At the risk of over-simplification, one number more than any other tells the story of why the Golden State Warriors lost Game 3: the Celtics rebounded 50% of their own misses. That puts Boston’s offensive rebounding in Game 3 in the 100th percentile of all playoff games this season per Cleaning the Glass. The Celtics are bigger, longer, and more athletic than the Warriors. But so are a lot of teams; Golden State did an excellent job protecting the defensive glass this season. Heck, 6’6” Grant Williams had three offensive rebounds by himself in a pivotal second half stretch that kept the Warriors at bay.
When the Warriors watch the film from Game 3, they will see missed box outs and botched defensive rotations aplenty. It was a team-wide issue. Here, Klay is supposed to box out Jaylen Brown after Brown’s man, GP2, closes out on Grant Williams. Instead, Klay dawdles underneath the rim and Brown gets the benefit of the bounce.
Or how about here, where Steph Curry seems to be picking up Jayson Tatum, but then let’s Tatum saunter towards the rim, leaving Klay caught between Tatum and Marcus Smart.
Even Draymond Green, who admitted to “playing like s***” after the game, made some uncharacteristic errors. He goes for the soft rebound here instead of boxing out Robert Williams; box out Williams and the rebound probably falls to Steph or Klay.
(Side bar: Both Williams’ came up big for Boston in Game 3 and Robert Williams’ defensive impact was evident throughout. Even setting aside his 4 blocks, Williams deterred numerous Warriors drives. Golden State is clearly wary of violating the no-fly zone around Boston’s basket now).
Here’s a final one for good measure: Jordan Poole neither helps Andrew Wiggins on Robert Williams, nor does he pick up Grant Williams running in from the perimeter. These are the types of defensive errors that deflate any comeback attempt.
Some have wondered why Kevon Looney only saw 17 minutes of action, given that Looney is an excellent rebounder and the Warriors struggled to get boards. Lineups without Looney haven’t been rebounding juggernauts in the playoffs, allowing opponents to rebound 28% of their missed shots per Cleaning the Glass. That is a far cry from the 50% mark in Game 3. The other Warriors need to collectively fix this issue.
Boston managed an eFG% of 58%; solid, but not overwhelming, and just a percentage point more than what Golden State put up. The Celtics still ended with a scorching offensive rating of 129. In addition, Golden State’s inability to secure live ball rebounds also compromised their own transition attempts. As I mentioned in my short series preview, the Warriors need to manufacture as many transition attempts as possible against Boston’s defense. Those missed rebounds hurt them on the offensive side as well.
If the board man gets paid, the board team gets wins.