With a deep roster and bright future, many NBA experts believe the Boston Celtics are the only team capable of beating the defending champion Golden State Warriors.
The Boston Celtics have the talent, depth and stardom to get to the NBA Finals, but there is one team standing in the way of winning it all.
With four NBA championship appearances and three titles won over the last four seasons, the Golden State Warriors have put together one of the most dominant stretches of greatness in sports history.
Then, when the Warriors signed four-time NBA All Star DeMarcus Cousins this offseason, the national media erupted as if Golden State had already secured a fourth championship to add to its recent run of eminence.
It’s far from a foregone conclusion though.
There is one team in the NBA capable of beating the Golden State Warriors in a seven-game series and it is the Boston Celtics.
Brad Stevens vs. Steve Kerr
While the players on the court are the most important piece to formulating a dominant product, the coach guiding those players is extremely valuable in its own right.
With the Celtics and Warriors, the coaching matchup is arguably the most intriguing in basketball.
The two have taken different paths to get where they are today.
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Stevens paved his way as a mid-major mastermind in NCAA Basketball where he helped guide Butler University to a 166-49 record in the six years at the school including five NCAA Tournament appearances and a pair of runner-up finishes in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons.
His excellence propelled the Bulldogs to national prominence and landed him a job with the Boston Celtics.
The transition to the next level was going to take time with the roster constructed for him and it showed in his first season, when the Celtics struggled mightily and won just 25 games.
Since that first season, Stevens has led a turnaround in Boston and each season under his guidance the Celtics have improved. Since winning 25 games in year one, the Celtics have won 40, 48, 53 and 55 in the following years and last season reached the Eastern Conference Finals losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers led by all-time great LeBron James.
Last season proved that Stevens and the Celtics were on the verge of something special and this season presents that next step, winning a title.
For Kerr it’s been a different route. The Warriors head coach was a player in the league and won five championships, four coming with the Chicago Bulls. In 2014 he was named the Warriors head coach and since taking over, Kerr has led Golden State to a 265-63 regular season record, three NBA titles and was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 2016.
Kerr and the Warriors have established a dynasty built around sharpshooters such as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson at the guard position.
Both Stevens and Kerr have done fantastic jobs over the past few years but Kerr took over the puzzle pieces and plugged them into his system. On the other hand Stevens had to get his puzzle pieces and build them up to where he wants them to be.
While Kerr has the NBA Coach of the Year award to his name, Stevens has a legitimate argument to have won that award in both the 2014-15 season and last year.
Celtics bench vs. Warriors bench
In a seven-game series against Golden State, a team has to have a multitude of players chipping in off the bench and being fresh to beat the Warriors.
It’s because Golden State relies heavier on its stardom in the starting five than other teams can, for good reason.
This season the Celtics bench ranks 12th in the NBA in terms of efficiency NBA Efficiency recap = ((Points + Rebounds + Assists + Steals + Blocks) – ((Field goals attempts – Field goals made) + (Free throws attempts – Free throws made) + Turnovers)) at 42.3 and the Warriors rank 27th in that category at 35.7.
This season the Warriors have only played two bench players more than 20 minutes — Andre Iguodola against the Denver Nuggets and Jonas Jerebko against the Utah Jazz.
Boston has played three players off the bench for at least 20 minutes in each of its three games to start the season.
The Boston Celtics bench will be one of the key reasons if Boston defeats the Warriors.
Boston’s ability to defend guards
The two teams played twice last season.
Boston won 92-88 at home in the first matchup and the Warriors won 109-105 at home.
In the two matchups the biggest difference was Marcus Smart.
With Thompson and Curry making up Golden State’s backcourt, at least one of those two have to be slowed down.
Marcus Smart coming off the bench in the 92-88 win showed how valuable he truly is to the team and that his 4-year $52 million contract is well worth the money spent.
Smart was +15 on the court in 30 minutes and had a defensive rating of 83, the number of points allowed per 100 possessions and helped hold Golden State to under 100 points, a tall task to do.
Curry was just 3-for-14 shooting 2-for-9 from three-point land and scored just 9 points. Thompson scored 13 points on 5-for-18 shooting and was 3-for-11 shooting behind the three-point line.
That game proved that the Celtics are capable of beating the Warriors.
Key returns and added experience
With Gordon Hayward returned from injury and Kyrie Irving back for another season to go along with another year of experience for guys such as Jayson Tatum, Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart.
If all of these guys are healthy come playoff time, the Celtics are the only team in the NBA that can beat the Warriors and in order to do so it will take six or seven games and Boston will have to wear down Golden State and defend to the ability its shown.