Down 1-0, Warriors in need of counter

The tactical battle that was Game 1 of the NBA Finals proved only one thing: There is no coaching advantage in this series.

Yes, unlike most NBA teams, Boston will not be outsmarted by the Warriors. We know this because both squads came out with impressive opening salvos in this NBA Finals battle.

The Warriors showed their hand early and took an early lead. Boston countered and won the game.

Now it’s on the Dubs to make some adjustments ahead of a must-win Game 2.

Here are a few that look necessary if the Warriors are to salvage a game on their home floor: 1. GO ALL IN ON ATTACKING » Credit to Steve Kerr. I thought it would take longer for Golden State to do what would be necessary against Boston’s switcheverything defense.

Instead, after the Warriors’ first possession of the game — a feckless floppy action that had Curry setting a pin-down screen on the block — Golden State came out with a 1-3 pick-and-roll that left Boston’s Robert Williams in drop coverage.

Curry made six 3-pointers in the first quarter, an NBA record. Four of the six came off of a high screen. The other two came off a transition opportunity and an offensive rebound.

Boston made their adjustments. Williams stopped dropping in pick-and-roll coverage and the Celtics trapped Curry off screens with Al Horford at center.

It worked, especially the latter in the fourth quarter.

Curry’s teammates (and Jordan Poole’s for that matter) can run around and back-pick all they want from the wings, but the primary action Golden State should be running every time down the floor is a high pick and roll with the ball in their point guard’s hands.

The good news for the Warriors is that Kerr both knows this is the best course of action (as evidenced by the Dubs running more pick and roll in the first quarter than they did, roughly, to the entire postseason to date) and that Curry is particularly adroit at that system, despite it not being the Warriors’ system.

If Williams III is on the floor, the Warriors need to put him in action after action. Hunt him down. He might block a few perimeter shots, but that’s better than shots at the hoop. In a more cynical way, it will test his balky knee.

If Al Horford is playing center, trapping Curry on the perimeter, the Warriors need to have shooters on the ready, with Draymond Green ready for the short-roll 4-on-3.

2. DROP THE ZONE » The Warriors have used zone defense more this season than at any point during their five Finals runs in five years. It’s a by-product of Toronto using a box-and-1 against Curry to great effect in the 2019 NBA Finals, the lack of NBA players on the Warriors’ roster in the following two seasons, and a changing tide of acceptability around the NBA.

But mainly, the Warriors are using zone because Poole can’t play defense.

They’re trying to protect No. 3 so that he can make some 3-pointers on the other end.

In Game 1, that meant closing with a zone. The Warriors changed into a 3-2 look when Poole entered the game with 3:47 to play. It did not work out well. The Celtics might not be an elite 3-point shooting team (they have made as many as the Warriors per game this postseason on one more attempt), but they are both a confident and smart team.

The zone is merely giving them open 3-point shots, as Poole is on one wing, trying to guard two players at one time.

How do you think that goes?

It went so poorly that Poole was moved to the top of the zone. That didn’t go well, either.

By the fourth time the Warriors ran the 3-2 zone late in the fourth quarter, Boston had overloaded one side of the court — something it took Dallas a week to figure out in the Western Conference finals.

The zone won’t work against Boston.

The Warriors stand a better chance of getting stops by having Boston hunt Poole. Those possessions take more time and the later in the shot clock Boston goes, the less efficient its offense becomes.

Will it result in a bunch of fouls for Poole? You bet. But that’s better than a ton of open 3-pointers by shooters who will take and make them. 3. IGUODALA AND GREEN CANNOT BE ON THE FLOOR TOGETHER » It’s one thing to have Kevon Looney on the perimeter, setting screens but not doing

much else. But to have Green out there, too, allows the Celtics to not defend two players outside the 3-point line.

That effectively negates the advantage of the direct offense against a switching defense, as evidenced by Horford’s success with trapping.

If Williams is on the floor for Boston, Looney can play. If not, he has to be out of the game.

But Iguodala?

I don’t know if there’s a role for Andre in this series.

But if he’s on the floor, it has to be as the only non-shooter. That means playing Otto Porter, Nemanja Bjelica or Iguodala as a center with the second unit, led by Poole.

Four shooters on the floor at all times, with exceptions for Looney if the matchup is right. It’s necessary.