The Warriors have outscored the Celtics by nine points in each of the past two fourth quarters.
• Complete coverage: 2022 NBA Finals
Despite Stephen Curry having a rare off-shooting night in Game 5, Andrew Wiggins stepped up to deliver 26 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 104-94 win over the Boston Celtics to take a 3-2 series lead.
Let’s take a deep dive into all aspects of the box score:
Traditional
• Andrew Wiggins finished with a team-high 26 points and a game-high 13 rebounds in Game 5. In his first 622 career games – regular season and playoffs combined – Wiggins never grabbed more than 11 rebounds in a game. In the past two games, he’s respectively collected 16 and 13.
• Stephen Curry entered Game 5 averaging a series-leading 34.4 points on 49% shooting (25-51) from 3-point range. He finished Game 5 with 16 points and missed all nine of his 3-point attempts. It was the first time in 133 career playoffs games that Curry did not make at least one 3-pointer. It also snapped a streak of 233 games(regular season, playoffs, and play-in games) with a 3-pointer made.
• Despite his 0-9 shooting performance in Game 5, Curry still leads the series with 25 3-pointers made and is shooting 41.7% from beyond the arc. Of the 12 players in the Finals with at least 10 total 3-point attempts, Curry ranks fifth in percentage. Al Horford leads the series at 57.9% (11-19).
• Klay Thompson had his best shooting performance of the Finals as he made half of his 14 shot attempts from the field and shot 5-of-11 from 3-point range (45.5%). After making a total of four 3-pointers in the first two games of the series (4-15, 26.7%), Thompson has made 14 in the past three games (14-34, 41.2%).
• After scoring a total of four points in Games 3 and 4 combined in Boston (on 2-of-11 shooting), Draymond Green finished with eight points on 3-of-6 shooting in Game 5, while also adding eight rebounds and six assists.
• Gary Payton II (15) and Jordan Poole (14) combined to score 29 points off the Warriors bench, while Kevon Looney added two points in 17 foul-plagued minutes. Golden State’s bench dominated Boston’s bench in Game 5. Removing the final 1:19 when both teams emptied the bench and the game was decided, Golden State finished with a 31-4 edge in bench scoring. Boston’s Grant Williams (3 points, 1-2 FG, 0-1 3P), Derrick White (1 point, 0-4 FG, 0 3 3P) and Payton Pritchard (0 points, 0-3 FG, 0-3 3P) combined to shoot just 1-of-9 from the field and 0-7 from 3-point range in 42 combined minutes.
• Jayson Tatum had his top shooting performance of the Finals as he made half of his 20 shot attempts, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range. He finished with a game-high 27 points and a team-best 10 rebounds in 44 minutes. However, Tatum was held to five points on 1-of-5 shooting in the fourth quarter. For the series, Tatum is shooting 38-of-102 (37.3%) overall and has made the same number of 3-pointers (19-40, 47.5%) as 2-pointers (19-62, 30.6%).
• Among the Celtics that played more than the final 1:19 of the game, Robert Williams III was the only player to finish with a positive plus/minus. Boston outscored Golden State by 11 points in Williams III’s 30 minutes on the court, as he finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
• For the first time in the series, the Celtics won the third quarter as they outscored the Warriors 35-24, took their first lead of the game and led by as many as five points. However, Jordan Poole banked in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from 33 feet away to give the Warriors a one-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
• For the second straight game, the Warriors outscored the Celtics by nine points in the fourth quarter. Golden State won the final 12 minutes 29-20 in Game 5, but had a 29-14 advantage before the benches were emptied with 1:09 to play.
Advanced
• While Curry struggled to get a 3-pointer to drop, the Warriors’ offense still scored at an outstanding rate while he was on the court: 118.7 points per 100 possessions. The only player to post a superior offensive rating to Curry’s was Gary Payton II, as the Warriors scored 124.1 points per 100 possessions in his 26 minutes off the bench. Payton matched his playoff career-high with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
• Similar to his raw plus/minus (+11), Robert Williams’ offensive (106.3) and defensive (93.3) efficiency ratings in Game 5 are in stark contrast to his teammates. The Celtics outscored the Warriors by 13.0 points per 100 possessions in Williams’ 30 minutes on the court. They were outscored by 58.7 points per 100 possessions in Williams’ 18 minutes on the bench.
• Jaylen Brown shot 5-of-18 from the field, missed all five of his 3-point attempts and made 8-of-10 shots at the free-throw line for a true shooting percentage of 40.2%. It’s his lowest mark of the Finals and his second-lowest mark of the postseason.
• Boston finished with its second-lowest assist/turnover ratio in the postseason (1.0) by tallying 18 assists to go alongside 18 turnovers. During the playoffs, the Celtics are now 0-7 when they finish with an assist/turnover ratio below 1.5 and are 14-2 when they finish with an assist/turnover ratio above 1.5.
