The Golden State Warriors are back to blowing leads in the NBA Finals. Their Game 1 collapse against the Boston Celtics is obviously a world of difference from their most historic collapse but it was still an ugly sight for the Dubs.
The Warriors' 120-108 loss featured a historic 34-point outing from Stephen Curry and a teamwide 3-point percentage of 42.2 percent. They had control throughout the game but let it slip away at the worst possible time. Their efforts to regain control were fruitless and they now trail the series.
Golden State looked more like Gilded State in the fourth quarter against the Celtics. They have to diagnose those problems in order to even up the series on Sunday.
3 Warriors most to blame for collapse vs. Celtics in Game 1 of 2022 NBA Finals
The Warriors got next to nothing out of Draymond Green in the second half. Their heart and soul simply didn't have enough big moments to help them overcome the Celtics' onslaught.
Green recorded all six of his personal fouls in the second half. His defensive lapses led to the Celtics' run. For a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate, that can't happen. He is not the only one to blame but that is the side of the floor he has to control. Offensively, he was much worse, shooting 2-12 from the field. Although he led the game in rebounds with 11, he committed three turnovers with just five assists.
Green will never be expected to score but taking so many shots without makes is brutal. He has to bounce back in Game 2.
2. Jordan Poole
The Warriors could have really used Jordan Poole's scoring, especially late in the game. Curry wasn't on fire like he was in the first quarter but he still contributed 13 second-half points. Andrew Wiggins came through with 20 points on 8-15 shooting and Klay Thompson scored 15 points while making three of his 7 attempts from deep.
Poole, meanwhile, scored only nine points while recording as many turnovers (four) as assists and rebounds combined. He was a non-factor in his first taste of NBA Finals action.
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Not only did Poole not do his job on offense but his defensive weakness reared its ugly head. He was hunted on defense all night and didn't even put up a strong effort. He needs to be more in control and play smarter if he wants to keep playing at all. Game 1 saw very little reason, if any, for head coach Steve Kerr to play him. Speaking of…
1. Steve Kerr
Although the Celtics' Ime Udoka is a rookie coach, Kerr looked like the one who was out-planned. The Warriors had no answer for the Celtics when they gained momentum. That is certainly on the players but it all traces back to the man calling the shots.
The Celtics learned early that dropping their big men back in pick-and-rolls against Stephen Curry was unwise. They fixed the issue by playing just above the 3-point line rather than inside of it and it helped them tame the Warriors' offense. Golden State helped them by setting their screens higher up as the game went on.
On offense, the Celtics made mincemeat of Golden State. The Warriors couldn't stop the ball if their lives depended on it, forcing them to rotate a ton to cover shooters. Udoka's squad moved the ball well until an open shooter got the ball and, most likely, made the shot.
The Warriors' looked lifeless when the Celtics turned on the jets. They didn't have enough urgency to make it a game down the stretch of the fourth quarter, hence a double-digit loss in a game where they led for nearly its entirety until midway through the final period.
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