The Boston Celtics have regained the lead in the 2022 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. At home for the first time in the series, the Celtics moved away from the Warriors to win 116-100 in the 3rd game Wednesday night. Boston, 2-1 in the finals, endured a load from the third quarter of Golden State and left the game in the fourth quarter. Jaylen Brown (27 points), Jayson Tatum (26) and Marcus Smart (24) combined for 77 points to lead the Celtics, who led up to 18 points in the first half.
Stephen Curry scored a maximum of 31 points on 12 of 22 shots and scored 15 in the third quarter as the Warriors momentarily held the lead. Klay Thompson played his best game in the series, scoring 25 points, but it wasn’t enough. Draymond Green struggled, scoring just two points and adding three assists before fouling in the fourth quarter.
Boston is now 7-0 after a playoff loss. Golden State, meanwhile, is also undefeated in the 2022 postseason after a loss, and the Warriors have won at least one road game in their last 26 playoff series. Game 4 is scheduled for Friday night in Boston.
Here are three key points from Game 3.
The Celtics ‘balanced attack resists the Warriors’ rise
Here’s a fun statistic to show how impressive Boston’s 3rd game win was: Tatum, Brown and Smart are the first trio to each have 20 points, five assists and five rebounds in a Finals game since 1984, according to ESPN statistics and information. The last trio to do so, only the Showtime Lakers with Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Cooper.
Brown made things start early for the Celtics, adding 17 points in the first quarter to ignite the local Boston crowd and help the C’s come out on top early. He was hitting in 3 seconds, reaching the free throw line and working on some mid-range jumpers to show Golden State all of his offensive skills. Although Brown did much of his damage in the first quarter, scoring only 10 points in the next three quarters, it didn’t matter because Smart and Tatum took the baton for the rest of the game. Smart’s performance was especially noteworthy, given his two-point failure in Game 2. He came close to the edge with ease and had some favorable throws beyond the arc to help Boston maintain the its advantage at crucial moments.
But it wasn’t just the big 3 Tatum, Brown and Smart that made it to the Celtics. Grant Williams gave Boston great minutes off the bench, putting together his best performance in this series with 10 points and five rebounds. The same goes for Robert Williams III, who was just two points off a double-double (eight points, 10 rebounds). Although Robert Williams has been battling a persistent knee injury, he still looked cheerful on the ground, finishing with four blocks a night. With him patrolling the edge, the Warriors were limited to just 26 points in the paint, a sharp drop from the 40 points they generated in Game 2.
Although the Celtics almost let things sink in the third quarter, again, they managed to withstand a great performance from Curry to take the lead in the series 2-1.
The Warriors lost, but Klay could return
Entering Game 3, Thompson joked about what he would do to regain his shot for this series. After all, he was only 30.3 percent from the field, and was 4 out of 15 in 3.
“God, probably just YouTube‘ Game 6 Klay ’because there were some very high pressure situations I was in,” Thompson said. “I ended up throwing the ball well. When you can do it with your back against the wall, you can do it at any time. It’s just a matter of keeping that strong mindset.”
I’m not sure if Thompson really loaded up some of his best playoff hits before Wednesday’s game, but whatever he did, it certainly worked. Thompson shot 41.2 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from the depths to finish with 25 points. He was punishing the Celtics every time one of his greats came in for drop-and-roll coverage, and he showed that he could also create for himself in the arc.
The only problem, however, is that even his rebounding performance was not enough to lift the Warriors to victory. However, while Golden State still lost, watching Thompson warm up in the 3rd game should be an encouraging sign for the Warriors from now on.
Curry’s possible injury could change the series
At the end of the fourth quarter, the players of both teams were throwing to the ground to look for a loose ball. When the whistle blew and everyone had gathered, Curry was still on the ground in a great fit of pain. He got up slowly and limped and stayed in the game, but after that incident he didn’t look the same. The replay showed that Horford had inadvertently fallen on Curry’s leg in the middle of the ground fight. After the game, Curry said he had pain in his foot, but he was hoping to play in Game 4.
Here’s a look at the play:
After the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr declined to comment, saying “We’ll know more (Thursday).”
Thompson also spoke of Curry’s injury: “Steph will do everything in his power to play. I really hope he’s okay because it’s our identity.”
Thompson hit him directly in the head. Curry has been the undisputed MVP of the Warriors during the playoffs, and even in the third game, his 15-point performance in the third quarter was the reason Golden State returned to that game. We’ll have to wait and see what the Warriors say about any potential injury, but if Curry isn’t 100 percent healthy in the future, Golden State will have trouble. The fact that Curry only has one day off from now until Friday’s game 4 only makes things worse for the recovery time needed.