Andrew Wiggins in jail for one evening, the Californian “supersubs”, Jayson Tatum too alone… The tops and flops after Game 5 of the NBA Finals, won by Golden State (104-94) on Monday at the Chase Center.
TOPS
Wiggins takes the lead
Look no further for the MVP of this encounter. It is not Stephen Curry, in lack of success, nor Klay Thompson, who took time to find the target (21 pts, 5/11 to 3 pts). Not either Draymond Green, although author of a high-level performance. Andrew Wiggins was his team’s best player on Monday night, extremely solid defensively, reliable offensively. 26 points and 13 rebounds in the key, 13/23 on shots, with a pair of assists, 2 steals and 1 against. We will forgive him his 0/6 by far. Taulier for a night, after being the second best Warrior since the start of the series, the most consistent after Curry. He also put his people on the right track from the start of the game.
Tatum, the tree that hides the forest
Author of 27 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists, Jayson Tatum has long worked artificial respiration for the Celtics. Hyper-aggressive after starting the game upside down offensively, he notably caught fire with three award-winning shots in a row during his team’s run at the start of the second period. Alas, the C’s would have needed a lot more to win.
Poole et Payton II, «supersubs»
Since the beginning of the series, Jordan Poole alternates the good and the less good. Especially the less good in fact… Monday evening, he split 14 points in 14 minutes, being aggressive and valuable. We will especially highlight its magnificent “buzzer-breaterat the end of the third quarter and his important points at the start of the fourth quarter. Gary Payton II meanwhile cracked 15 points in 26 minutes, bringing his energy and passion. A contribution all the more valuable as the Boston bench showed nothing …
We found Green
«Please stop asking me what’s wrong with Dray… I DON’T KNOW! It may be a CLONE! Where is the Draymond who helped us get here? I’ve never seen that either.That’s what Draymond Green’s mom said after Game 4 of the NBA Finals, summing up the general mood about her offspring. The interested party responded present on Monday evening. Steve Kerr said it all when he called his performance “sparkly“. Admittedly, Green finished on the bench with six fouls and finished “only” with 8 points, as many rebounds and 7 assists. But its impact goes far beyond the numbers. He has simply been himself, impacting in defence, pushing the ball, finding light passes.
FLOPS
Jaylen Brown se rate
If there’s one Boston player to point to in this loss, it’s Jaylen Brown. Admittedly, the interested party still finished with 18 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal. However, he did not have the same impact as usual, neither in attack nor in defense. 5 bullet losses and a nasty 5/18 on shots, 0/5 from afar. At least Brown put his throws (8/10), not all C’s do…
The muzzled Celtics
18 ball losses, including 13 for the Brown (5) / Tatum (4) / Smart (4) trio, 41.3% on shots including 11/32 from afar, 34.4% from afar, little or no contribution from the bench… The Celtics, who even got bitten in the racket (50 points to 36 for the Warriors) ran into a wall Monday night. Fatigue and risky decision-making, some bad choices from the coaching staff can partly explain the lackluster offensive performance of the Boston team in this fifth round of the NBA Finals. We obviously have to give credit to the excellent defense of the Warriors. Note that the C’s started the match with a 0/12 three-pointer, before returning 8.
Curry, the blow of the breakdown
After his crazy game with 43 points and 10 rebounds on Friday, Stephen Curry fell on a bone Monday night. If he brought otherwise, with 16 points at 7/13 at 2 points and 8 assists, only 1 loss of ball, the double MVP took a cold snap in his favorite exercise, the winning shot: 0/9. “Boston did a good job defensively on him, putting a lot of pressure from the start, he also missed open shots. Even for the best shooter in the world, this kind of match happens. Luckily, it doesn’t happen that often… I’m confident in his ability to bounce back. We managed to win thanks to our defense, our bench depth, it was a collective effort», Analysis coach Kerr. This game will go down as the end of the incredible 233-game streak with at least one award-winning shot converted for Curry, which Green guesses “furious in view of Game 6. And that’s exactly what (the Warriors will) need“. It promises…
