In very even NBA Finals, these three things will decide if Celtics or Warriors take Game 5

SAN FRANCISCO — Through four games, this has been an insanely even NBA Finals (even if the individual games have not been).

It’s more than the series being 2-2 — the Warriors are +1 through 192 minutes of game time.

Or, check out these stats:eFG%: Warriors 54.2%, Celtics 53.7%Turnover percentage: Warriors 13.5%, Celtics 13.3%Offensive rebound percentage: Warriors 23.3%, Celtics 23.5%

In such an evenly-matched series, it’s the details, the execution, and the transcendence of Stephen Curry that separates these teams on any given night.

What will be the factors that separate them in a critical Game 5? Here are three things to watch.

“If we are playing offense the right way, we’d be 3-1, at least, right now,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said.

He’s right. Boston’s elite defense is one of the great forces of this series, and Golden State has a 93.5 half-court offensive rating in the Finals (well below their season average and almost five points below Boston’s this series). However, in transition the Warriors have a 114.8 offensive rating (stats via Cleaning the Glass).

What Udoka is saying is when the Celtics play their game — take care of the ball, drive the paint and finish (or kick out to open shooters) — they get the chance to get back and set their defense. They slow the pace of the game down. When the turnovers mount up, or the Celtics settle and jack-up 3s (as happened in the fourth quarter of Game 4), the Warriors get out on the break and their offense thrives.

“Offense is going to determine, I feel like, the rest of the series for us in a sense,” the Celtics’ Grant Williams said. “If we control and do what we’re supposed to do, we have success. If we don’t… when you have so many turnovers, when you don’t necessarily