"We saw Al Horford get down and kinda force Jimmy Butler into a 3-point shot" - Former NBA champion believes Boston Celtics' defense will hold key in NBA Finals
The Boston Celtics continued their streak of not losing two consecutive games in the playoffs on Sunday. After a Jimmy Butler masterclass put the Heat past the Celtics in Game 6, the Celtics came back to Miami and took Game 7, 100-96. This clinched their Eastern Conference finals win.
Kendrick Perkins, on ESPN's "First Take," believes that the Celtics' defense is one of the best in NBA history. Perkins claimed it has been a key part of the Celtics' road to the NBA championship this season, stating:
"When those shots are not falling and you're not able to see those driving gaps to the basket, guess what? You gotta hang your head on the defensive end and get stops and again, in a Game 7 last night, the Miami Heat shot 42% from the field, 20% from three.
"They had 96 points and look, that's what you want to hang your head on, not letting a team score over a hundred points.
"We saw Al Horford get down and kinda force Jimmy Butler into a three-point shot. ... People keep wanting to praise and talk about the offense and things of that nature. I look at Boston Celtics and Imma keep harping on this, one of the best defensive teams I've seen in NBA history."
How well does the Boston Celtics' defense match-up against the Warriors offense?
The finals will see the best offensively rated team in the playoffs in Golden State go up against the second-best defensively rated team in the playoffs: the Boston Celtics.
Despite their lack of size, Golden State managed to substantially edge out the Boston Celtics when it comes to offensive and defensive rebounding.
The Warriors have an offensive rebound percentage of 28.2% as compared to the Celtics' 26.2%. The overall rebounding percentage also favors the Golden State Warriors.
Our place, Thursday. See you there @celtics. https://t.co/9VoVjcoRSi
The Celtics' defense boasts size with Al Horford at six-foot-nine, Robert Williams III at six-foot-eight, Jayson Tatum at six-foot-eight and Grant Williams at six-foot-six. On the other hand, the Warriors have Andrew Wiggins at six-foot-seven, Kevon Looney at six-foot-nine and Draymond Green at six-foot-six.
Although the stats favor the Warriors over the Celtics, not reading too deep into numbers is probably the best thing to do here. The Miami Heat had an edge over the Celtics when it came to purely numbers.