You never want to spot your opponent a one-game advantage in a playoff series, let alone the NBA Finals, but the Golden State Warriors clearly used their Game 1 loss as motivation Sunday night in Game 2 against the Boston Celtics.
The Warriors punched back with a 107-88 win at Chase Center, evening the best-of-seven series 1-1 before it shifts to TD Garden for Games 3 and 4. The Celtics, who flipped a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit into a 12-point victory in Game 1, never had a chance to mount another comeback, as Golden State, unlike the previous contest, maintained its intensity from start to finish.
"I think it was definitely an attitude adjustment," Warriors forward Draymond Green told reporters after Game 2. "Like I said, we didn't play with enough force the entire 48 minutes (in Game 1). We had spurts where we played with the right amount of force in Game 1. But overall, against a team like that, you can't let your foot off the gas pedal. All they need to see is one shot go in, and it can start a domino effect.
"We knew. Like I said last game, they are who we thought they were. So we knew we had to keep our foot on the gas pedal and not let up, and we did that, and we were able to come out with the win."
The Warriors led 52-50 at halftime Wednesday before outscoring the Celtics 35-14 in the third quarter to build a commanding 87-64 lead. Boston committed 19 turnovers, including 15 live-ball turnovers that led to Golden State scoring 22 points on the ensuing possessions, per NBA.com.
That's a tough way to live. And unfortunately for the Celtics, it's been an all-too-common theme for them this postseason. For as dominant as the C's look at times, on both ends of the floor, there are other games where Boston simply can't get out of its own way, with turnovers and sloppy third quarters proving fatal.
"I think turnovers are often a byproduct of physicality and intensity," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told reporters after Game 2. "I thought we brought that from the start. Draymond had plenty to do with that, so did Gary (Payton II), so did (Andrew Wiggins). I thought our whole team was physical and intense, and we did a good job of trying to make things difficult for them."
The Celtics managed to overcome an awful start to the second half in Game 1, thanks to an historic effort in the fourth quarter. The Warriors made sure history didn't repeat itself in Game 2, though, and the sour taste of the series-opening defeat seemingly played a role in Golden State altering its mindset.
Stephen Curry was his usual brilliant self offensively in Game 2. And the Warriors upped their intensity on the defensive end, with Green proving to be a catalyst while playing near (or over?) the edge.
"Ultimately, when you're playing against a good team, they're not going to waver," Green said. "They're going to continue to play their game, whether it's going their way or not. Last game, it was the same thing. I thought we were playing great and we didn't create much separation. Then we did (in the third quarter). Difference was we gave it back (in the fourth quarter). Tonight, we didn't want to give it back.
"Ultimately, we always talk about playing 48 minutes, and if we do that, we feel like they'll break at some point -- not just them, just over the course of a season. If we can put a good 48 minutes together, you trust in that work, and hopefully they'll break, and we were able to pull ahead tonight."
The Warriors needed to play with a sense of urgency in Game 2 after dropping Game 1 on their home floor in embarrassing fashion. They passed the test with flying colors. And while the Celtics can take solace in splitting the first two games at Chase Center, there's also no sugarcoating that Boston missed a golden opportunity to seize control of the NBA Finals.
"I thought everybody was more engaged," Kerr said of the Warriors. "It was pretty obvious, just our level of force and physicality was ramped up quite a bit, and it had to be. What Boston did in the second half, fourth quarter the other night (in Game 1), we knew we had to come with a much better focus and sense of aggression, and I thought that started right from the beginning."
Buckle up. We've got ourselves a series.
