Fate awaits the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 or 7 against the Boston Celtics

The Golden State Warriors are primed to end the Boston Celtics and continue the dynasty. 

It’s the classic battle where the veteran, experienced team—looking like a fine wine, incapable of being beat, and won’t give in to the hype of the younger, up-and-coming team that wishes they could win—turns up all the heat and wins.

That seems like a less exciting situation compared to the up-and-coming team making it all the way to the Finals and making a new wave of fans happy, but it’s an inevitable guess of what’s going to happen in the remainder of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics series.

It doesn’t take much to say that Steph Curry is a winner; to claim that his team, the fantastic Warriors, are going to come out victorious in yet another NBA Playoffs and Finals that was tied due to a heroic 43 points and 10 rebounds performance by Curry in Game 4 and then increased to 3-2 when the Warriors took Game 5.

This Finals matchup is against the Celtics, a team that has proven to be on the rise and is better than most thought or would have predicted by now. Boston, also known as “The C’s,” has made a few trips to the playoffs and they’ve gotten far enough to reach the Eastern Conference Finals and they have a few heroes, but they’ve never been to the big dance.

The Warriors, on the other hand, have been to the playoffs eight times over the course of the past several seasons and to the Finals five times where they’ve won three championships under the delightful and talented Steph Curry. The Warriors will probably be looking to scratch off some dust and get the win, especially since the last time they were in the playoffs, they suffered a loss to the Toronto Raptors in 2019.

The Raptors won a rare bout, and it was rare in every sense of the word. They beat the Warriors, it was the Raptors franchise’s one and only title, and it was a 2019 Raptors team in a lone season. But then again, the Raptors had Kawhi Leonard in 2019 for a season and that helped. The Warriors at the time, after repeating in battle against LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers, seemed to have run out of gas. It was time for a break. The talented and experienced Warriors would go under a two-year hiatus in the playoffs due to injuries, but they’re back now and look ready to defeat another team posing a threat to their history and dynasty.

If history repeats itself or is factual, it’s inevitable: the Warriors will win this series against Boston, and will not be scared by a single game on the road or the idea of up-and-coming teams. If the rivalry with Cleveland proved anything, it’s that the Warriors truly are invincible and absolute perfection.

The Celtics are a good team, but they’re not believable. Boston fans probably don’t have this problem, but it’s hard to believe that they can defeat the Warriors in this space and time. That’s not any favoritism because of the Warriors’ history. It’s just the facts: while the Warriors are great and experienced, the other team is too young, inexperienced, and not good enough. With Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart at their core, the Boston franchise appears to be going places in the new era and will do great things as they have already.

Boston fans have unwavering support for their franchise known for its winning culture and stars, and the new-age Celtics team gives that spark for their fans. The Celtics, too, have a few memorable playoff appearances up their sleeve defeating Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in this year’s playoffs and back in 2018 to advance. This year, they advanced to the ECF and won against the Miami Heat to get to the Finals.

The C’s strolled past teams like the Nets, Bucks, and Heat to get where they are. There’s no doubt about Tatum and his Celtics’ resilience or solid proof that Steph and the Warriors will provide a scare to the movement the Celtics have started.

That’s exactly what it is: a movement. Boston has embarked on a resurgence since 2014 when a young coach from Butler University by the name of Brad Stevens took over head coaching duties. That was the same year they drafted Marcus Smart, a defensive sharpshooter with a lot of passion and IQ for the game. By the 2016-2017 season, Smart was the longest-tenured Celtic and one of few players remaining after multiple trades and offseason moves before drafting teammates Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Smart continues to be pivotal in the Celtics’ success.

The Celtics embarked on a rebuild, which they have continued with the hiring of Ime Udoka as head coach this season. The acquisition of several star players and their diverse coaching staff places the Celtics ahead of the pack in the Eastern Conference, and there’s no skepticism around whether they have the push or talent to succeed. Boston fans, Boston’s players like Smart, Tatum, Brown, and Udoka have been great, and the combination of all these things hitting at you once is a nearly invincible, perfect force.

But again, just having that – the talent, fans, new coach – and at this time in 2022, might not be enough to win the NBA Finals and to defeat a team like the Warriors with much more experienced, and perhaps, more talent is a stretch of the imagination. Indeed, if it should play out that the Celtics win, then they go home, make Boston happy with a parade, and stun the basketball world all around the globe. But we’re forgetting, while watching the Celtics win a plethora of playoff games against lesser foes in the East and rooting for Tatum’s heroics and making them the cornerstones of the East, that they just may be experiencing a temporary glory.

The type of glory that makes fans happy; that gives a team a pat on the back on the verge of some success, but not longevity success; that propels a team unusually to a championship win over a more experienced and deserving team like the Warriors. No one says the Celtics don’t deserve to be where they are, especially at this point in Tatum’s, Brown’s, and Smart’s careers, but winning this series with all in the air against the Warriors seems slim to impossible. None of that faux glory, fluffy effort compares to concrete history.

Perhaps, the game plan will have to change for both the Warriors and Celtics for the remainder of this series. The Celtics have been riding off the success of several wins from each round and plenty of enthusiasm around their offensive diversity. For the Warriors, it’s been some playoff wins as well along with their tradition of winning and their standing at the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference from the regular season.

