NLL Insider - Round 2 - Celtics 2, Warriors 1

by dunadan, updated on Wednesday, February 17 2016, 08:17 am EST

Game 3 - Balance!

After their game 2 scare and rising to the top of the NLL in the meantime, the Celtics used a strong second half effort to show the Warriors their place.

Durant led all scorers wit 32, but the Celtics had six players in double figures. Curry finished with 12 points after being nearly shut out in the first half.

The Warriors committed a whopping 17 turnovers as opposed to only 6 from the Celtics. They also shot worse from the field, committed more fouls and narrowly lost the battle on the boards. All these factors contributed to their 109-93 loss and they are now 0-2 against the NLL.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15574366/NLL/nba2k14stats_20160217_094957_Celtics-Warriors.txt

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15574366/NLL/nba2k14stats_20160217_094957_Celtics-Warriors_pbyp.txt

They will now have one more shot against the somewhat struggling Cavaliers.

Game 2 - Iggy impact

Sick of being a punching bag for the NLLs best the Warriors made some changes to their lineup and offensive schemes (running with the popular OKC/Pops combo). And voila. Take that NLL.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15574366/NLL/nba2k14stats_20160212_110322_Warriors-Celtics.txt

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15574366/NLL/nba2k14stats_20160212_110322_Warriors-Celtics_pbyp.txt

Game 1 - More of the same

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15574366/NLL/nba2k14stats_20160211_150806_Celtics-Warriors.txt

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15574366/NLL/nba2k14stats_20160211_150806_Celtics-Warriors_pbyp.txt

Some changes in order for game 2.

After miserably failing against the Sixers, the NBA Dubs head on to their next task. The Boston Celtics. According to the standings they are an even stronger team, but they recently lost to the Sixers as well. So who knows, may Golden State matches up better against them.

For game one, they will go with their regular NBA rotation. If they fail again, Steve Kerr will start mixing things up.

Andrew Bogut vs. Nikola Vucevic

We already discussed the GS players in detail in the last series, so we will concentrate on their opponents here.

Nikola is one of the best rebounders in the NLL on both sides of the floor at over 13 rpg, and despite being only the team's fifth option he chips in almost 14ppg.

Despite a really developed mid-range game he scores almost exclusively in the paint and from the line. I guess the mid-range is already occupied by his team-mates and he moves down low despite a 95-mid tendency.

On the defensive side he is not quite the presence of a Bogut. He can hold his own, but it not a plus defender

Edge: Tie, given how well Bogut played against Philly.

Draymond Green vs. Al Horford

Horford's game is very similar to Vucecic's and his numbers are similar too. Less rebounding at 9rpg, almost identical scoring at 14ppg and better defense.

He is currently expanding his range to the three-point line, but rarely ever shows it.

Like most PFs, he has a huge height advantage over Green as well.

Edge: Boston.

Harrison Barnes vs. Kevin Durant

KD is not quite as dominant this season. His scoring is down, but that is of to be expected, considering his team is not a two-men show. Despite his GM's concerns about his efficiency, he is shooting it better than last season, both inside (49%) and outside (35%) the arc.

Barnes doesn't have a prayer of stopping KD. No one does really. It's just a matter of how many shots he takes.

Edge: Boston.

Klay Thompson vs. Trevor Ariza

Ever since developing his three-point shoot, Ariza has been a nightmare matchup in the NLL. He's a Â§&D guy, who sticks to his strengths, being a pest on defense, and firing away from the corners or dunking it on cuts.

He can be stuck on both small forwards and shooting guards and usually either has a quickness or height advantage. Against Thompson neither is really the case. This might be one of the matchups where he does not have his usual impact.

Edge: Golden State.

Stephen Curry vs. Ty Lawson

Here we go again. The all-deciding matchup. NLL Lawson's decline is much slower than that of his drunk NBA counterpart. He is still contributing efficiently on offense somehow, but he is a sieve on defense. While they can get away with it, because of their own potent offense, the Celtics are much better with him off the floor.

Edge: Golden State.

Benches

With Gibson. Lin, Aminu and Neal, the Celtics have some good players on the bench. But they are not at the Sixer's level of depth. And they might not be better as the Golden State bench led by sixth man Iggy.

Edge: Tie.

Overall: The C's have the edge up front. The Dubs in the back-court. 2k14 is very much dominated by guards, so does this give Golden State an edge overall? If they can keep Boston off the glass maybe. But given how they fared against Philly it is highly unlikely they can stand against Boston.

Game one, will kick off in a couple of hours.

NLL Insider - Round 2 - Celtics 2, Warriors 1

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