Author: Jake Brockhoff

Writer for The Raider Ramble and ATB Newtwork.

Celtics beat Warriors 116-100, Lead NBA Finals 2-1

@brockhoff55 recaps Game 3 of the NBA Finals ahead of Game 4 tonight. Who will take this one home?

After two dynamic and exciting games to kick off the 2022 NBA finals, the Warriors and Celtics headed across the country to play two more in Boston. Boston took game one, and game two was even until the third quarter Warriors took over. Both of these teams looked pretty even heading into a very important game three.

Game Recap

The Celtics got off to an extremely hot and high-scoring start in this one. Boston put up 33 points in the first quarter while holding Golden State to just 22, good enough for an eleven-point lead after one. Jaylen Brown had over half of the Celtics’ first-quarter points, with 17 of his own.

The second quarter was just as high scoring, except for both teams this time. The Celtics improved off their first quarter with a whopping 35-point second quarter, and the Warriors nearly matched that with a 34-piece of their own. Boston went into halftime with a 68-56 lead.

As always, the Warriors stormed out of the gate in the third quarter, and immediately made it a game, even taking the lead late in the period. The Warriors put up 33 in the third, but the 25-point effort from the Celtics was enough to keep a four-point lead in the fourth.

A combination of a sensational defensive effort from Boston and Stephen Curry exiting early with an injury helped Boston to a 16-point win, and the series lead. The second half was much more back-and-forth than the first, but excellent games from Tatum, Brown, and Smart helped the Celtics hold on to win. Boston now leads the NBA Finals two games to one.

Stat Leaders

Speaking of those three, they collectively made NBA history. Tatum, Brown and Smart were the first three teammates with 24+ points, 5+ rebounds, and 5+ assists in an NBA finals game since 1984. Those three also combined for 77 points altogether.

Aside from scoring, Celtics’ center Robert Williams was exceptional. Williams had 10 rebounds, four blocks, and three steals. Steph led the Warriors with 31 points, and Klay Thompson had 25 of his own. Draymond Green really struggled during this game, scoring just two points and fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Neither team shot terribly well, with the Warriors shooting at a 38% clip, compared to 37% for Boston. Boston’s real advantage came on the glass, outrebounding Golden State 47-31.

Highlights

What’s Next?

The Celtics lead the NBA Finals 2-1, and they’ll look to make it 3-1 on Friday night. That game will take place at 9:00pm eastern time on Friday night, on ABC.

What to Watch For in the 2022 NBA Finals

Credit: John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

It’s the best time of the year. Maybe your semester is ending, you’re entering the summer, but most importantly, the NBA Finals are here again. It almost feels refreshing to have competitive matchups in recent years after the monotony of the annual Warriors-Cavs showdown. The Warriors are back in the Finals again, but this time they will play the Boston Celtics. This series looks like a fantastic one. Let’s dive right into it.

The Warriors have had nothing short of a dominant run to get here. Golden State easily knocked off the MVP Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets in five games. The Warriors then dismantled the Grizzlies in six, and the Mavericks in five.

The Celtics had a much harder route, but found their way here nonetheless. Boston routed Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Nets in a surprisingly dominant four-game sweep. After that, the Celtics have won consecutive seven-game series’ against the defending champion Bucks, and the #1 seeded Heat.

The Star Players

Stephen Curry remains one of the most impressive players in NBA history, and his playoff run has been no different. Curry has averaged nearly 26 PPG in these playoffs, and his splash brother Klay Thompson has 19.8 PPG. Their much younger splash brother, Jordan Poole has 18.4 PPG himself.

Jayson Tatum has proven his stardom to the world throughout these playoffs. Tatum has 27 points per game in the postseason, and he’s done that against the Heat and Bucks; two of the best defensive teams in the league. Tatum has struggled at moments, but he seems like a young star who is figuring out how to put together a championship run of his own.

Jaylen Brown has been impressive as well, with 22.9 PPG. Brown has been a little more inconsistent during these playoffs, but when he’s been on, he’s absolutely dominant. While not star players, Al Horford and Marcus Smart have been huge different makers during the postseason as well.

