The Golden State Warriors secured the equalizer in the NBA Finals. With a gala performance by Stephen Curry, the Dubs clinched a 107-97 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
Curry scored 43 points (14/26 FG, 7/14 3FG) and grabbed 10 rebounds and almost single-handedly stood up to the Celtics for long stretches. Help came mainly from Andrew Wiggins (17 points, 16 rebounds), Klay Thompson had 18 points, Jordan Poole contributed 14 points coming from the bench. Draymond Green again had big problems offensively, but still contributed 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals to the win.
Jayson Tatum was the top scorer for the Celtics with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, but also 6 turnovers. Tatum also only hit 8 of his 23 throws and ended up looking tired. Jaylen Brown had 21 points, Marcus Smart had 18 and Derrick White had 16 points. Daniel Theis did not play again.
Boston started unchanged, but Warriors coach Steve Kerr played small ball and benched Kevon Looney. Otto Porter started for him, so Green moved to the center position.
However, the Celtics got off to a better start. Tatum hit his first two threes, Curry missed two and was plucked by Williams, who was also a direct factor on the offensive board. After almost five minutes, Looney came and stabilized the dubs, Boston quickly lost the offensive rhythm again. Wiggins got off to a good start with two threes Curry provided his team’s first lead. The final point, however, was set by Grant Williams, who was served by his namesake in the corner to 28:27 Boston.
Warriors turn the game thanks to incredible curry
Boston got off to a chilling start in the second quarter, two Tatum turnovers leading to Poole threes. Brown came back and also hit two threes, the second fouled by Thompson. The game got better again, but both teams left a lot on the basket. Smart scored from outside after a fine Horford pass, a little later White put an And-1 to +7, it was a 10-0 run. Curry had the answer by and-1, but the Celtics were in charge. White hit a three, Tatum a layup, then Williams cleared Wiggins. It was 54:49 Boston on the break.
In their cream quarter, the Warriors equalized in no time at all, but Boston withstood the avalanche at first. Smart scored 5 points, Brown scored an And-1 against Green, White also hit a corner three. However, Curry continued to fight back and kept his team in the draw, the next wild threesome equalized the game again and should have resulted in a foul call. Horford hit another triple, as did Curry. Tatum Curry blocked at the end of the quarter, but the Warriors still went 79:78 in the last round.
Steph got a break early in the fourth quarter, but Golden State lost the three minutes by just 3 points. Worse were four turnovers in the first few minutes – Brown punished this with several incredible finishes and Smart set to +5 from the line. But the Warriors didn’t give up, Wiggins kept them in the running with several putbacks, a three by Thompson put them back in the lead, Curry extended this to +4 with 3:41 to go, Ime Udoka responded with a time-out.
The Celtics were now getting good shots, but missed them. The pressure was enormous on both sides, only Curry scored again 1:42 before the end – +6 for the dubs! Horford hit a three from the corner, Looney scored on the board at the other end, then Curry went to the line again, it was a 14:3 run in the last few minutes. The Celtics couldn’t think of anything else, the game was finally over. Over the last 7:32 minutes of the game, Boston only scored 6 points.
The most important statistics
Boston Celtics (E2) vs. Golden State Warriors (W3) 97:107 (BOXSCORE), Series: 2-2
- The Celtics looked like the better team in the first half. Again, however, there were a few blemishes: Boston gave the ball ten times before the break, the Warriors made 12 points out of it. The Celtics missed five free throws, they missed a few lay-ups (especially in the person of Tatum) – none of this was dramatic in itself, but contributed to the fact that the lead was only 5 points despite a clear superiority. In the end there were 15 turnovers, from which the dubs made 19 points, something like that can take revenge.
- Williams’ influence was felt again on both baskets, the Time Lord already had 10 rebounds at halftime, 4 of them offensively. In addition, he prevented an incredible number of shots on the basket. The Warriors were only able to hold their own on the boards when Looney was brought in, and over time they even became the better team here, mainly thanks to Wiggins (61:49). The Warriors alone had 19 Second Chance Points, Boston had 12.
- Boston had the slightly better balance in the first half and a clear plus on the free-throw line, but this slowly tipped over in the second half. In the end, the Dubs were at 12/15 freebies, the Celtics at 14/19. The way to the basket was not sought enough in the second half, too often it was emergency throws from the middle distance, where Boston only hit three of 14 throws.
- The Warriors have now won at least one away game in 27 straight playoff series – a lone NBA record. Few of them may have had the significance of this victory.
Celtics vs. Warriors: The Voice of the Game
Marcus Smart (Celtics): “We have to move. We can’t stand still and allow them to block our way.”
Stephen Curry (Warriors): “It’s our sixth time here. It gives you a lot of experience when it comes to staying in the moment.”
The star of the game: Stephen Curry
The man is hard to believe. Got little help offensively for much of the game and was defended by the entire Celtics team, it hardly mattered. Every little gap was enough, Curry punished them immediately. It was one of the best finals games of his illustrious career, Curry had only scored more points once to date.
The flop of the game: Jayson Tatum
Tatum was good again defensively and as a playmaker. His scoring, however, was simply not enough, too often he missed feasible lays, in the end it was more and more long twos that didn’t find their goal. 6 ball losses were added, some absolute unforced errors.
The scene of the game
Both teams didn’t hit anything for several minutes, the game was characterized by defense and mistakes. And then Curry got the ball, shook off White and then threw in the three over his contest – +6, “Bang!”, the dagger. The only appropriate ending to this game.
NBA Finals – Celtics vs. Warriors: The Series at a Glance (2-2)
| Game | date | time | home | away | result |
| 1 | 3rd of June | 3 o’clock | Golden State Warriors | Boston Celtics | 108:120 |
| 2 | 6th of June | 2 O ‘clock | Golden State Warriors | Boston Celtics | 107:88 |
| 3 | June 9th | 3 o’clock | Boston Celtics | Golden State Warriors | 116:100 |
| 4 | June 11th | 3 o’clock | Boston Celtics | Golden State Warriors | 97:107 |
| 5 | 14th June | 3 o’clock | Golden State Warriors | Boston Celtics | – |
| 6 | 17th of June | 3 o’clock | Boston Celtics | Golden State Warriors | – |
| 7* | 20th June | 2 O ‘clock | Golden State Warriors | Boston Celtics | – |
*if necessary
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