In a series that has long seemed destined to go all seven games, Monday night provided a reset point. Could the Warriors re-establish their home court advantage and give themselves a couple games to close things out?
Apparently, despite Stephen Curry missing all nine of his threes and a putrid team 3-point shooting performance, that answer was a decisive yes.
Andrew Wiggins, in a monstrous performance, carried Golden State to a 104-94, leaving this team on the brink of another championship.
The flattest third quarter start, and the recovery
The second half began with a 12-point Warriors lead. It also began, as usual, with fans not yet in their seats. Golden State was asleep at the wheel and didn’t seem able to cajole itself to wake from its halftime slumber.
Jaylen Brown opened with back-to-back drives on Klay Thompson and four-straight free throws. Jayson Tatum proceeded to knock down back-to-back threes. In a blink of an eye, the Celtics had rattled off a 10-0 run.
A few minutes later, Tatum hit another, followed by Al Horford, and then Marcus Smart. A Boston team which started this game 0-for-13 from 3 made their next eight in a row, mostly in the third quarter.
Draymond Green, who had an excellent start to the game, became a non-factor, and the entire offense went cold. Stephen Curry was struggling, consistently bothered by Boston’s rangy defenders, and missing some of his better looks, too.
But Klay Thompson, coupled with some reinvigorated defense, woke them up. With a pair of 3s, Thompson gave the Warriors some respite, improving their 3-point shooting to a meager 5-of-27.
Curry, who was struggling to hit his own shot, then found a better shot for Jordan Poole, and an outrageous Green fast break to Gary Payton II set up the punctuation to the quarter.
With a huge rebound from Andrew Wiggins and less than five seconds on the clock, he found Poole, who, somehow managed to get this shot off.
It was eerily similar to his heatwave Game 2 spurt, and the Celtics’ shooting threatened to reach the fourth quarter of Game 1 levels. Neither really quite got there, but combined to set up an outstanding fourth quarter.
Andrew Wiggins, outstanding defense outweigh shooting woes
Even as the Warriors’ offense went through some horrendous stretches in this game, their defense was so enveloping, it didn’t seem to matter.
There was that third-quarter burst from Boston, but it was limited to just that spurt.
Everyone on Golden State — even Jordan Poole — provided defensive value. That’s what kept Boston so outrageously defunct offensively.
The switching, haranguing on the perimeter, and general persistence to bother the Celtics was on prime display. Even with that third-quarter lapse, it had all the marquee signs of a great defensive performance.
There were technical fouls doled out to Boston, Green talking trash, Gary Payton II picked up a signature swipe on the wing, and the Celtics’ stars going cold under pressure.
But this was about Andrew Wiggins.
After arguably the greatest performance of his career, Curry went cold. He had just 16 points, going 7-of-22 from the field and missing all nine of his threes.
But Wiggins was there to pick up the slack, as was Klay Thompson, who had 21 points (7-of-14, 5-of-11 from 3-pt) and, along with Jordan Poole, who was 3-of-6 from deep, was the only remotely capable 3-point shooter on the team.
Wiggins, though, was unfathomably good. The way he attacked the lane in the fourth quarter was deserving of some hyperbole. He had some Kareem-esque running hook shots, some Michael Jordan-style drives when he switched hands and adjusted in midair.
He had 10 fourth quarter points, finishing with 26 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block. He managed to finish with a 52 percent shooting percentage (12-of-23) despite missing all of his six 3s.
It was the proper exclamation point to the fact that Wiggins has clearly been the Warriors’ second-best, and definitely second-most reliable player.
Draymond showed up before getting booted
Game 1 Draymond was underwhelming. Game 2 Draymond was outstanding. Game 3 Draymond was, in his own words, “shit.” Game 4 Draymond got benched, but came up with some incredible defense in the waning minutes and made a positive impact.
What would Game 5 Draymond bring?
Mostly good, as it turns out, especially early.
He doesn’t have to be gamebreaking at every moment for the Warriors to win. He just has to be his agitating self and not actively causing harm to Golden State.
If you’re a believer in “setting the tone,” Green did that. He won the opening tip, secured a rebound early for an excellent outlet pass, dove into the first row for a loose ball, energizing the crowd, and had a deft fake turned dunk on Robert Williams III.
And before he fouled out, he got in Jayson Tatum’s face.
With the Warriors up 12 inside the final four minutes, Tatum tried to get a shot up after Boston called timeout. Green refused to let him get a shot off, then stared him down, following him from the far baseline, under the hoop and to the Celtics’ bench.
It didn’t appear he said anything to Tatum, just mad-dogged him after he missed his last two free throws. After that exchange, Tatum missed his final two field goal attempts, and the Celtics’ starters were relinquished of their duties with 1:19 left.