Miscellaneous
• As mentioned above, the Celtics finished with 18 turnovers in Game 5, which led to 22 points for the Warriors. Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson each cashed in for seven points off turnovers. For the series, the Warriors hold a 103-79 edge in points off turnovers.
• Boston doubled up Golden State on the offensive glass (8-4) and finished with a 16-7 advantage in second-chance points. Robert Williams III finished with a game-high four second-chance points, followed by Marcus Smart, Al Horford and Andrew Wiggins with three apiece.
• The Warriors added to their lead in fast break points for the series (61-51) as they outscored the Celtics 12-8 in Game 5. Gary Payton II led all players with four fast break points on Monday night.
• The Warriors finished with a 50-36 advantage in points in the paint to give them a two-point edge in the series (180-178). Andrew Wiggins scored 20 of his 26 points in the paint, including 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting on his 11 drives to the basket. Stephen Curry, Gary Payton II and Jaylen Brown each scored 10 points in the paint in Game 5.
Scoring
• We just mentioned Wiggins’ dominance in the paint as it accounted for 76.9% of his offense. He scored 15.4% (four points) in the mid-range and 7.7% (two points) at the free-throw line. The only place Wiggins went scoreless was from 3-point range as he finished 0-6 from deep.
• With his 3-point shot not falling, Stephen Curry got into the paint to score 62.5% of his points, the highest percentage he’s posted in any game this season (playoffs or regular season). Curry scored 87.5% of his points on 2-point shots, his highest mark in any game since Nov. 8, 2018, which happens to be the last time he played a game without making at least one 3-pointer.
• Klay Thompson was the only Warriors starter to make a 3-pointer in Game 5 as he finished 5-of-11 from beyond the arc and scored 71.4% of his points on 3s. The rest of the Warriors starters combined to shoot 0-of-17 from 3-point range.
• As a team, the Warriors shot 9-of-40 (22.5%) from 3-point range in Game 5, marking just the eighth time since 1983-84 that Golden State has attempted at least 40 3-pointers and made less than a quarter of the attempts. The last two instances have come against Boston: Monday’s Game 5 win and a regular-season loss on March 16.
• Boston assisted on 58.1% of its made field goals in Game 5, making it their lowest assist rate of the Finals and their third-lowest of the postseason.
Usage
• Among the starters, Stephen Curry (29.9%) and Jaylen Brown (28.2%) led their respective teams in usage rate. However, the top mark for both teams goes to a reserve as Jordan Poole led the Warriors at 31.7%, scoring 14 points in 14 minutes. Payton Pritchard led the Celtics at 31.1% but missed all three of his 3-point attempts in his five minutes on the floor.
• Through the first four games of the Finals, Stephen Curry scored 39.8% of Golden State’s points while he was on the court. To put that number in perspective, Jordan Poole was second on the Warriors at 25.6% and Jaylen Brown led the Celtics at 27.0%. In Game 5, Curry scored just 18% of Golden State’s points in his 37 minutes on the court.
• Klay Thompson outperformed his usage rate of 19.4% by scoring 25.9% of Golden State’s points in his 40 minutes of playing time.
• Jordan Poole accounted for 50% of Golden State’s points in his 14 minutes on the court, including his second buzzer-beating 3-pointer of the series.
Four Factors
• As a team, Boston posted an effective field goal percentage of 48.7% in Game 5. As John Schuhmann breaks down in his Game 5 Finals stat, Boston’s success in this series has been directly tied to their offensive output. In their three losses, Boston posted an eFG% below 49%. In their two wins, their eFG% was 62.9% (Game 1) and 55.6% (Game 3).
• Ironically, the Warriors were able to get the win despite posting their lowest effective field goal percentage of the Finals at 51.7%. While they did not have a great shooting night, the Warriors took care of the ball as they posted their lowest turnover percentage (7.2%) for the entire postseason.
• Boston’s 18.4% turnover rate was their second-highest of the series and all three of their losses have coincided with their three-highest turnover rates (19.4% in Game 2, 16.7% in Game 4 and 18.4% in Game 5).
• Boston finished with a significant advantage in offensive rebound rate –25.0% to 10.6% for Golden State – as the Celtics outscored the Warriors 16-7 on second-chance points. Robert Williams III led all players by grabbing 10.7% of all offensive rebounds available while he was on the court.
• While Boston posted its highest free throw rate of the series (0.413), they failed to take advantage of their extra opportunities at the free-throw line. Boston shot just 21-31 (67.7%) on free throws, while Golden State shot 13-15 (86.7%). Boston had 16 extra opportunities but finished with just an eight-point edge in free throws made.
Player Tracking
• Among the 17 players that logged at least five minutes in Game 5, the Warriors had the top four players in points per touch: Jordan Poole (0.483), Klay Thompson (0.467), Gary Payton II (0.455) and Andrew Wiggins (0.356). Robert Williams III led the Celtics at 0.313, followed by Jayson Tatum (0.303).
