Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors had a dream start in Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals, but the Boston Celtics stormed back in the fourth quarter to steal a win at the Chase Center, handing the Warriors their first home loss of the postseason.
According to ESPN’s Tim Legler, the Celtics’ defense drained Curry in the second half, and the Warriors’ superstar needs help from his supporting cast going forward.
“I think Steph Curry ran out of gas a little bit there late, and also he’s used to somebody else getting hot to make it easier for him, and it just never really happened. Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole in particular, never really got going in this game, so it was all on Steph.”
READ: NBA Twitter reacts to Warriors’ late letdown loss vs. Celtics in Game 1 of NBA Finals
Legler said that while both Thompson and Poole need to contribute more, Poole can be more effective as a versatile scorer.
“I’d put more emphasis on Poole from this standpoint: He can do a little bit more in transition with his dribble, and just in general being aggressive. He just looked uncomfortable. He looked uncomfortable the entire night…. He’s a young player, first finals stage, and the other thing maybe that was a little bit distracting to him, honestly, was the start that Steph Curry had. Because now you’re like ‘OK, it’s going to be Steph Curry here for a while,’ whereas Jordan Poole is typically used to, as soon as he gets in the game, the ball is in his hands, he’s like ‘go time.'”
