Boston Celtics: B/R is clamoring for Finals rematch after instant classic
Just like the rest of us, Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale was in awe of the hardwood heroism displayed on January 19 in an instant classic regular season game between the Boston Celtics and the defending champion Golden State Warriors.
With Boston running away with the league’s best record and Golden State sitting in the middle of the pack in the Western Conference, the source of Thursday night’s juice was the fact that the Warriors blasted the Cs that last time they played and were the first loss in a 1-5 stretch — by far the 2022-23 season’s roughest patch.
With so much on the line, the Celtics being down by as many as nine points in the fourth quarter gave a familiar dread to many thinking the Cs couldn’t overcome the Golden State hump that had beaten them five straight times in 2022 in both the playoffs and regular season. That they pulled it out on the TD Garden parquet made it a truly unforgettable night that may create enough momentum to convince the front office to keep the team together.
Favale called for seven more games between these two teams on January 20, gushing about the regular season spectacular in his piece titled ‘Golden State Warriors vs. Boston Celtics Is the Finals Rematch NBA Fans Deserve’:
"“There was only one thing left to say at the end of the Boston Celtics’ 121-118 overtime victory against the Golden State Warriors Thursday night:Seven more games of this, please.”“These two teams are fascinating, both as opponents and independent of one another. But their performance on Thursday reinforced what, even if deep down, we already knew.”“Left untouched, the Celtics and Warriors are a perfect high-stakes matchup—a mixture of similarities and contrasts that, their conference fates permitting, still make for an ideal Finals showdown.”"
The Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors won’t be trade partners
After a war like Thursday night, it’s clear that there could be a razor thin margin between these two teams in a potential Finals rematch. In that vein, the likelihood these two teams do business together is probably very low, now.
While Bob Myers and Brad Stevens have respect for each and other and don’t have the bad blood of say Danny Ainge and Pat Riley, they each know how bad it’d look if there was a trade between the two teams and one of them went on to win it all.
Take Payton Pritchard off the table. The Warriors don’t need more shooting. On the flip side, Golden State need not provide Boston anymore big men who could dominate on the glass.
These two teams are rivals unlikely to help make the other team better.