Rare Lack Of Poise Haunted Celtics Down The Stretch In Game 4

With 5:18 left in the fourth quarter of Game 4, the Celtics held a 94-90 lead and seemed to be in command on both ends of the floor despite Steph Curry’s outburst. From that point on, however, Boston imploded to the dismay of the raucous TD Garden crowd, as Golden State finished the game on a 17-3 run to tie up the series and retake home court advantage. 

After effectively driving into the lane and opening up offensive opportunities throughout the game, Boston’s offense deviated from the gameplan as players settled for three-pointers in an attempt to match Curry’s output. The desperation was obvious. 

“We just didn’t execute late down the stretch,” Marcus Smart said after the game, per NBA.com. He scored 18 points in spite of questionable late-game shots. “They went on a run early on in the third. We sustained it, made a run of our own. After that we just couldn’t execute.” 

“We had plenty of opportunities, obviously. Every time we got a five-, six-point lead, it felt like we made some poor decisions,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said in his post-game press conference. “Whether it was rushed shots in traffic or … standing around and looking at each other a little bit there.”

One of the storylines heading into this series was the fact that Golden State is so experienced, having been to the Finals in six of the last eight seasons, while nobody on this Boston team has ever gotten to this stage. In Game 4, we saw the effects of that for the first time. 

The Celtics are now 1-6 in the playoffs when committing 16+ turnovers. When they’ve given away 15 or fewer, they’ve gone 13-2. They were sloppy, they settled for some uncharacteristic looks and the young core looked lost down the stretch. 

Heading into Game 5 in San Francisco, it’ll be very interesting to see if the Warriors capitalize on the momentum or if this Celtics squad responds with the resiliency we’ve seen them display all year long.

The Warriors unsurprisingly opened as home favorites for Game 5. Above, you can see BetQL’s best bets!