The Golden State Warriors they crushed on sunday 107-88 to the Boston Celtics to even 1-1 the Finals of the NBAlit by a display of Stephen Curry with 29 points in just three quarters.
The Warriors, who let the first win slip away on Thursday with a fourth-quarter debacle, they took it upon themselves to avoid any surprises this time with a dreamy second half in front of their crowd at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
“We came out with the right energy and focus,” Curry said. “We said we had to play desperately and that’s what we did.”
With 28 points and 6 triples, forward Jayson Tatum was one of the few positive notes for the Celtics, who once again failed to protect the ball with up to 18 turnovers.
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“Those turnovers and our poor offense contributed to their streaks,” Boston coach Ime Udoka said. “A team that scores as well as them doesn’t need us to help them.”
Shooting guard Jaylen Brown had 17 points for Boston but the rest of the starting lineup – Al Horford, Marcus Smart and Robert Williams – barely scored 2 points each.
“Those two guys (Tatum and Brown) create a lot of play. We contained the rest and made it difficult for them,” Curry said. “Our third quarter was great and we got enough distance that the last one was a little bit easier tonight.”
The point guard caught fire in the third quarter with 14 points that pushed the Golden State to a 35-14 run, culminated with a triple from almost midfield by Jordan Poole (17).
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In just 32 minutes on the track, Curry added 5 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals to his tally in his 30th career Finals game.
At 34 years old, the base is determined to reach his fourth NBA ring and add it this time to his first Finals MVP, one of the few awards he has not received.
“They got away with it”
The Warriors turned the page on its resounding collapse in the last quarter on Thursday, when Boston built a 12-point lead to win 120-108.
Jaylene Brownthe main architect of that comeback, picked up the pace this Sunday with 9 points in an initial 13-5 run for Boston while Steve Kerr tried to stop him by opposing the ferocious Draymond Green.
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Green was on the verge of being ejected for a second technique before the break, when he left his legs on top of Brown as they both fell to the ground and gave him a light push.
“That’s what Draymond Green does. He’ll do whatever it takes to win,” Brown said. “They put him on me to be physical, muddy the game, grab me and just generally turn up the intensity. I think they got away with it tonight.”
“Curry sets the tone on offense and my job is to do it on defense. And I wanted to from the beginning,” said Green, who finished with 9 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists.
The Warriors try to exploit their enormous experience in the Finals, where they have competed six times since 2015, against a Celtics who are seeing themselves on the biggest stage for the first time.
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Half court triple
In the face of a stronger defense of Golden State, Celtics they depended excessively on Tatum and Brown, who accumulated 26 of the 30 points in the first quarter.
Tatum, who had 21 points at halftime, bounced back from his lackluster debut on Thursday in a Finalswith just 12 points.
In the other side, Curry carried the weight of the Warriors attack before the young man jordan poole join him in the explosion of the third quarter.
The Celtics they had gone to the locker room with only one point behind (51-50) but, as usual, the Warriors went up a gear and Curry he unleashed the storm with several impossible baskets, including three spectacular triples.
Jordan Poole followed suit with a 3-pointer from near midfield at the buzzer that shook the Chase Center stands.
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“It was a great shot to get the crowd into the game,” Curry acknowledged. Poole “He’s capable of that. We shoot from half court every practice and we’ve got a competition going and he got ahead on that shot.”
With an advantage for the Warriors of 23 points (87-64), both Curry and the Celtics figures were reserved in the last quarter for the third battle of the series, which will take place on Wednesday at the TD Garden in Boston.