Key Matchups

The first, and most important matchup of the series will be between the point guards; Marcus Smart and Stephen Curry. We all know how impressive Steph is, but Smart often does go under-appreciated. He is the heart and soul of the elite Celtics’ defense. Their chances of winning the series as a whole will dramatically decrease if Smart is unable to limit Curry in any capacity.

Another important matchup will be Andrew Wiggins and either Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown. Depending on different lineups during the game, Wiggins will likely be paired with one of these two. Wiggins’ defense has gotten much better over the past season, and he’s an important cog in the Warriors’ stout defense. He’ll be just as important when he’s forced to defend both of the Celtics’ best players.

Finally, the third matchup to watch will be Draymond Green against Robert Williams, Or Jayson Tatum in a small-ball lineup. Both of these teams can play small-ball, so some funky lineups will be a pretty common occurrence during this series. Green has been the heart and soul of the Warriors over the past half-decade, and he brings a ton of intensity on the defensive and rebounding facets of the game. Whether he’s paired up against Williams or Tatum, that will be important to the Warriors’ success in general.

NBA Finals Preview

This is going to be one hell of a series. The Warriors seem like the best team almost every year, and here they find themselves in the Finals once again. The Celtics have taken an extremely tough path to get here, and find themselves on the biggest stage after it all.

Ultimately, don’t be surprised if this series goes the distance. The Warriors are impossibly tough to beat at home, which makes them an automatic favorite. Boston has shown they shouldn’t be counted out, though, and they’ve shown prolonged periods of dominance against some heavy competition throughout these playoffs.

A good prediction for how the NBA Finals will end? Warriors in seven.

The Memphis Grizzlies May be the Next Dynasty to Come Out of the West

Throughout the past decade, the Western Conference has been dominated by a handful of teams. The Warriors, Spurs, Lakers, and many other teams have come roaring out of the West in the past decade. Golden State made it again this year, but with their players beginning to age, it may be time for another shift in power. That shift in power may lead to the Memphis Grizzlies capitalizing on the opportunity to become the next dynasty out of the west.

How did the rebuild begin?

In the 2018 season, the Memphis Grizzlies finished with an abysmal 22-60 record. The lottery odds rewarded that valiant tank effort with the second overall pick. Memphis used that pick to select Ja Morant, and since that day, things have only gone uphill.

Their record immediately improved by 11 games the next year, with a final record of 33-49. In the first installment of any form of play-in tournament in the bubble, the Grizzlies were one missed game-winning shot from Caris LeVert away from making the playoffs.

They would follow that up with a 38-34 record in the 2020–21 season, which was good enough for the ninth seed. They wound up avenging their play-in woes and made it to the playoffs before bowing out in five games to the Jazz.

What Happened in 2022?

In 2022, Memphis put it all together and the team reached new heights. Ja Morant put forth an absolutely stellar season, and the Grizzlies earned the second seed in the west with a 56-26 record. Memphis beat Minnesota in a dramatic first-round series that went six games. In the second round, they lost in six games to the Warriors, who would wind up winning the conference.

Their 56-26 record this season really jumpstarted this journey for Memphis. Most talking heads projected the team to land in the middle of the conference, or in the play-in tournament. That made sense, considering the fact that Memphis was in the play-in situation the previous two seasons.

Despite some disappointment to end the playoffs, the turnaround from this Memphis team has been remarkable. After a playoff appearance in 2016, Memphis had just one bad year. Immediately after that they selected a franchise player and built their young core. In just a couple of years, they’ve become a contender under a brand-new core of players, and have put themselves in a tremendous position this off-season.

Why are the Grizzlies the Next Dynasty?

What those talking heads were wrong about was the extreme development taken by several Grizzlies this season. Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and several others made huge strides. Those strides put Memphis in an excellent position heading into this offseason.

The Grizzlies currently have the 24th-highest salary cap in the NBA, at just $97 million. For reference, the three teams that finished below them (Warriors, Mavericks, Jazz) had the second, sixth and tenth highest team salaries in the league.

Ja Morant is eligible for an extension heading into this offseason. It’s almost certain that he’ll be earning a huge contract in the near future. Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane, and several others are going to be due for new contracts in the next year or two. Memphis will have to pay to keep its core together, but they may still end up with more money than they know what to do with.

