NBA Finals: Golden State Fights Back, Levels the Series Against Boston, 1-1

The Golden State Warriors responded in the NBA Finals, winning Game 2 against the Boston Celtics, 107-88. This was a must-win event for the hosts, who now tied the series at 1-1.

Golden State broke Boston’s resistance in the third period once they outscored the rivals 35-14, creating the edge and, later on, keeping it until the end. Steph Curry was amazing in that sequence having 12 points and three threes, but was also very good in defense, and that was what the Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr wanted to stress out.

“Steph was breathtaking in that third quarter. … He just doesn’t get enough credit for his level of conditioning, physicality and defense.”

Once again the Dub Nation’s signature third period showed up, and like so many times before, the team broke its rivals in a very confident manner. When looking at the overall picture, the Warriors were better in two statistical categories.

The first was the turnovers, where they had several lost possessions fewer. GSW posted 12 and on the other side, the Celtics added 19. The second was scoring from the paint, with the Warriors having 40 points, and the Celtics 24.

Al Horford was nowhere near his productivity from the opening game, and the Cs’ big man couldn’t stretch the Warriors’ defense and open space for Tatum and Brown. Horford had two points in 28 minutes, Robert Williams III two as well, while Grant Williams scored six off the bench.

Tatum had 28 points, six threes hit in nine tries, for 34 minutes. He was 8-for-19 from the field, delivering 21 points in the opening half. Once he stopped later, the Warriors went wild, and there was no response coming from the other side to restrain their burst.

Jaylen Brown had 17 buckets, 5-for-17, and Derrick White dropped 12, 4-for-13. These two weren’t up to the task, and the consequences were immediately felt.

On the other side, the Warriors had Curry in the zone with 29 buckets, but his shooting percentage wasn’t as high as many expected, 9-for-21, with six boards and four assists.

Jordan Poole was on the spot this time. We’ve spoken about his impact on the Warriors’ game and the fact that the young shooting guard needs to be around his average in order for the Warriors to win games. Last night Poole scored 17 points, making five threes in nine shots, in 23 minutes.

Klay Thompson was once below the expectations, with only 11 points, making one three in eight attempts and shooting 4-for-19 overall. Andrew Wiggins posted 11 points, and Gary Payton II seven, off the bench.

THE THIRD SPLASH BROTHER ARRIVES IN THE FINALS 💦

Jordan Poole dropped 17 points and hit a huge 3Q buzzer beater to help the Warriors tie the series! pic.twitter.com/9abO4ZeD2k

— ESPN (@espn) June 6, 2022

Kevon Looney scored 12 points hitting all of his six shots from the field, adding seven boards to that in 21 minutes of the court. He was by far the most productive GSW player on the court, and an unexpected problem for the Cs, whose defense wasn’t anywhere near those from the previous displays during the playoffs.

“We didn’t give ourselves a chance with those turnovers,” Cs head coach Ime Udoka stated.

The series moves to Boston now. The Cs have massive support at the TD Garden, one of the most hostile places in the entire NBA. Though, we need to remind everyone that the Warriors won the most recent meeting there during this regular season.

After opening the series as underdogs, the Celtics are now favorites to win the title before the two games in Massachusetts.