Andrew Wiggins with the exclamation point. He drives towards the rim and throws it down to make it a 15-point lead with 2 minutes to go in the 4th.
Continuing on best of his career games he put on another show tonight breaking his career high score of most points before halftime.
Then, he went on to score 26 points with 13 boards. His main contribution this whole season has been the defense. He again held his ground and made crucial stops on big plays. He had 2 steals and 1 block even to show for it.
Wiggins has been consistent and has proven to be a big help in these finals to Curry.
Steph Curry, coming from a roaring night, struggled from the field today. The Celtics had him locked down the whole game. He still managed to score 16 points with 8 Assists.
Steph’s struggle would have been a point of worry. But, the rest of the warriors got going early tonight. They were unstoppable in the 1st half.
As the commentators put it, ‘Steph put the team on his back in game 4, so tonight when he was struggling the rest of the Warriors said we got your back’.
Klay Thompson was on fire tonight.
After leading in the 1st half when the Warriors started to struggle in the 2nd half, blowing a 19-point lead to the Celtics, Klay kept the fire alive.
Although he had to sit because of 4 fouls with still some time to go in the 3rd.
Klay had 2 steals and scored 21 points with a 50% FG night making 7-14 shots.
The big relief for the Warriors came when Draymond Green played like himself today.
He didn’t just stick to the shadow, only to rise to instigate or pass the ball around, like the rest of these finals. He finally took charge, pushed the ball forward, made plays and the best relief was he finally attempted his drive and floater for a two when the warriors were recovering after blowing the lead. He didn’t just shoot from the perimeter or go for an aggressive lay-up.
Gary Payton did what he does best, he shut them down. He even pulled a stunned look on defensive player of the year, Marcus smart, when GP connected with D. Green on an out-of-bounds play by cutting from the corner beneath the rim for a reverse shot.
GP scored 15 points(6-8), 3 steals and 5 Reb.
Jordan Poole scored 14 points (4-8). He added another highlight plays to his bag by shooting a quick-release sparky shot coming off a pass from Wiggins, who utilised every second of the clock rightly enough. Poole had 0.5 seconds for a dribble and shot from the deep-left corner of the logo to put the Warriors up again at the end of 3rd.
The Celtics did everything right. The put a early stop on Curry and managed to pull that off for the whole game.
Even though they had a rough start they made up for it in the 2nd half by shooting off the charts.
In their 19-point comeback, they hit 8 threes and played shut-down defense. They had contained almost everyone except for Klay. They even started the 4th with back-to-back shots to take the lead.
Jayson Tatum was outstanding in the 2nd half. He was cooking. He hit 3 back-to-back threes. He had 27 points (50% FG%), 10 Reb and 4 assists. He turned the game around in the 2nd half and finally put on a finals game 5.
The Celtics bounced back with a crowd stunning energy and they made the Warriors do what they did in the first half miss 12 shots from the arc.
They played with force and were not looking to settle.
J. Brown had 18 points, 9 Reb and 4 assists. But, tonight he was 0-5.
M. Smart had 20 points.
R. Williams had 10 points and Al Horford had 9 points and 9 Reb.
Now, their shortcomings came from the performance of D. white and G. Williams. The Celtcis need these two role players to perform to win. They might not stack major points but they are the consistent scorers who keep the Celtics in the game.
Also, without G. William’s effort they easily lose the Points in the Paint battle if nobody else steps up. And as I’ve said earlier whoever wins this battle will win the game.
Tonight’s Points in the Paint stat was : GSW 50 – 36 BOS.
One thing that has been constant in these playoffs has been the performance of Wiggins and appreciation of it by Kerr.
The commentators have constantly mentioned this on air that Wiggins has been the crucial piece for the Warriors.
Mainly he stepped up to fill Klay’s shoes, during injury, by playing high-level defence. Then, as Kerr has said it many times, ‘It’s all him! We are not here if not for him!’.
To witness Wiggin’s offense improve and to such a brilliant level is a huge plus for the Warriors.
Wiggins, who has had very little playoff experience and is playing his first finals has been the 2nd best player in these finals. And this is just the start, he is still going strong and causing havoc on both ends of the floor.
The Warriors up with 3-2 in the series will head back to Boston for Game 6.
The Celtics facing elimination have won their last two in these playoffs against Bucks and Heat. Let’s see if they can keep that streak alive.
Game 6, Friday, 17 June, 6:30 a.m. for India.
P.S. – The Warriors at one point used a lineup of – Wiggins, Steph, Klay, Gary Payton and Andre Igoudala. This lineup with Green as an alternate for Klay or whoever is struggling can be a lethal combo. Steve Kerr should definitely use this in 1st or 2nd quarter mid at least.
#JOPO 