[OutsiderFan]

Sigh.  The Celtics are trying to win too.  Sometimes they make touch shots. Sometimes they go cold. But it is not because, in an NBA finals, the Warriors decided to slack off and back off the intensity.

BC

I agree with your point, however in this particular case three things are true that make my point valid.

1. When the Warriors have played with what they call "force," they hold the Celtics under 98 pts and win.
2. When they don't, they allow 115+ points and lose.
3. The Warriors themselves admit they have given inconsistent effort on D, but it's shown in the stats too.

This of course begs the question, "why would a team not play with the same force every game in the Finals?" One reason might be that it is really hard to do and that effort can't always be summoned unless your back is against a wall.  Ergo, the same dynamic may apply to the Celtics.

As for Game 5, I believe the W's will bring force in consecutive games for the first time in the series. The big question is will the Celtics continue allowing Curry to operate without pressure or will they "blitz" him and force the ball out of his hands? Before answering, consider this...

The W's led NBA playoffs with 28+ assists PG before the Finals. It seems the Celtics' strategy was to take this away. The W's are only averaging 23.8 APG in the Finals because the C's aren't doubling Curry and opening up the passing game the W's like to play. They are forcing the W's into more pick n rolls and switching everything, trying to wear down Curry with minutes and making him carry the load. The result is guys like Thompson and Poole don't get as many shots, and certainly not as many open looks as they might otherwise, so they don't really get a great rhythm, and Klay in particular takes a lot of contested shots because he's itching to score, so the W's have seen their FG% drop from 48% to 44% in the Finals as a result. The W's only had 20 assists in Game 4. The C's are betting Curry will have a couple clunker games with this approach, so the odds seem low the C's will change their defensive tactics. It's all on Curry and to a degree Poole to beat it and if they do the C's tip their cap.

One adjustment I want to see is when a W's player drives to the rim with Robert Williams in the game, have someone cut to the rim so when RW leaps to block, a pass can be dumped off for an uncontested finish. This is like having a draw or screen to make a defense pay for blitzing in football. You must make the shot blocker pay for feeling there is no consequence to trying to block every shot attempt in the paint, like you must make a defense pay for blitzing all the time.

[OutsiderFan]

Sigh.  The Celtics are trying to win too.  Sometimes they make touch shots. Sometimes they go cold. But it is not because, in an NBA finals, the Warriors decided to slack off and back off the intensity.

BC

I agree with your point, however in this particular case three things are true that make my point valid.

1. When the Warriors have played with what they call "force," they hold the Celtics under 98 pts and win.
2. When they don't, they allow 115+ points and lose.
3. The Warriors themselves admit they have given inconsistent effort on D, but it's shown in the stats too.

This of course begs the question, "why would a team not play with the same force every game in the Finals?" One reason might be that it is really hard to do and that effort can't always be summoned unless your back is against a wall.  Ergo, the same dynamic may apply to the Celtics.

As for Game 5, I believe the W's will bring force in consecutive games for the first time in the series. The big question is will the Celtics continue allowing Curry to operate without pressure or will they "blitz" him and force the ball out of his hands? Before answering, consider this...

The W's led NBA playoffs with 28+ assists PG before the Finals. It seems the Celtics' strategy was to take this away. The W's are only averaging 23.8 APG in the Finals because the C's aren't doubling Curry and opening up the passing game the W's like to play. They are forcing the W's into more pick n rolls and switching everything, trying to wear down Curry with minutes and making him carry the load. The result is guys like Thompson and Poole don't get as many shots, and certainly not as many open looks as they might otherwise, so they don't really get a great rhythm, and Klay in particular takes a lot of contested shots because he's itching to score, so the W's have seen their FG% drop from 48% to 44% in the Finals as a result. The W's only had 20 assists in Game 4. The C's are betting Curry will have a couple clunker games with this approach, so the odds seem low the C's will change their defensive tactics. It's all on Curry and to a degree Poole to beat it and if they do the C's tip their cap.

One adjustment I want to see is when a W's player drives to the rim with Robert Williams in the game, have someone cut to the rim so when RW leaps to block, a pass can be dumped off for an uncontested finish. This is like having a draw or screen to make a defense pay for blitzing in football. You must make the shot blocker pay for feeling there is no consequence to trying to block every shot attempt in the paint, like you must make a defense pay for blitzing all the time.