I have no idea how you can
say yes.