BSJ NBA Finals Game 5 Report: Warriors 104, Celtics 94 - C's unravel in 4th, face elimination at home

SAN FRANCISCO — Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics' loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics played about as poor a first half as you could imagine. I was going to add “for this situation,” but that was a bad half of basketball no matter what the situation. They turned over 9 times for 13 Warriors points, shot 4-9 from the free throw line, 16-41 overall, and 3-15 from 3 (which was 0-12 until they hit three straight). Amazingly, they were only down 12 heading into the third quarter

The Celtics pulled a Warriors in the third quarter and built a lead as high as 5 thanks to 6-9 shooting from deep. They at one point had a run up to 19-4 before the Warriors recovered and re-took the lead thanks to a Jordan Poole half-court buzzer-beater. That seemed to fuel Golden State, who outscored Boston 29-14 in the fourth quarter to run away with the game.

Box Score

HEADLINES

Fourth quarter unraveling: The Celtics were fighting themselves, fatigue, and the refs at various times in the fourth quarter, all the while watching the game slip away. The jawing with the refs was especially impactful. 

“Probably something we shouldn't do as much and we all did too much,” Ime Udoka admitted. He got a tech in this game and had to be pulled away from getting a second one on a couple of occasions. He and Tony Brothers seemed to be getting into it a bit. 

“He didn't like how I pointed at him,” Udoka said of the incident. 

Turnovers … again: The Celtics had 18 turnovers for 22 Warriors points. Golden State only turned it over 7 times for 9 Celtics points. There's a recipe for disaster right there. Let’s toss in 10 missed free throws and that's 32 controllable points that hurt the Celtics. 

Missed opportunity: Steph Curry was due for a shooting correction, and the Celtics falling apart and losing in a game where he had one hurts. 

“Anytime you got (Andrew) Wiggins with 26, (Klay) Thompson with 21, (Gary) Payton and Poole off the bench 15, 14, they're kind of making up for some of the things he was doing,” Udoka said. “Overall, it's a solid job on him. But again, I don't know if it was our defense as much as offensive struggles that hurt us tonight.”

(It was the offense)

TURNING POINT

Poole’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer not only gave the Warriors a lead and momentum heading into the fourth quarter, it was the precursor to the Celtics losing their composure with the officials. The shot followed what appeared to be a trip on Tatum and possibly a foul on Jaylen Brown’s shot that went uncalled. The Celtics, including Ime Udoka, spent a lot of time after the shot engaged in conversation with the officials. 

ONE UP

Robert Williams: He’s the only one I can think of that had a remotely decent game, but even he was a non-factor late.  

FIVE DOWN 

Jaylen Brown: He shot about 28%, missed all of his 3-pointers, and turned the ball over 5 times. He was a big part of the third-quarter comeback and he got to the line 10 times (making 8) but the night mostly felt like a struggle for him. 

Derrick White: He’s come back down to earth offensively. He isn’t relied on to be a huge scorer, but he has to give Boston more than 1 point. 

Jayson Tatum: I was actually shocked to see him shooting 50% because it felt like he missed a lot. His numbers (27 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 50% shooting, 55% from 3) look great, but I don't think he played particularly well overall in this game. He was 1-5 with a turnover in the fourth, and he was 3-3 in the first quarter when Boston got worked pretty good, so aside from the good third quarter stretch from him, the rest of the night felt forgettable.

Marcus Smart: He’s another one whose stats look good on the night, but overall it was a down night for him. Mostly, I think he got too caught up late in the fourth quarter officiating and it affected him. Also, just 2 assists with 4 turnovers isn’t good enough. 

Grant Williams: Just 3 points and one missed 3-pointer.

TOP PLAYS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- One team looks like it’s been here before

The Celtics, once again, had a lead in this game but when things started to go wrong in the fourth, they again couldn't pull themselves out of the tailspin. 

By contrast, the Warriors were in a position to pounce on the Celtics because of their poise. Every time the Celtics made some headway in the third, Klay Thompson or Jordan Poole seemed to hit shots that just kept things close enough. 

The Warriors started the game like a team fully aware of the moment while the Celtics came out flat and overwhelmed by it. 

“Hard to explain that start,” Udoka said. “We lacked the physicality early. They took the fight to us a little bit early. We were struggling to finish in the paint. So that was pretty evident early on.”

The Celtics have enough talent to win these games, but it’s unclear if they have enough of the right mentality to win the title. The Warriors certainly do. 

- Fatigue is a factor

Udoka admitted that fatigue seems to be setting in for his guys. Several late shots were falling short, especially for Tatum, but he wasn’t fully buying into the fatigue thing. 

“I had a couple shots that were short. I just got to not fade as much,” he said. “Use my legs. I mean, you're going to be a little more tired in the fourth than you are in the first quarter.”

Still, there's no doubt Boston’s legs are getting a bit weary. The weight of the Finals, and the minutes load it has taken to get here, is adding up. It’s worse when the bench is giving Boston zero production. 

The bench was outscored 33-10, and of that 10, 6 came in garbage time on 3-pointers by Aaron Nesmith and Luke Kornett. All 33 of Golden State’s bench points were meaningful. 

That's too much to overcome.