NBA Finals 2022: Hot Takes and Top Storylines Warriors vs. Celtics Game 5
Both the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics sit just two wins shy of an NBA title.
One of those teams will slice that number in half Monday night.
That's when the tie-breaking Game 5 tips (9 p.m. ET on ABC) and when this series becomes a mad dash to the finish line.
Before the green flag drops, let's rattle off the hot takes and top storylines you need to know.
The Finals MVP Is Stephen Curry's to Lose
It's a stretch to say that Stephen Curry has already locked up the Finals MVP regardless of the series outcome.
However, it's not hyperbolic to suggest he is so far ahead of the field that his rear-view mirror looks empty.
His offensive sorcery—against this season's top-ranked defense (per NBA.com), no less—has been both breathtaking and unrivaled. For the series, he is pumping in 34.3 points per night with a scalding 66.4 true shooting percentage, per Basketball-Reference.com. The only other 20-point scorers are Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, who are both averaging 22.3 points with a sub-55 true shooting rate.
It's virtually impossible to picture a scenario in which Golden State takes the crown and Curry is denied the most coveted piece of individual hardware. It's also likely that if he maintains anything close to his current clip, he could snag at least a few MVP votes even if the Celtics win the series.
Celtics Are Toast If Jayson Tatum Can't Get on Track
There were multiple formulas in which Boston could win this series, but all of them started with the same first ingredient: a superstar performance from Jayson Tatum.
The Celtics should consider themselves fortunate, then, to be gridlocked at two wins apiece when their best player hasn't even approached that territory.
He hasn't had a 30-point game in this series. For context, he hit that number 29 times in the regular season and seven more through the first three rounds. He has shot a woeful 34.1 percent through four games. He is a career 45.6 percent shooter and converted 44.6 percent of his shots in the Eastern Conference portion of the playoffs.
Again, it speaks to the other players on the roster that Boston managed a split with its cornerstone talent struggling to this degree. However, the Shamrocks can't count on that continuing. If Tatum can't get going, then Boston's championship dreams will be dashed.
Role-Playing Centers Could Decide the Series
There are a number of household names manning the guard and forward spots in this series.
Still, the center position has quietly become one to watch, as these unheralded bigs have routinely shown their importance. In fact, Kevon Looney (plus-36) and Robert Williams III (plus-20) sit first and second, respectively, in raw plus/minus among the 14 players to log at least 70 minutes in this series.
Each is a subtle tone-setter for his squad. Looney gives Golden State a paint presence, active rebounder and solid screen-setter. Williams seems like he's everywhere all at once defensively and gives Boston a literal lift as a lob-finisher and shot-blocker.
When the Warriors revisited what went wrong in their Game 3 loss, coach Steve Kerr cited Looney's lack of playing time. If the Celtics have a big worry for Monday, it's not a hostile Chase Center but rather the fact Williams tweaked his nagging knee injury in Game 4.
Looney and Williams probably won't light up the box score (at least, not in the traditional sense), but their impact on this series has been and will continue to be enormous.