National Basketball Association

3 reasons why the Boston Celtics can beat the Golden State Warriors

Published Apr. 1, 2016 3:05 p.m. ET

foxsports

On any given night, there are approximately 9,000 reasons why the Golden State Warriors will defeat whoever's on their schedule. We're talking about an unprecedented 68-7 juggernaut—a Great white shark that can run on land.

Friday night they face the Boston Celtics, a plucky bunch that actually matches up pretty well against Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Golden State's otherworldly attack. In preparation for the game, here are three reasons why the Celtics can pull off the major upset.

1) Avery Bradley exists

Boston's two most valuable players are Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder. But in this specific match-up, there's one huge reason why Bradley deserves to be included in that discussion: he makes Curry's life miserable:

Screen shot of Avery Bradley's defense against one shot Stephen Curry made while playing the Celtics in December NBD pic.twitter.com/CUNyVx3lbD
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) March 31, 2016

On Thursday night, Bradley held Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard to 14 points on 3-of-16 shooting. Afterwards, Portland's franchise player called him "the best perimeter defender in the league" (via MassLive):

"He's quick," said Lillard, Bradley's primary matchup, who finished with just 14 points on 3-for-16 shooting. "He's strong. Good anticipation. And a lot of guys just, people say they're defenders. They look like defenders on some possessions, but that's what he does. That's what he wants to do. He's there every possession. He doesn't get screened. He's tough. You've got to give credit where it's due."

But Bradley is far from a one-way threat. Boston's offense is an astonishing 7.9 points per 100 possessions more efficient with him on the court—only Thomas' impact is more positive, but it's only 0.3 points per 100 possession larger.

A recent slump has dropped the 25-year-old's three-point shooting to a relatively meek 36.1 percent, but he still spaces the floor and has a tremendous feel for off-ball cuts at the rim. Throw Marcus Smart into the mix, and the Warriors' backcourt won't have too many easy looks at the basket.

2) Health

The Celtics have fought through various injuries over the past few weeks, from Kelly Olynyk's shoulder to Jae Crowder's lingering high-ankle sprain. Crowder may miss tonight's game, but is doing all he can to suit up:

This is critical. Crowder allows the Celtics to be as versatile as any team in the league. He can play power forward in three-guard lineups that let the Celtics run, shoot and attack on both ends. Against Golden State, he can guard Green, which allows Boston to switch high screen-and-rolls and limit the damage of the Warriors' signature half-court play.

On the other side, Golden State has Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson (two starters who didn't face Boston back in December), but they're without Andre Iguodala and Festus Ezeli, two big contributors from the first meeting.

3) It's April Fool's Day

Strange things happen on April 1st. It's a fact. The Warriors are at home, have the best player in the world and are gunning for history.

Strange But True: Celtics are the only team over last 2 seasons that Warriors have not beaten by more than 5 Pts. pic.twitter.com/d8avssI597
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 1, 2016

But if Boston can force a ton of turnovers (something they're really good at), take care of the ball (ditto) and make a decent number of all the threes they're sure to launch, within an uptempo setting they're plenty comfortable with, this game could be more competitive than a lot of people think.