The NBA Finals shifted to Boston on Wednesday night and the red-hot shooting by the Celtics was awfully reminiscent of their Game 1 barrage.
Golden State failed to come in with the requisite physicality they provided in Game 2, and lost 116-100 in Boston, leaving them in a situation where they probably need to steal Game 4.
Stephen Curry outstanding, but possibly hurt
Curry is so consistently outrageous that we sometimes take his greatness for granted. It’s such an obvious fact that the discourse around him gets saturated with hot takes and nonsense because stating what’s plain and clear apparently doesn’t sell too well.
Wednesday night was incredible on his part, but it rang hollow with the result.
Even battling foul trouble, with two first quarter fouls, another in the third, and a fourth fairly early in the third quarter, he navigated those restraints en route to an all-time performance.
For most of the first half, it was the Warriors battling a Celtics siege, just trying to remain around.
And for the better part of that half, the Boston lead hovered around 15 points.
Then, in the span of 40 seconds, the Warriors rattled off an 8-0 run beginning with a Klay Thompson 3, followed up by a Curry rebound and outlet to Andrew Wiggins for a dunk, then capped off by another 3 from Curry.
Boston ended the half with a 12-point lead, but that burst kept the Warriors in striking distance.
And in the second half, they capitalized. Curry dropped 15 points in the third quarter alone, and that’s even with a rare rest in the final three minutes given his foul trouble.
In that second half especially, he remained solid on defense as he’s been all year long, without fouling.
He sparked the Warriors to their first lead of the night with a seven-point possession. He notched a four-point play and drew a flagrant foul from Al Horford, netting the Warriors the ball. Otto Porter Jr. hit a 3, and on the next possession, Curry hit another 3, giving the Warriors and 83-82 lead.
Curry tallied 31 points (12-of-22, 6-of-11), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers.
But the game fell apart in the fourth, and with less than five minutes left, in a scrum for a loose ball, Al Horford landed on Curry’s left ankle, leaving Curry wincing. He remained in the game, but was clearly pained. His effort, too, was left unrewarded.
Bad Draymond, Robert Williams II and the war in the paint
So much of what plagued the Warriors was getting dominated on the inside. The Celtics came into this series as the bigger, longer, more athletic team and that showed up in the plainest of ways.
Robert Williams III remained a reckoning, seemingly coming up with every loose ball, attacking the boards and causing problems Golden State showed no ability to solve.
Williams III, on a bad leg, was dominant. He was the Celtics enforcer, tallying 6 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals and 4 blocks.
The Warriors’ enforcer? Horrendous. Green, after coming into this game talking about the 80s, showed no signs of bringing the requisite physicality and energy that typified his Game 2 performance.
He was terrible in just about all facets of the game.
Green was erratic on offense, not effective on defense, and didn’t get under Boston’s skin in the same way he did the game prior.
He was knocked out of the game after six fouls, finishing with 2 points, 3 assists, 4 rebounds, a block and a couple turnovers. It was a woeful night the Warriors could not afford.
Boston outscored the Warriors by twice as much in the paint, a 52-26 mark and out-rebounded them 47-30. Kevon Looney didn’t have much success, either, but it was Green who typified how easily bullied the Warriors were.
The Warriors lost the battle of the wings
This game kicked off with one of the Celtics’ star wings, Jaylen Brown, going scorched earth. In the first half alone, Brown had 22 points (8-of-13, 4-of-6), 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
The second half was Jayson Tatum’s turn, as he finished with 26 points (9-of-23, 3-of-9 from deep) with 9 assists and 6 rebounds. Golden State seemed to have no real answer for his ability to attack the rim.
This is while Andrew Wiggins had another solid game, and Klay Thompson at least had an impressive first half before cooling off, finishing with 25 points (7-of-17, 5-of-13 from deep).
The thing about Klay Thompson is that, generally speaking, he’s going to have some duds. But Thompson’s nature is such that he always figures out a way out his slumps, however long or short-lived they may be.
But Thompson is no longer the lockdown defender he once was. He doesn’t have the same speed.
What is showing up time and time again, is that the Celtics are so much younger, so much more athletic.
When they come at the Warriors with the relentless pace they showed on Wednesday, that age gap shows. Boston has an exponentially easier time creating its own shots because again, they’re bigger, stronger and more athletic.
The Warriors aren’t doomed, but Boston has such an undeniable advantage and plays such relentless defense that it makes every offensive possession for the Warriors so much more difficult than the Celtics.