|
Curry, who was questionable to even play after he injured his
foot in Wednesday's Game Three, put the team on his back to
secure the gritty win in front of a hostile crowd at TD Garden
in Boston.
"We knew how big this game was," Curry said.
"I just thank God that I avoided significant injury. And for us
to come out and do what we did and go home? That five-and-a-half
hour flight home just got a little bit better."
Curry put the game on ice with his seventh three pointer, which
gave the Warriors a six-point cushion with less than two minutes
to go in the back-and-forth contest.
Andrew Wiggins provided crucial support for Curry, scoring 17
points and grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds while playing
excellent defense.
The Celtics got off to a solid start and held a six point lead
at halftime thanks to the aggressive play of Jaylen Brown and
poor shooting by the visitors.
But the Boston offense got stagnant late in the fourth to open
the door for Golden State, who took a 95-94 lead on a
straightaway three pointer by Klay Thompson.
The Warriors would not trail again as they improved to 6-0 after
a loss in the playoffs.
Curry's brilliance helped cover for subpar play from some of his
supporting cast.
"He wasn't letting us lose, that's what it boils down to," said
Draymond Green, who is aiming to win his fourth championships
with Curry and Thompson.
"I could tell in his demeanor the last couple days that he was
going to come out with that type of fire. And he did, and we
were all able to follow it."
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he was awestruck by Curry's
performance.
"Just stunning," he said.
"This is the strongest physically he's ever been in his career,
and it's allowing him to do what he's doing."
Thompson said it was Curry's best Finals performance ever.
"This was nearly a must-win game, and to go out there and shoot
as efficiently as he did, and grab 10 rebounds and they were
attacking him on defense?" he said.
"His conditioning is second-to-none in this league."
In the previous 30 instances when a Finals has been tied 2-2,
the team that wins Game Five has gone on to win the series 73%
of the time (22-8).
Kerr said the series will only get more intense as it shifts
back to San Francisco for Game Five on Monday.
"I would expect both teams to bring every ounce of energy and
emotion the rest of the way," he said.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in San Francisco; Editing by William
Mallard & Shri Navaratnam)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|
