Warriors 34-49 Celtics, 7:03, second quarter
The entire Warriors attack seems to be on the free throw line this quarter. Wiggins gets on the line, hitting one of two. And there is a balance … Smart throws a ball carelessly and lets Wiggins sink. This will be hard if …
Well, if the Celtics do not continue to make up for these mistakes: Tatum hits his first triple of the game.
Warriors 31-46 Celtics, 8:12, second quarter
Tatum is rightly called for a foul shot, his first, but the crowd disagrees and joins in a colorless disgust song. Wiggins hits his two free throws. Rob Williams scores again, just below the basket, and looks much healthier.
Warriors 29-44 Celtics, 8:48, second quarter
Robert Williams fouls what looks like a pretty clean block. And so it goes. Thompson, of course, is automatic today, so he hits both free throws. One would think that this would be a swing moment, but again the Celtics don’t give them a quarter. Derrick White with a tray.
Celtics baseman Jaylen Brown (7) balls against Warriors baseman Gary Payton II (0) during the first quarter. Photography: Steven Senne / AP
Updated at 02.51 BST
Warriors 27-42 Celtics, 9:26, second quarter
Grant Williams fouls Green. I’ve seen this show before. Thompson scores again: there are four in a row. However, Boston continues to respond to every Warriors punch. In this case it is Payton Pritchard, in play and hitting a triple.
Warriors 25-39 Celtics, 9:51, second quarter
The Celtics crowd applauded Green’s first foul of the night. I was looking forward to it. Tatum misses a three but the Celtics secure the rebound. Second chance chances are great: Williams wins this one with another score.
Thompson, however, looks set to warm up again after a tough start to the series. He knocked down a triple, but at the other end, Williams, Robert, sank all over Golden State.
Warriors 22-35 Celtics, 11:37, second quarter
Grant Williams is in the game and scores immediately to start the Celtics second.
@HunterFelt re: “Good shot, don’t get arrogant”, are you sure to be a little surprised if Ime Udoka quotes Star Wars to his players, no matter how relevant the date is?
– Advocate for the homeless (@Roscommon_Cat) June 9, 2022
It is illegal not to cite “Star Wars” in any potential situation in 21st century America. We are all obliged to know.
Warriors 22-33 Celtics, first quarter final
The Celtics swarmed Looney to prevent him from scoring, but that defense is nothing thanks to Klay Thompson who hits a triple. Brown, however, responds with one of his own. That’s 17 points in the first quarter for Brown. White picks up his second foul with just 6.3 from the end of the first quarter. Thompson hit both free throws to turn it into a slightly deflated finish for what was almost a perfect quarter. His lead is 11 points and it looks like he would be more against your average team.
Warriors are not means. It will be a long game.
Warriors 17-30 Celtics, 1:46, first quarter
White misses Gary Payton II to avoid an easy tray. It’s a great effort, but Payton still makes his two free throws.
Warriors 15-30 Celtics, 2 p.m., first quarter
Poole is penalized for a foul. Smart comes into play and this time gets his two gifts. Curry scores here immediately.
Then Smart hits Brown for a kill: that’s 14 points for him and maybe this Warriors mini-run doesn’t come.
Warriors 13-26 Celtics, 3:48, first quarter
Looney with a kill out of dead time. Exactly what you want to see as a head coach. Also, Jordan Poole is in the game. I wouldn’t be surprised with a mini-warrior running around here.
I don’t know, I have a feeling these games don’t start until the third quarter.
Wait, wait, that doesn’t mean stop reading! That means you keep reading this to the end. I want to emphasize that whatever you do, you always have to pay attention to me.
Warriors 11-26 Celtics, 3:48, first quarter
White makes a tray. Steph Curry hits a jumper to try to get the Warriors out, but Horford, the invisible majority on Sunday, sinks and that will force the Warriors to take a timeout.
Warriors 9-22 Celtics, 4:26, first quarter
Marcus Smart is on the line with two free throws and … both fail. Maybe the only thing that went wrong for them this quarter. Wiggins can’t connect with the Warriors, but Horford is at the other end.
And there’s a Golden State billing, but Draymond Green shows up and commits the cleanest blog you’ll ever see. Boston takes over possession but Brown scores.
Celtics baseman Jaylen Brown (7) leads the basket against Warriors striker Draymond Green (23) during the first quarter. Photo: Kyle Terada / USA Today Sports
Updated at 02.30 BST
The Celtics have avoided losses early. They have to point it out, I think. I wouldn’t be shocked if this is Udoka’s “good start, don’t get arrogant” speech.
Warriors 9-18 Celtics, 5:44, first quarter
Wiggins sneaks through the Celtics defense to score a tray. What a second act in his career! Brown, however, climbs one, already has 10 points.
Curry charged his second foul in the middle of the first quarter. This is also something to watch out for. The Celtics take time out.
Warriors 7-16 Celtics, 6:51, first quarter
Warriors who look good didn’t hit them soon. Something to look at. Wiggins takes a swing and hits it … But the Celtics turned it around. Tatum loses control but manages to keep the ball.
Brown gets a free kick after a save by Gary Payton II. Brown takes his free-kick.
Warriors 7-14 Celtics, 7:55, first quarter
Tatum responds, however, by reaching the basket to regain the eight-point lead. Derrick White is soon to replace Williams and Curry immediately hits a three. Marcus Smart publishes another basket in the painting. The Celtics hear it soon.
Warriors 2-10 Celtics, 10:03, first quarter
Horford with a triple. Brown with a triple! I’ve never felt the Garden so strong in a game so soon. This is a 10-0 run.
Updated at 02.13 BST
Warriors 2-4 Celtics, 11:03, first quarter
Brown responds with a triple and then Jayson Tatum receives a foul and his arm seems not to be here. On the line, Tatum makes one of the two free throws.
Opening tip
Warriors 2-0 Celtics, 11:27, first quarter
Green is booed during the presentations. The warriors win the tip. We have basketball. Kevon Looney scores first.
That could, in fact, be the whole game.
National anthem
Michelle Brooks-Thompson sings. That’s all right. San Francisco had more fun with “The Star Spangled Banner.” 6/10
Michelle Brooks-Thompson sings the national anthem before Game 3. Photo: Steven Senne / AP
Updated at 02.10 BST
The first finals match at TD Garden since 2010. Earlier today there was a massive fraud alert, so there is a good chance that not everyone who thought they had tickets will be able to enter.
Boston Celtics starting lineup
Jayson Tatum, G / F
Marcus Smart, G
Jaylen Brown, F / G
Robert Williams, C
Al Horford, F
Something great about Boston in the NBA Finals: they’re getting heavy with the Gang Starr in these pre-game montages. (RIP Guru, Boston legend)
Initial lineup of the Golden State Warriors
Steph Curry, G
Klay Thompson, G / F
Draymond Green, C / F
Kevon Looney, C / F
Andrew Wiggins, F
Stephen A. Smith says that Draymond Green knows that these referees will be biased against him and that he will not be able to be as … involved, say, as in Game 2.
Probably not wrong! Plus, hey, this Boston crowd is about to make you rage.
Derrick White
I’m partial, but I still say it’s worth reading the unlikely story of Derrick White’s unusual path to the NBA and the tricky path to the NBA Finals with the Boston Celtics. We have time here, mostly because Opening Tip always seems to be a foggy time.
(No, I don’t know why the games still start at 9:00 PM EST even though we’re no longer on the west coast.)
Predictions
me? I’ve seen enough of this pattern: the Celtics humiliate themselves after stumbling upon a win-win game that turns into a shameful defeat for their own negligence, come together and get a big win. They haven’t lost twice yet, as said before, and I see that continuing here. It could even be a relatively stress-free win, think double digits for the fourth, though the live commentator hopes not to get two games in a row that were decided so soon.
Your thoughts? Again, I remind everyone that they can email their predictions to hunter.felt.freelance@theguardian.com or tweet them at @HunterFelt and we’ll include them throughout this live blog. Unless it’s like that, in the middle of the fourth quarter. That’s just a trap, isn’t it?
Injury report
For now, Andre Iguodala is available to play for the Golden State Warriors tonight. I didn’t really feel like they needed him in game 2.
Robert Williams is also good to go to the Boston Celtics, but hopefully he looks better than Sunday when he was hampered to the point of hurting the team. When he’s healthy, it’s pretty obvious (especially for the other team).
Scott Foster
For all those who hoped that this time we would not have a referee show after the nonsense of the second game? Sorry, Scott Foster is here as part of the NBA crew.
If you want to know if you’re not a highly respected official, just think that all the betting sites have noticed this right away and sent me a lot of emails about how this might affect the game. The Celtics are 3-1 in Foster-led playoff games this year, so it’s worth it.
Draymond Green
The key moment of game 2? Well, there was a moment during a match on the court between Draymond Green of the Warriors and Jaylen Brown of the Celtics where the referees …