Golden State Shows Championship Calibre in Game Four Win
Even though they trailed by as much as seven points in the first half and fell behind by five points with 7:32 left on the clock, the Golden State Warriors’ championship experience proved too much for the Boston Celtics.
Another Curry Legendary Game
Stephen Curry scored 31 points in a foul-plagued Game Three performance. Yet, the Warriors lost. On Friday, Curry scored 43 points to lead the Warriors to a 107-97 Game Four victory to tie the best-of-seven series at 2-2. This is Curry’s second-highest scoring Finals game in his career.
Curry shot 14 for 26 from the field, including a seven for 14 shooting effort from beyond the arc. He added ten rebounds and four assists in another MVP-worthy performance in 41 minutes.
Although his Game Four performance should boost his chances to win that elusive Finals MVP award, Steph Curry didn’t have to do it alone.
Championship Experience Prevailed
Playing in an unfriendly environment such as TD Garden in front of a crowd whose last Finals trip ended in a loss 12 years ago, the Warriors showed why they are the favourites in this series.
They didn’t allow the crowd to affect their game.
After Marcus Smart nailed a free throw to give Boston a five-point advantage with 7:32 left in the fourth quarter, the Warriors turned the tide and never looked back. A four-point run by Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins decreased the lead to a solitary point. While Smart answered back with another three-pointer, the momentum was already on the Warriors’ side.
Thompson hit a 26-footer to give the Warriors a lead they would never relinquish again. Curry added ten more points in the homestretch to secure another road win for Golden State.
Klay Thompson finished with 18 points on 40% shooting from the three-point line. Andrew Wiggins also had a big night with 17 points and 16 rebounds, while contributing stellar defensive play as well.
Draymond Green only scored two points, but his presence was felt everywhere. Green had nine rebounds, eight assists, and four steals. Jordan Poole added 14 points off the bench.
The Warriors won the rebounding battle (55-42), including a plus-five advantage on the offensive boards. Golden State scored more on the inside (38-32), and in the fourth quarter alone, Curry and company outscored the Celtics 28-19.
A Turning Point
Now that the series is tied at 2-2, the race to the championship becomes a best-of-three bout. If anything, whenever a series is tied at 2-2, Game Five is pivotal. How pivotal?
Teams who won Game Five coming off a 2-2 tie, go on to win the championship 72.4% of the time. However, a few teams won the championship via the back door- by forcing and winning Game Seven.
But if you’re Steve Kerr, the longer this series goes, the more difficult the road would be for the Warriors. After all, they are playing against an inexperienced yet energetic team. Fans need to remind ourselves how the Celtics reached the 2022 NBA Finals in the first place: defense, energy, and adjustments.
The good news for Golden State: Game Five will be played at home. The bad news, the two teams have essentially been trading wins thus far with home court meaning very little through the first 4 games.
Game 5 tips off on Monday at 9pm ET at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
-Iggy Gonzales
Photo: Keith Allison. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.