Ni VT ROMANO
MABAWASAN ang turn-overs at huwag makatulog sa third quarter ang target maisakatuparan ng Boston Celtics sa Game 3 ng NBA Finals, na gagawin sa kanilang teritoryo (Boston Garden) sa Miyerkoles (Huwebes sa Manila).
Tabla ang Celtics at kalabang Golden State Warriors, 1-1 sa best-of-seven championship series at kung maisasagawa ang game plan sa Game 3 at maging sa Game 4, posibleng maagaw ng Boston ang bentahe.
Matapos ang epic fourth-quarter rally mula sa 12-point deficit ng Boston tungo sa Game 1 win, bumaligtad sa Game 2, kung saan sinamantala ng Warriors ang 33 points mula sa 19 turnovers at nakapagbaon nang malaking kalamangan sa third tungo sa 107-88 win noong Linggo.
“Didn’t give ourselves a chance with a lot of those turnovers,” pahayag ni Celtics coach Ime Udoka nitong Lunes (Martes sa Manila). “We weren’t strong with the ball. For us that was a little disappointing.”
Ang Celtics ay 5-4 at home sa playoffs, habang 8-3 sa road, pero, para kay star player Jaylen Brown kakalimutan nila ang stats dahil ibang lebel na ang championship.
“We’ve got to come out and play our best version of basketball,” sambit ni Brown. “We can’t let stuff that’s happened in the past affect our mindset going forward. “We’ve just got to come out and do a better job taking care of the basketball.”
Kinakailangan ding makaiwas ang Celtics malubog sa third quarter gaya nang nangyari sa unang dalawang laro sa San Francisco.
“We’ve got to come ready to play, come ready to meet that physicality on both ends,” dagdag ni Brown. “We’re not a perfect team, but we’ll figure it out going forward. We’ve just got to play for 48 minutes.”
“We know the Warriors are a third-quarter team. We talked about it. They still came out and were able to go on a run. We’ve just got to be able to answer.”
Binigyang-diin naman ni Boston forward Jayson Tatum ang turnovers na pumapatay sa kanila sa laro.
“They got a lot of points off our turnovers. That’s something we’ve got to be better for next game,” esplika ni Tatum. “Throughout the playoffs, the games we have high turnovers result in a loss.
Dagdag pa niya: “That’s definitely a point of emphasis. We’re a really good team when we take care of the ball. But we have those lapses where — snowball effect — we pile on turn overs and dig ourselves into a hole.”
Ayon kay Tatum, ang intensidad ng road games ay nakakatulong para sa magandang performance ng Celtics, pero kailangan nilang kumilos at home para makabawi.
“Just playing with a sense of urgency,” ani Tatum. “Human nature plays a part when you go on the road. It’s a tough environment.
“We’ve relaxed at home. (Now it’s) just having that sense of urgency, knowing that we’re at home, but that we need to play better at home.”
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