NBA Matchups: Game 2 of the NBA Finals

Boston Celtics at Golden State Warriors

Team totals: Celtics 105.75, Warriors 109.75

Projected injury report: Robert Williams (Q, knee), Gary Payton II (Q, elbow)

Celtics projected starters: Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Robert Williams

Warriors projected starters: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney

Season offensive ranks: Celtics 10th, Warriors 17th (Celtics 8th in halfcourt, Warriors 12th)

Season defensive ranks: Celtics 1st, Warriors 2nd (Celtics 1st in halfcourt, Warriors 3rd)

Postseason offensive ranks: Celtics 8th, Warriors 1st (Celtics 8th in halfcourt, Warriors 3rd)

Postseason defensive ranks: Celtics 2nd, Warriors 7th (Celtics 1st in halfcourt, Warriors 12th)

Udoka quotes: Said it seemed like they were able to wear down the Warriors, said Tatum’s ability to impact the game without scoring much has been a focus for a while now, said they still had some problems with stopping the Warriors on the O glass (12 allowed, six from Looney), said Jaylen Brown is learning to play in a crowd and they know they’ll have matchups Jaylen Brown can attack, said they started to switch more after the Warriors were attacking Time Lord with Wiggins.

Kerr quotes: Talked about the shooting from Horford, White, and Smart, said Andre Iguodala was great and he likes his Finals experience, said some of the non-Steph minutes had a lack of composure, said the fourth quarter was more about Boston playing lights out, said “we’ll see” how they can get Poole more looks but Boston did a great job on him, said losing at home isn’t a big deal because they’re so good at winning on the road.

Steph quotes: Said he expects Jordan Poole to play better and it being Poole’s first Finals game could’ve been a factor, said they didn’t take advantage of putting them away at the end of the third, said they weren’t creating the right matchups, said their defense was a problem but them making 21 treys was key, said the team will “make the necessary adjustments” and “everything is on the table” on getting him more minutes, said he does want to trust the rotations rather than just all the run, said having two days off will help them make more adjustments.

Draymond quotes from his pod: Said too many guys were standing around and watching Steph cook, said he failed Steph and admitted he didn’t play well, said Derrick White was just red hot from deep and they were basically going to bet on Derrick White not burning them, said their rotations were off and Jaylen’s drives hurt them, said he liked the defense on Tatum and Brown, said the veterans will talk to Kerr about adjustments, said Kerr will lean more to the players’ thoughts for adjustments because they’re the ones who have to play that way.

Andre Iguodala quotes from his pod: Said the loss bothered him more than usual (said he was worse at handling losses in the first 12 years of his career), said the Poole turnover when Tatum stole it swung the momentum, said their defense got “stuck in quicksand” because they were caught looking, said they can’t be in 10-point holes against the Celtics, said he doesn’t want to get on guys too much to break their confidence (Poole???), said his biggest mistake was when he bit on a pump fake from Grant Williams that led to an open 3-pointer on the weak side, said his brain was “on point” in his return, said “I got JT” despite being 14 years older than him, said they have to clean up the little things, gave Marcus Smart props for his play.

 
Stats and Notes: 

Noteworthy lineup stuff: