SAN FRANCISCO — In Ime Udoka’s less than 10-minute press conference after the Celtics’ Game 2 loss in the Finals, he used the word “turnovers” 11 times when discussing his team’s offense. That should give you a decent hint at what Udoka felt was the cause behind Boston’s 107–88 defeat at the hands of the Warriors on Tuesday. Carelessness with the ball was the glaring issue among a few others for the Celts, whose scoring attack went from flamethrower in Game 1 to frigid as a windy day in the bay in Game 2.
Udoka was certainly not wrong to cite the giveaways as perhaps the biggest reason for Boston’s loss. This has been a playoffs-long issue now. When the Celtics throw away the ball, they don’t win. And while the Warriors deserve credit for their defensive intensity on Tuesday, many of Boston’s 18 turnovers were unforced errors. Bad passes, poor decision-making, rushing in transition, stepping out of bounds… those are all blunders Boston has the ability to clean up regardless of what Golden State is doing defensively. The giveaways were not simply the result of an overly aggressive scheme or constant hard traps or frequent blitzes. And those mistakes are ultimately multi-layered. Not only do the Warriors have a much better chance to score in transition than against the Celtics in the halfcourt, easier scores for the Dubs mean Boston has to take the ball out from under the hoop more often, which in turn makes life more difficult for the offense when it has to play against a set defense.
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