With these two teams set to meet in Game 6 with a Game 7 on the line, each team will have to change their approach and not rely on either of these entities which have brought them this far and at times, held them back and caused a less exciting stalemate. Game 1 went to the Celtics in a blowout win where Tatum was held to 12 points; it was all Warriors in a blowout in Game 2; it went back and forth until Game 5 when the Warriors gave the series its first back-to-back.

The series is now 3-2 after Game 5, which was critical for the Celtics to win, but too much Andrew Wiggins and all-around effort from the Warriors in Game 5 made that impossible.

The Celtics will thrive in their role as the younger team in the current situation if they use the young legs of Tatum, Smart, and Brown to their advantage, and three is always better than one as they say. They also have some experience on their side in Al Horford, who can use size and dominance in the front court to knock off some wind from the Warriors, especially since they’ve been using so much of it to win Games 4 and 5. To say the least, it will be a physical game for the Celtics and not the mental game that they are technically supposed to be in their position to defeat the Warriors; they will have to use their youth and physicality to go up against Curry and the rest of the Warriors the rest of the way.

They will also have to switch up their offense to match the game plan of Steve Kerr, who is another power entirely behind Curry and his talented Warriors. It’s unlikely the Celtics will match the power, hunger, or expertise of the Warriors, however, time will only tell and it’s gotten them two wins out of this series against a team that very much is capable of a sweep.

The Warriors have a game plan they use well, and that always helps. The game plan of letting Curry come off the pick-and-roll and shoot lights out all game works. Admittedly, they’ll have to adjust to a Celtics team that has gotten to the NBA Finals and also to the diverse offensive game plan that Udoka may throw at Kerr behind their talent on the floor. The Warriors undoubtedly win the mental battle, and in the long run, they’re able to outwit Boston’s three players and their head coach. The Warriors, as an entire team right now, have enough gas – if they don’t run out under the pressure of a game or two, or closing out – to outlast this Celtics team. The bench consisting of players like Jordan Poole and Gary Payton II, along with their starting core should overwhelm the Celtics and make them have to adjust more than themselves.

The Warriors are also not known to fall under the pressure of the bright lights, and that will help even though the Celtics have been playing this game of wins-over-losses and taking it game-by-game.

It will be a thrill to see, either way, the Warriors and Celtics continue to battle it out to a Game 7 if it gets there. The trick, though, is that the Warriors shouldn’t let it. In order to prevent a Game 7, that means winning three games in a row as the series is now tied 3-2 and the two teams meet tonight in a Game 6, a pivotal and historic Game 6 known for its surprises and excitement. Game 6 is the deciding factor in where this series goes and where it has been. Golden State won Game 4 in a heroic performance from Curry, which tied things up.

If they want to continue to prove how playing the tie game with the Celtics isn’t a part of the Warriors’ gameplan, they will have to make a statement win to close it in Game 6. A Game 6 win is the norm, and it would top off them winning back-to-back games in Games 4 and 5. The odds of the Warriors winning two games in a row, then closing Game 6 with everything on the line is, or should seem, doable to them. Game 6 is on the road, and that throws a slight wrench in the operation as Boston might use the home crowd to their advantage and force Game 7.

This also means, though, that Game 7 will be in San Francisco if there is to be one. The Warriors can look at Game 6 like winning gold, but they should pay attention to the details like Tatum and the Celtics’ game plan and also stick closely to theirs.

Everything’s in the details, as they say, and that’s why Steph Curry is the key to the Warriors’ win. The “Baby-Faced Assassin” and performances like his in Game 4 will be necessary at whatever turn this series takes to rise above and close it. Steph’s hands behind the three, his legs and feet to dribble through opponents, and his heart when he celebrates after a basket will be of much necessity for the Warriors to win the series. The Celtics have a lot, but they don’t have Curry. The Warriors have to do more than bask in their opportunity and moment. They have a lot more riding on them than Boston.

Their glory, legacy, and history are following them everywhere from here on out, and this is an important chapter. The Warriors have to realize this, and the fact that they have the best player in the world on their team. Steph and his Warriors will use their team game, and will probably look to Wiggins, Thompson, Green, Poole, and Payton also. But no one man has the ticket to this series than Curry when everyone else on the court is cold and running around scrambling at what to do next. Steph always knows, and taken from the great Allen Iverson, seems to be “The Answer” to his team’s success in their slumps and success. The Warriors should use Curry and focus on winning because he’s focused on winning and the goal of a 4th championship is probably on his brain more than anything else.

The Warriors winning makes sense because they are the Warriors. The fact is that they will have to play a tough and unpredictable team like the Celtics who have some star power along with unbreakable confidence over making it this far. However, it doesn’t seem to be enough to turn the Warriors around and make them look clueless, especially with so much to lose for them. That would be the goal of the Celtics, to win over the Warriors for bragging rights or because they uniquely deserve their place in the Finals and make a top team look clueless against their trio, but not at this time against the Warriors.

The Warriors winning their 4th championship and making history instead of giving in to the Celtics makes more sense. The Warriors will probably win, and a plethora of sound reasons over overzealous glory is why, including Steph Curry.