The Boston Celtics beat the best team in the Eastern conference in a do-or-die game 7 to find themselves a spot in the NBA finals. The last time Boston played in the NBA Finals was in the 2009-10 season. Now they are facing the team filled with championship pedigree the Golden State Warriors. Who has played better in the regular season?
Boston and Golden State are from different conferences. They were also in their prime in different decades. This means that did not meet in the NBA playoffs that often. The last time they did play each other in the NBA playoffs was way back in the 1960s. Seeing them play on the biggest stage for the first time will surely be a lot of fun.
Boston Celtics vs Golden State Warriors: 2022 regular season matchup
In the 2021-22 NBA season, the Warriors played Boston only twice. Again, being teams from different conferences they play far too little to make any assumptions on the series. But they did play 2 games this year and Boston won both.
The two games finished with a final score of 107-111 and 110-88, with Boston winning both. In the first game, Stephen Curry scored 30 points, which does sound great but he did that on awful shooting percentages. He shot 8/21 from the field and 5/14 from the 3. He also finished the game with a +/- of -10. Luckily Andrew Wiggins backed Curry but they could still not win.
In the 2nd game, Boston won 110-88 and blew the Warriors out of the water. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart all finished with 20+ points in that game. Stephen Curry played just 13 minutes in that game and score 3 points before getting injured by Marcus Smart on a ‘dangerous’ play. Jordan Poole’s game-high 29 points went in vain because their star player was out for the count.
Who could ‘statistically’ win the NBA finals?
The Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors have some similarities in a team structure. They both have 2 stars running the show and one underdog playing their heart out. The Golden State Warriors are the best team in defensive efficiency rating and Boston is 2nd. Boston house the DPOY and 2 players on the NBA All-defensive team whereas the Warriors have just 1.
Your NBA All-Defensive teams 🔒 pic.twitter.com/cFLpQle0pC
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 21, 2022
Offensively Boston has played better and we have seen the Warriors choke at times. So if the GSW do attempt to win this season, it’s not going to be their 3-pointers, it’s going to be their defense.