The Golden State Warriors dominated the third quarter and were able to maintain a large lead in Game 2 of the 2022 NBA Finals.
Let’s take a look at all the “moving parts” involved with the box score.
Traditional
- The Warriors led at the end of each quarter in Game 2 and were able to win by a final shot each time. Stephen Curry hit a floating bank shot in the final second of the first quarter to give them a 31-30 lead; Andrew Wiggins hit a putback off a missed 3 by Curry with 10 seconds left in the half to give them a 52-50 lead. Then, in the third period, Kevin Durant tied it at 55 with back-to-back free throws; then Klay Thompson hit one last floating layup near the buzzer for Golden State’s 57th point and eventual 58th victory.
- In the first two games, the Warriors outscored their opponents by a combined score of 145-106. For the series, Golden State is plus-5 in the first quarter, while Boston is plus-5 in the second quarter, giving us a first-half draw. The Warriors has dominated the third (+35) and Boston has won the fourth (+28, with +24 of that coming in Game 1).
- Curry led all scorers in the series – despite not playing in the fourth quarter – with 29 points shooting 9-for-21 from the field, 5-for-12 from beyond the arc and 6-for-7 at the foul line while adding six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Through two games, Curry leads the series in points (63), field goals made (21), 3-pointers made (12) and steals (6).
- After struggling to score, Jayson Tatum bounced back in Game 2 and scored a team-high 28 points on 8-for-19 shooting from the field and 6-for-9 from 3-point range, while adding six rebounds, three assists, and a steal. However, his plus/minus of -36 was the lowest among the entire team for his Finals career.
- Jaylen Brown led Boston to its biggest lead of the game in the first quarter, scoring 13 points and going 4-for-6 from the field and 3-for-4 from 3-point range in the game’s first eight minutes. From that point on, Brown sank just 1-for-11 from the field. He scored 17 points.
- The Celtics’ trio of Al Horford, Derrick White, and Marcus Smart combined for 65 points on 22-for-34 (64.7%) shooting from the field and 15-for-23 (65.2%) from 3-point range in Game 1. The trio combined for just 16 points on 6-for-23 (26.1%) shooting from the field and 2-of-7 (28.6%) from 3-point range in Game 2.
- Gary Payton II makes an immediate impact with his presence on the court in Game 2. He plays 25 minutes and scores seven points on 3-for-3 shooting alongside two rebounds, three assists and a defender to throw at Tatum Brown.
- In his first six quarters of the 2022 NBA Finals, including all of Game 1 and the first half of Game 2, Poole scored 12 points on 3-for-12 shooting (25.0%) from the field and 2-for-7 (28.6%) shooting from three point with four assists and five turnovers in 34 minutes on court. He put the finishing touches on the Warriors brilliant third quarter with a buzzer beater. With 30 seconds left in the period, he hit a buzzer beater
- Klay Thompson had a tough shooting night, going just 4-for-19 from the field and 1-for-8 from 3. In 141 career games in the postseason, Klay had only six games in which he shot 10 or more shots and he finished with fewer than 25%. Game 2 was the first time it’d happened since 2018 and it was only the second time it’d happened in the Finals (Game 1).
Advanced
- The Boston Celtics shot just three-percent in Game 2 of the Finals, which was their second-worst defensive rating of the 2022 Playoffs. The Warriors bounced back with a 89.8 defensive rating, their best performance of the postseason.
- Boston had the second-lowest offensive rating in Game 2 of the 2022 playoffs; its 89.8 in Game 2 of The Finals is lower than only Game 1 against Milwaukee (89.0) during the conference semifinals.
- Boston had a 19.4% turnover rate in Game 2 of The Finals and its second-highest turnover rate in the 2022 Playoffs. The only game with a higher turnover was Game 3 against Miami, which occurred in the Conference finals (25.5%)
Misc
- The Boston Celtics committed 18 turnovers in Game 2 and the Golden State Warriors took full advantage, racking up 33 points off turnovers compared to just 15 for the Celtics.
- Curry had 14 points off of Boston’s turnovers, which was equal to the Celtics total as they had 15 points off Golden State’s turnovers.
- The Warriors had a 40-24 advantage in points in the paint, with Kevon Looney leading all players with 12 points (on six for six shooting) as the Boston defense had to collapse and help Kevin Looney.
Scoring
- Curry’s field goal percentage was low in Game 2. It marks his second-lowest rate of assisted field goals and 3-pointers in the playoffs; only Game 4 against Denver in the first round had lower marks (80% FG, 100% 3P).
- Curry was the only player on either team to have less than half of his made baskets received assists.
- Boston assisted on 80% of their made field goals in Game 2, making that their highest assist rate of the postseason. Miami is the only other team this season to post an assist percentage higher than Boston’s (Game 1 vs. Atlanta postseason).
- The Celtics made 34.9% of their 2 point shots and 40.5% of their 3-point shots in Game 2.
- After the fourth quarter, the Boston Celtics were shooting better from both 2-point and 3-point shots. They also had more players on their bench. Before the fourth quarter, the Celtics were only shooting 27.5% from 2-point shots and 44.4% from 3-point shots.
The Usage
- In Game 2, Curry (35.2%), Poole (35.1%) and Tatum led the way in usage rates for their teams. Brown led the Celtics at 34.1%, followed by Thompson at 31.2%; only one other player played more than five minutes to finish above 30% usage rate.
- In the Boston-Golden State game, Tatum scored 52.8% of Boston’s points while he was on the court in Game 2 — the highest mark of any player in the game. By comparison, Curry and Poole both scored at nearly the same rate as their usage: Curry 35.2% usage, 34.9% points; Poole 35.1% usage, 34.0% points.
- Al Horford’s usage rate went down from 20.3% to 9.1%. In Game 1 he scored an impressive, 26 points to lead the team, but in Game 2 he was held without a point.
- Draymond Green, who led all players with seven assists in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, accounted for 43.8% of Golden State’s assists while he was on the court.
Factors
- Eight players for Golden State were effective field goal percentage over 50% and nine players for Boston were effective field goal percentage over 50%.
- In Game 2, turnovers played a huge role in the outcome. Boston had six players with a turnover rate greater than 20% while the Golden State Warriors had none.
- Although it was interesting to note that the team with the highest offensive rebound rate had two players with a very high individual mark in their respective positions, Payton Pritchard (11.1%) and Andrew Wiggins (9.1%), there was no significant difference in these rates between the teams.
Player Tracking Systems
- The Warriors and Celtics had similar shooting percentages in Game Two. The real difference comes in when we look at their uncontested shot attempts. The Warriors shot 18-of-37 (48.6%), while the Celtics shot 10-of-34 (29.4%).
- When Horford missed four shots in Game 2, his teammates were more concerned about the fact that all of his field goal attempts in Game 1 were contested (and he made nine of them).
- Brown and Derrick White both shot 0-for-6 on contested field goals in Game 2, while Tatum finished 3-of-10 when shots were uncontested.
- Curry had a much better shot at contested shots (6-for-11) than he did on uncontested shots (3-for-10). Poole had a better shot at uncontested shots (5-for-9), but not when contested.
- Thompson shot well when the ball was easy to come by (3-for-10) but did poorly when he had to work for it (1-for-6).
- Green (2.41 miles) led his team in distance traveled. Tatum (2.37 miles) also traveled over 34 minutes during the game.
Hustle
- They had a total of 30 deflections in Game 2, a key component of their 15 steals on the night. Green (8) and Curry (7) combined for half of Golden State’s deflections.
- In Game 2, Marcus Smart accounted for nine of Boston’s 18 deflections. No other Celtic had more than two.
- The Golden State Warriors assisted on ten of the twelve Celtic field shooting attempts in Game 2. Stephen Curry led the Warriors with three assists. The Boston Celtics had only five assists as a team for thirteen points.
Defense
- Green held his defensive matchups to 10 points on 3-for-14 (21.4%) shooting from the field and 1-of-7 (14.3%) from 3-point range, with two turnovers and one block.
- Curry did not fare well against Toronto, scoring nine points on 3-for-11 shooting and hitting 1-of-5 shots from 3-point range.
- Looney allowed two field goals made, including one from 3-point range, while also recording three steals against his opponents.
- Brown’s defense allowed just six points on 3-for-12 (25%) shooting from the field and 0-for-4 from 3, with both Smart and White holding their defenses to 10% of what they normally shoot.
Grouped Matches
- Smart defended Curry for a team-high 3 minutes and 21 seconds, allowing four points on 1-for-2 shooting from the field and a pair of free throws. Curry scored five points apiece when matched up with White (2 minutes, 50 seconds), Horford (1 minute, 25 seconds) or Pritchard (30 seconds).
- On the other hand, Curry defended Smart for a team-high 6:04 and held Smart scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting from the field by forcing two turnovers.
- Gary Payton II scored 10 points on 4-for-10 shooting from the field, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range. Tatum also scored 10 points on a perfect 3-for-3 FG, 2-for2 3P, and 2-for2 FT shooting in 2:54 against Gary Payton II.
- In Game 1, the Warriors defended Horford by using their bigs. During 5:20 of matchup time, Green saw 5 minutes and Looney saw 2 minutes of matchup time against Horford. The two combined to allow 14 points total in Game 2 during 3-5 shooting from the field and a few 3-pointers. In Game 2, Green still played 3 minutes but Thompson did not. He allowed no points during this time.
- In Game 1, Green defended Horford for more time than he matched up with Brown. In Game 2, Brown was one of the top defenses for Green and held him to seven points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field and 1-for-5 from 3-point range. Tatum was 0-for-2 against Green in a span of 1:40.
