Feeling It Will Be a Sneaky Chippy Series

[Rondo9]

Warriors might be wise to try a little more bumpin tonight.

And they did!

Washburn's take in the Globe:

The series is even at 1-1. The Celtics stole home-court advantage and no longer need to win in San Francisco to win the series, but they gift-wrapped the momentum right back to the Warriors, who doubted themselves, their age, their approach and their confidence after Game 1.

Brown, who scored 13 first-period points, picked up his second foul on a Gary Payton II breakaway layup where officials ruled Brown nudged him from behind. Despite it being just eight minutes into the game, Brown wanted Udoka to challenge the call. It was far too early for that, and Brown was visibly affected by the foul trouble.

Brown finished the game 1 for his final 11 shots, shaken by the officiating, frustrated by Green, who cut under him on a 3-point attempt and then left his large Converse sneakers in Brown’s face after they both fell to the floor. Brown stood up and confronted Green.

But Green had already won. He singlehandedly turned the game ugly, using physical play and trash talk to get into the Celtics’ heads. The Warriors realize they face a talented opponent, one that could easily win the series. Green took it upon himself to turn the series contentious and he got the benefit of favorable officiating when he and Brown weren’t called for double technical on that 3-point foul.

Green already had a tech after an exchange with Grant Williams. The officials knew that and didn’t want to eject him. It’s the type of advantageous calls three-time champions get and the Celtics have to learn how to win despite that.

This series is not going to be completely fair. And Brown was visibly upset with the lack of calls, what Green was able to get away with and the Celtics lack of a true response. He should be angry. The team should be angry because they blew a chance to take command of the series, allowing the Warriors to use their offensive dominance along with some sly tricks to even the series.

“We try not to get too much involved with the officiating,” Brown said. “But obviously on their home floor, so some home cooking, so we’ve just got to come out and raise our level of intensity. They raised theirs, and we kind of was looking around expecting for something to — for somebody to kind of bail us out, and on their home floor that’s not going to happen. We’ve got to raise ours and really no excuses about it, we’ve just got to be better.”

There are no excuses for this one. The Celtics got hustled by the old man at the park. They lost this game mentally, and then their execution deteriorated. It’s a harsh lesson learned but perhaps worth the education if the Celtics don’t let this happen again.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/06/06/sports/make-no-mistake-game-2-was-harsh-lesson-now-celtics-need-learn-it/

I agree with him 100%. Our team has to be smarter. They fell into their habit of whining about calls again and had a "woe-is-me/life is so unfair" attitude for much of the game, including most of the 2nd half. During his presser Jaylen couldn't stop complaining about how unfair it was. Suck it up and overcome it instead of complaining after each play.

Meh Draymond whines a lot so it's only fair.