• Stephen Curry finished second on the Warriors with 72 total touches (one shy of Andrew Wiggins at 73), but only 22 of Curry’s touches came in the front court, compared to a team-high 37 for Wiggins. Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown led the way with 49 front-court touches each.
• Game 5 provided another example of good offense beating good defense as the Warriors shot 19-of-30 (63.3%) on contested shots, compared to 12-of-27 (44.4%) by the Celtics.
• Klay Thompson shot 3-3 on contested looks and just 4-of-11 when he was open. Meanwhile, Stephen Curry’s off night included shots when he was contested (4-of-9) or left open (4-of-11).
• The Warriors not only had the edge in contested field goals made (+7), but they also led in uncontested field goals made (+3). Golden State produced 10 more open looks than Boston, as the Warriors finished 22-58 (37.9%) on uncontested shots compared to 19-48 (39.6%) for the Celtics.
• Jaylen Brown (3.14 miles in 44 minutes) and Andrew Wiggins (3.08 miles in 43 minutes) covered the most distance traveled in Game 5.
Hustle
• With Kevon Looney limited to 17 minutes due to foul trouble, Golden State’s advantage in screen assists nearly vanished in Game 5 as the Warriors had 11 screen assists for 26 points compared to 10 assists for 23 points for the Celtics. With Looney limited, it was Gary Payton II that served as Golden State’s top screener with five screen assists.
• The Warriors finished with a 17-7 edge in deflections – and ended with a 9-2 advantage in steals. Gary Payton led all players with five deflections, followed by Klay Thompson with five and Draymond Green with four. The Celtics were led by Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum with two deflections apiece.
• Robert Williams III led all players with 15 contested shots in Game 5 as the Celtics finished with a 59-55 advantage. Part of that advantage was due to the fact that Golden State attempted 13 more shots than Boston (88-75).
Defense
• In addition to his eight points, eight rebounds and six assists. Draymond Green also held his defensive matchups to just six points on 1-of-9 (11.1%) shooting, while forcing four turnovers in 15:38 of defensive matchup time.
• While his shots were not falling, Stephen Curry was strong defensively, holding his matchups to eight points on 3-of-12 (25%) shooting and forcing three turnovers in 15:08 of matchup time.
• Andrew Wiggins was the primary defender on a team-high 22 shot attempts as he posted a game-high 17:29 of defensive matchup time. Wiggins held his matchups to 10-of-22 (45.5%) shooting overall, but the Celtics did shoot 5-of-7 from beyond the arc against him.
• In 10:22 of matchup time, Gary Payton II held his matchups to 15 points on 5-of-13 (38.5%) shooting, including 1-of-7 (14.3%) from 3-point range, while allowing just one assist and registering three steals.
• Jaylen Brown (33.3%), Marcus Smart (35.7%) and Jayson Tatum (37.5%) each held their defensive matchups below 40% shooting in Game 5. However, Derrick White (75%), Al Horford (61.5%), Robert Williams III (53.3%) and Grant Williams (50%) each allowed 50% shooting or better in their matchup time.
Matchups
• While Jayson Tatum (two points allowed, 1-4 FG, 4:53 matchup time) and Jaylen Brown (two points allowed, 1-3 FG, 2:01 matchup time) were able to keep Andrew Wiggins in check, Wiggins thrived when matched up against Al Horford (nine points, 4-6 FG, 3:47 matchup time), Derrick White (eight points, 4-4 FG, 1:01 matchup time) and Robert Williams III (five points, 2-4 FG, 1:40 of matchup time).
• The Celtics put an emphasis on slowing down Stephen Curry, and the matchup data shows their success as Marcus Smart held Curry to four points on 1-of-5 shooting (0-2 from 3-point range) in a team-high 4:06. The only Celtics to allow Curry to shoot 50% or better were Derrick White (six points, 3-6 FG, 0-3 3P) and Al Horford (two points, 1-1 FG).
• Jayson Tatum scored 13 of his game-high 27 points in his 10:31 of matchup time with Andrew Wiggins. Tatum shot 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from 3-point range in the matchup, while Wiggins forced three turnovers and allowed two assists.
• Draymond Green held Jaylen Brown scoreless in 4:53 of matchup time in Game 5, as Brown missed all five of his shot attempts (including two 3-pointers) and committed two turnovers while being defended by Green. This wasn’t a case of other Celtics scoring while Green defended Brown; the team scored just four points in Green’s 4:53 of defending Brown.
• Through the first five games of the series, Green has held Brown to 23 points on 9-of-31 (29%) shooting from the field and 1-of-14 (7.1%) from 3-point range in 21:25 of matchup time. Green has forced as many turnovers (five) as he has allowed assists while committing three shooting fouls and four free throws made.
