Here. We. Go. The Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors will begin their 2022 NBA Finals matchup this coming Thursday at Chase Center down in San Francisco. It’s the best of the East against the best of the West. It can’t get any better than this. Check out our preview below of Game 1 of Celtics vs. Warriors 2022 NBA Finals series.
The Celtics gutted out a thrilling 100-96 win in Game 7 of the 2022 Eastern Conference finals over the Miami Heat on the road, and it said a lot about the solid makeup of this Boston unit. For the Celtics to win three times in four road games in South Beach in that round is a good sign for Boston’s chances to win tough games in unfriendly atmosphere in the playoffs. Speaking of which, it definitely needs to be mentioned here that the Celtics know what it likes to win at Chase Center. They beat Golden State there back in March, 110-88, with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scoring 26 points. Tatum and Brown are going to be problems on both ends of the floor for the Warriors. Tatum is a reliable primary option, and so is Brown. Both are also capable of guarding multiple positions and also play so well together with another defensive beast in Marcus Smart. This is a gritty Boston squad that also possesses fluidity on offense with great movement as well.
The Celtics are 4-0 against the spread in their last 4 Thursday games.
The Warriors took a much shorter route in their own conference finals series against the Dallas Mavericks, taking care of business in just five games. That also means that the Warriors have lots of advantage over Boston in terms of rest. As shown by the Warriors in the Mavs series, they are very much capable of abusing holes on their opponents’ interior defense. They might not have as many opportunities in the NBA Finals because the Warriors have better perimeter defenders and Robert Williams, but there’s really no defense that Golden State’s attack can’t stretch. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, and Otto Porter are all fantastic shot creators. Plus they have Draymond Green as a conduit that can always raise the ceiling of this already dangerous Warriors’ offense, with or without him.
The Warriors are 4-0 against the spread in their last 4 postseason games as a favorite.