Because the Grizzlies’ young core is much more homegrown than their counterparts, they still own all of their draft picks. In the upcoming 2022 draft, they’ll pick 22nd, 29th, and 47th.

The leap the Grizzlies took this past season was nothing short of remarkable. Memphis seemed to have already expedited their rebuild, but their success in 2021 blew the lid off of anybody’s expectations for them. With all of their draft picks and more cap space than they could ask for, the Grizzlies appear to be the next dynasty to come out of the West.

The Utah Jazz Must Trade Their Stars

jazz trade stars
Credit: Getty Images

The Utah Jazz might be in something even worse than basketball hell. They find themselves stuck in basketball purgatory. After yet another playoff disappointment, there’s only one thing they should do this summer. The Utah Jazz must trade their stars.

For the past six years, the Utah Jazz have been a perennial playoff contender, and one of the more underrated teams in the Western Conference as a whole. Their run began in the 2016 season, with a team led by their then-franchise player, Gordan Heyward, alongside Rudy Gobert and “Iso” Joe Johnson. This unit surprisingly took the series from the fourth-seed Clippers in seven games.

Then, they lost to the Warriors in the second-round. After that, Gordon Hayward bailed for Boston, seeking a championship in a bigger market. Like most smaller-market teams, the loss of that star player seemed devastating. Many thought the Jazz wouldn’t be able to return to that stage.

Those people were wrong, and after trading for Donovan Mitchell in the 2017 draft they’ve rattled off five straight playoff appearances, against expectations. With that said, the duo of Mitchell and Gobert has never made it to the conference finals. This season might have been the most disappointing of them all, with the team losing seven of their final 11 games before bowing out in the first round.

The Cap Situation

In total, the Jazz have the sixth highest payroll in the NBA, over $155 million. A large chunk of that number is owed to Rudy Gobert, who will make $169 million over the next four years, until he’s a free agent in 2026. The final year of his contract is brutal for Utah, at a fully-guaranteed $46.6 million.

Donovan Mitchell will also be a free agent in 2026. He’s guaranteed less than Gobert, but the $134 million left on his contract isn’t exactly appealing for Utah. Mike Conley has two years left on his contract, and he’ll make $22 million next year.

The 2022 Luxury Tax Threshold is $149 million. Currently, the contracts on the Jazz Roster add up to $155 million. This price is far too high for a core that has never seriously contended for a championship, and it just wouldn’t make sense to run it back with the same group after their sixth consecutive playoff failure.

What Options Does Utah Have?

Fortunately for the Jazz, they won’t be losing any key players to free agency this summer. Gobert, Mitchell, Conley, Bogdanovich, Clarkson and O’Neale will all be returning next season, so the future of the team rests in the hands of the front office.

Bojan Bogdanovic will be the first player to have his contract expire, as he’ll be a free agent after the 2022 season. Would it make sense to trade him this offseason? Bojan will make $19 million this year. In 2021, he averaged 18.1 points per game. He shot well, hitting at 45% from the field, and 38% from three. Those are some good numbers as a secondary option. If a team trades for him they shouldn’t be worried about his contract given his production.

The Jazz have other trade options in Clarkson and Conley, but the return on a trade for either of these players won’t be high enough to improve the team as much as they need to. Utah doesn’t own a 2022 draft pick, which further hurts this situation. That draft pick could offer as a trade chip to help these negotiations.

Why Must the Jazz Trade Their Stars?

The worst place to be in the NBA is the middle of the pack. Utah finished fifth in the west last year, but their current roster has proved incapable of making a serious playoff run. The best thing the Jazz can do now is shake the roster up. That can only truly be done by trading one of their star players.

Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell both have a ton of trade value, and there’s little doubt that Utah can get a significant return for either player. This is the only route the Jazz can take if they want to make a significant change.

When Hayward left in 2017, nobody thought Utah would be able to rebound like they did. They’ve proven themselves more than capable of forming a competitive team in a small market, and they shouldn’t be counted out by any means.

Still, the only way Utah can escape basketball purgatory is to trade either Mitchell, Gobert or both. Whether they choose to contend or rebuild, the only way to break up this monotony is for the Jazz to trade their stars.