I don’t know how to express my disappointment and frustration with the Celtics. The championship was practically in their hands if they won tonight. Up 3-1 going back to Chase Center, only needing to win 1/3 final games of the series, and all the pressure on the Warriors to win out against a team that would have already beaten them 3/4 times.
The 18th title was all but a guarantee with a win tonight.
But no. It wasn’t to be. Steph Curry had to absolutely dominate every defense, every coverage the Celtics threw at him and put up 43 to have one of the best NBA finals game performances I’ve ever seen.
That is what makes this loss so hard to accept. Besides keeping Steph Curry as cold as possible (which is much easier said than done, I know), everything else was going right for them.
Draymond Green had another awful game, leading to him getting benched. Klay Thompson was M.I.A up until the 4th. And Jordan Poole continued to struggle shooting. The Warriors even had more turnovers than the Celtics, for the first time all series long. Everything was lining up for a Celtics win.
Then, Steph Curry showed up. Clearly undeterred from all of the talk of “he has never played well in the finals” or “he’s going to be hobbled by that ankle sprain” suffered last game, Steph Curry showed the world why he was always the MVP of the Warriors’ dynasty. Not Klay Thompson, not Draymond Green, not Kevin Durant, not Andre Iguodala. Him.
Putting up 43 against the best defense in the league, with two of the best defensive players in the league on the court for practically the whole game is no joke. Yes, the only two Celtics who had over twenty points were Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Of course, the Celtics are more than capable of winning one more in San Francisco, and one in Boston. But, still, I’m worried. I fear that Steph Curry has just turned this series into what seemed a forgone Celtics victory, into a classic Golden State triumph.
Images Source:
