The Boston Celtics lost back-to-back games in the 2022 NBA Playoffs for the first-time last night largely thanks to 18 turnovers and 10 missed free throws. Overall, it doesn’t look too important but in the NBA Finals it’s often the little things that count big. 

The Golden State Warriors now lead the series 3-2. In those three wins the Celtics have committed a total of 51 turnovers, leading to 72 points. Game 5 saw Boston commit 18 turnovers for the second time in the series, which led to 22 Warriors points. 

Turnovers have plagued the Celtics throughout the playoffs with the team going 1-7 in games where they commit 16+ turnovers, while they are 13-2 in other games. 

The Warriors have scored 103 points off turnovers through the first 5 games of the Finals, which is the most since the Chicago Bulls (111) in 1992.

The Celtics two stars Jayson Tatum & Jaylen Brown have been the biggest culprits and not just because they spend much of their time with the ball in hand. Tatum has committed 95 turnovers in the 2022 post-season, which is the most in a single post-season ever, while Brown isn’t far behind with 69 turnovers.  

The two are averaging 3+ turnovers a game in the finals, while they combine for an average of 7.6 turnovers in losses. Sometimes good defence forces turnovers but in a lot of cases here, its poor concentration, lackadaisical play and bad decision making. 

Turnovers alone equate to a 24-point differential in the Finals. With the Warriors scoring just 7 fewer points off turnovers in their three wins than the Celtics have in the entire series. 

Boston could have made up for this at the line, with the Celtics having taken 107 free throws so far in the playoffs compared to just 80 by the Warriors but those extra 27 free throw attempts have led to just 15 more points. 

As we head back to Boston for Game 6, the Celtics have lost this series for themselves more so than the Warriors have won it. This is the first finals experience for this young Boston Celtics team and through 5 games it is showing. Naivety combined with exhaustion after going to back-to-back Game 7’s to reach this stage.

When both teams play their best, the Boston Celtics are a better team than the Golden State Warriors, but we have yet to see that in this series. With the superstar talent of Steph Curry and elite coaching of Steve Kerr shining through instead.

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(Photo- Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)