Chef Curry put the team on his back and took charge.
He scored a double-double with 43 points, 10 Reb and 4 assists. He had a 50% 3-Pt FG night making 7-14 shots.
Steph didn’t let his Game 3 injury be an excuse and came out and played like he always does when the game is on the line.
The way he carried himself in this game with aggression and yelling his lungs out on almost every impossible shot he made gave a glimpse of his championship fighting spirit.
The Boston Celtics held the lead for most part of the game. They played tight defence and made the Warriors scramble and push for offence and didn’t let them settle. They made it impossible for the Warriors to rotate and make plays, by screen-n-roll, their best gameplay.
However, the Celtics failed on some occasions that gave the Warriors the opportunity to bounce back. Their main concern was,
- the second chance points and
- their own turnover plays where they just got the ball from making Warriors commit a turnover. They failed to convert those turnovers into points and gave the ball right back.
For the Celtics, Tatum scored 23 points with 11 Reb and 6 Assists, J. Brown scored 21 points. But their boosters were the clutch time shots made by M. Smart, who scored 18 points and Derek White, who had 16 points.
The Celtics were in control for the majority of the game but they failed to contain Curry for the whole game. All series the Warriors have had the advantage in the 3rd quarter and the Celtics in the 4th quarter, but tonight Steph happened.
In the last 6 minutes of the 4th quarter he turned the game around.
Steph managed to slip away and create space that was just enough to make it rain.
The Warriors’ ‘Sparky plays’ (as I said in my game 3 post) which led to this unbelievable run of 7-0 late in the game and that combined with the last two minute sequence made them come out on top.
That crucial sequence,
Curry with Robert Williams on him kept the dribble alive, tried a little shake and baited for a step-back and then took two steps in for a floater.
That put them up by 3, with GSW 97- 94 BOS.
Then, Curry pushed the ball forward to Green trying to cut in, that gave Steph an opportunity to try a fake and slip away to receive a pass from Green, who stopped in the D and was looking to pass. Steph gave a fake to D. white on top of the key and sprinted to the right corner of the perimeter, Green passed, and Steph pulled up a tough contested shot, good recovery by D.white, and on the money!
This increased their lead by 6 with a minute and 42 seconds on the clock. GSW 100 – 94 BOS.
The Celtics tried to climb with a crucial 3 by Al Horford from the corner, but the Warriors rushed back, Steph got double teamed he dropped the pass to Green in the middle who charged to the rim and dished it to Looney under the rim and Looney made it count over Al horford. GSW 102 – 97 BOS.
Klay put the brakes on J. Brown, made him commit a turnover by losing the ball out of bounds with 56.5 seconds remaining on the clock.
Steph straight away charged to the rim on the next play and he got fouled by Horford and that sealed it.
This game can be ranked as one of the best Finals wins for the warriors.
Steph had no help for most of the game but still kept the game close on his own.
Wiggins, scored 17 points and grabbed 16 rebounds (his career best), gave a helping hand on occasions.
Klay, scored 18 points, got going only late in the 4th.
J. Poole struggled too but still managed to score 14.
D. Green struggled the whole game except for a pass to Looney that pushed their lead to 5 in the last minute of 4th.
Gary Payton played with force. He was relentless on defence.
He is known as one of the best in defence in the league but tonight he showcased his playmaking too.
He made one amazing play when he received a drop in the corner from Steph. Payton was free and about to shoot when he saw Steph coming towards him so he gave up the shot, dropped a side pass and gave a shrug off screen to Grant to make room for Steph, who took a dribble and a step-back to shoot the 3.
This win marked the trio of Steph, Green and Klay’s 19th win of the NBA Finals.
They are now tied with the legendary trio of Ginobli, Duncan and Parker for the most NBA finals wins at 19 in the past 50 seasons.
Points in the paint, as I have said earlier, will win the game. The team that has more will take the game. Tonight Game 4, Warriors – 38 and Celtics – 32.
Steve Kerr was appreciated by the commentators today as making a courageous decision of sitting Green down in crucial minutes tonight.
But, isn’t that how it’s supposed to be ?
That, if the presence of a player is hurting the team on the floor and there are better options, like tonight Looney was playing better, then the Coach should change that player.
The pressure on the officials for this game was clearly visible. Barring some plays, with no calls on clear non-fouls on Looney or fouls on Tatum and Curry, they still pulled off a civil game 4 of NBA Finals. There were no ejections or any fights.
Only a technical on Steve Kerr who got furious after a sequence of no calls on his guys.
Now, the series is tied. The Warriors have home-court advantage again.
Game 5 is on Tuesday, 14 June 6:30 a.m. for India.
#JOPO 