NBA Finals: Warriors prepare for ‘hardest game’ of the year — the
potential clincher
Warriors have not succeeded on first try to clinch this postseason, but
they haven't been forced to Game 7 yet, either
>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 15: Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson
(11) shoots during a practice session the day before Game 6 of the NBA
Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Jose
Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 15: Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson
(11) shoots during a practice session the day before Game 6 of the NBA
Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Jose
Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
By MADELINE KENNEY | mkenney@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: June 16, 2022 at 5:30 a.m. | UPDATED: June 16, 2022 at 8:00 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/06/16/nba-finals-warriors-prepare-for-hardest-game-of-the-year-the-potential-clincher/

BOSTON — With the Warriors just one win away from an NBA title, coach
Steve Kerr celebrated his team’s collective efforts to take Game 5 in a
postgame speech captured by ESPN cameras before he left his players with
an emphatic proclamation.

“We’re going to get this in Boston,” he said. His team agreed.

Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Celtics will be the Warriors’
toughest challenge yet as they tried to clinch their fourth NBA Finals
title in eight years and avoid sending the series to a winner-take-all
Game 7 in San Francisco.

“They are definitely tough games,” Andre Iguodala said Wednesday of the
intensity of a closeout situation. “That’s the mindset we got to have
is, you know, clinching is probably the hardest game you’ll play.”

Mindset is everything, according to Iguodala, who’s been in this
situation many times over the course of his career. And the Warriors
will have to match the Celtics’ desperation and physicality in Game 6 in
Boston if they want to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy on their enemy’s
parquet court.

“It’s going to take the most effort we’ve had to give all year,” Klay
Thompson said. “But I can tell you this: We’re all ready for the
opportunity, and we’re all very excited.”

After a rollercoaster of a season jam-packed with storylines —
Thompson’s return; injuries to Draymond Green, Stephen Curry and James
Wiseman; Jordan Poole’s breakout; and Andrew Wiggins redefining himself
in the playoffs — the Warriors are back on the doorstep of their fourth
title in eight years.

The Warriors have struggled to get the job done in their first attempts
to close out the series during this year’s playoffs. In Game 4 of the
first-round series with a chance to sweep the Nuggets, the Warriors were
“too anxious” and had their comeback fall short due to fouls and
mistakes. In Game 5 of the second-round series, the Grizzlies pummeled
the Warriors, handing them one of their worst losses in the franchise’s
postseason history. Then, in the Western Conference finals, the
Mavericks stifled the Warriors’ hopes of an epic comeback after Kerr
pulled the starters.

Kerr said “there’s no common thread” in the Warriors’ losses that have
kept their opponents alive to see another day.

“This is the NBA,” he said. “You’ve got talented teams. You’ve got
talented players you’re going against. You’re in somebody else’s
building. It’s just not easy to close anybody out in the playoffs.”

While the Warriors are playing with house money, the Celtics are
scrambling to try to rebound after Golden State handed them two
consecutive losses for the first time this postseason. Boston has
struggled with offensive lulls and untimely turnovers, including Monday
night when they gave up 18 to the Warriors’ six. The Celtics’ defense,
which has been praised as the league’s best, has kept them in this series.

But the Warriors and the defensive menace that is Draymond Green have
found ways to counter the Celtics. When Boston swarmed Curry in Game 5,
other players like Wiggins stepped up.

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Jayson Tatum said the Celtics, who once again find their backs against
the wall, are refusing to wave their white flag.

“It’s the first to four. It’s not over with. So as long as it’s not over
with, you got a chance,” he said. “Having done it before should give you
even more confidence that you can. Not that it’s going to be easy or
it’s going to be given to us, but you should be extremely confident as
long as you got a chance.

“We got a chance tomorrow.”

The Celtics lost Game 5 against the Bucks but bounced back by winning
two straight games to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. They
also lost Game 6 to the Heat before being crowned conference champions
in Game 7.

“In those moments, we just responded,” Tatum said. “I don’t know exactly
what it is, but I think just our will to want to win, just trying to
figure it out.”

Will long-term or short-term experience prevail in this series?

Curry believes the Warriors have the upper hand.

“You can rely on that experience, for sure,” said Curry, who said he has
a good idea of what to expect in Game 6 after having been in the NBA
Finals five times before. “We understand the specifics of how we need to
approach the game from a physicality perspective, our game plan
adjustments from Game 5 to Game 6, understanding what the building is
going to feel like, that energy, being prepared for it.

“You got to be present as much as possible, not worry about the
consequences of a win or a loss. The only opportunity you have is that
48 minutes. The more you can trick your mind into being in the moment
and staying there, that’s the best advice I can give anybody in that
situation because it’s going to be the hardest game you probably ever
played in your career because of what the stakes are.”