Game 5 goes to the Warriors

The Warriors take a pivotal Game 5 at home and now have a chance to win their 4th NBA Championship in 8 years, in the Celtics' arena. Despite Steph having a terrible shooting night (he didn't make a three!!!) the Warriors depth proved to be enough. Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson led the way with 26 points and 21 points respectively. The Dubs also got surprise contributions from Gary Payton (15 points) and Jordan Poole (14 points). 

Game 5 Predictions: 

1. Jayson Tatum will break out of slump.
2. Draymond Green breaks out of his slump but Klay continues to struggle.
3. Jordan Poole's minutes will continue to get reduced -- he may completely fall out of the rotation.
4. Robert Williams will maintain his current production and his minutes will increase. 

Almost all of these predictions turned out to be true and they all contributed to the result of game 5. 

• Jayson Tatum will break out of his slump - The 24 year old All-NBA player was due for a good shooting night. He went 10/20 from the field and made 5 threes on 9 attempts. He grabbed 10 rebounds and had 4 assists on the night as well. He still struggled with turnovers but it was by far his best game of the Finals so far and he totaled 27 points in the losing effort. While he excelled, his team did not. Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart combined for 12-33 shooting and their 38 combined points was not enough. 

• Draymond Green breaks out of his slump but Klay continues to struggle - Draymond Green was absolutely back to being Draymond Green and it was great for Warriors fans. He went for 8 points, 6 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and played DPOY level defense as well. Unfortunately, he did foul out but Curry, Wiggins, Klay, and Payton were able to put the finishing touches to put the game away. Klay had a much better shooting night than I expected. He shot 50% from the field for an efficient 21 points. He also added 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He stepped up when the team needed him to step up.  

• Jordan Poole's minutes will continue to get reduced - As a big fan of Jordan Poole's game, I hated to see my prediction come true. After barely hitting the 20 minute mark last game, he hit a season low 14 minutes in game 5. His poor shot selection through the first 4 games definitely contributed to this decision but Poole made the most out of his court time and put 14 points on the board for the Warriors

• Robert Williams will maintain his current production & health update- Williams minutes and production stayed the same. He added 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists in 30 minutes. He is obviously in pain and playing through it. Former Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas criticized the organization by quoting a tweet and saying “Heard that before lol” to a tweet which stated that the Celtics told Williams he could not further injure his knee by playing. Thomas was diagnosed in 2017 with a right femoral-acetabular impingement with labral tear in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics Organization told him it was a bone bruise and playing through the injury could not cause more harm to his already injured hip. When Thomas was traded in the Cavaliers in 2018, the actual injury was revealed to him and the former all-star never was able to return to that all star level again because of the damage caused playing through the pain in 2017. Williams is promising 24 year old with DPOY potential and NBA fans can only hope that he will be 100% healthy by the start of next season. 

Even going down 3-2, the Celtics still absolutely have a chance to get back in the series-- it's just going to be a lot harder than it needs to be. Not winning game 5 while Curry had one of the worst playoff games of his career is less than ideal but they get to go home and play in front of their home crowd. They will need help from their supporting cast and Tatum must have another good game. Steph Curry will not have 2 bad games in a row. 

Turnovers have been the story of the series for the Celtics. They are 0-3 when they turn the ball over more than 12 times which directly ties into Tatum as they are also 0-3 when he turns the ball over more than twice. Boston has struggled with not turning the ball over and it has resulted in losses when the Warriors are able to play in the open court. 

Warriors need to continue to play the way they have been for 3 other series. Moving the basketball,  keeping the Celtics out of the paint, and forcing turnovers all but guarantees ring number 4 for the Warriors core 4. 

Game 6 Predictions: 

1. Brown and Smart have better games but Tatum struggles again
2. Warriors win Game 6 in Boston to win the championship 
3. Steph Curry gets his first Finals MVP