BOSTON – The Celtics punched their bullies in the third game of the NBA Finals.
Boston’s 16-bounce advantage in the cup was evidence of a strong response to the Golden State Warriors’ victory in the second game, while Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart combined for 77 points in a 116-100 victory. The Celtics take a 2-1 lead in the series before Game 4 at home on Friday at 9 p.m. ET.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with a 31-point loss before leaving with an apparent foot injury with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Golden State does not plan to update its status until Thursday. Klay Thompson added 25 points in a rebounding game for Golden State. Draymond Green, whose intensity propelled the Warriors to victory on Sunday, was fouled with two points and four rebounds in 35 minutes.
“It was soft,” Green said after the loss.
If there was ever any doubt that the Celtics would match the energy the Warriors brought to Game 2, Boston responded in the first quarter. Led by a renewed Robert Williams III (10 rebounds, eight points, four blocks, three steals), the Celtics outscored the Warriors 16-3 in the first eight minutes, taking as many offensive rebounds as Golden State in total. Brown attacked Green from the dribble and rose above him from the perimeter, scoring 17 of his 26 points on 6-of-9 shots (3-4 3P) in the first quarter.
The Warriors missed eight of their first 10 attempts from the 3-point range and were unable to fabricate anything against the Boston long inside. As Thompson warmed up, the Celtics responded, finding bands in favorable clashes against Curry, Poole, and virtually everyone Golden State threw at them. Boston doubled the Warriors ’16 points in the paint and outscored them 10 times in the first half.
Golden State made an inevitable run for a 40-second period in the middle of the second quarter, once again taking advantage of the Celtics ’negligence with basketball. Thompson and Curry tripped around a Andrew Wiggins sinking in three consecutive possessions, and a minute later Curry’s tray reduced what was a 17-point lead to 56-49 with more than three minutes left. to play before the break.
The story goes on
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown reacts to a fourth-quarter play against the Golden State Warriors during the third game of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden. (Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
Boston scored five straight goals and returned the score to 12 at halftime. It should have been more. The Celtics scored 68 points with 57% of shots from the field and 44% accuracy from the depths during the first 24 minutes, but the losses continued to affect them as the Warriors scored 14 points from their own. eight errors.
Everyone who saw it was expecting more magic from the third quarter of the Warriors. It didn’t arrive for six minutes. One possession changed all that. Curry drained a triple, and officials confirmed that Al Horford had entered his landing space. The flagrant foul-1 gave Golden State a free kick and the ball. Otto Porter Jr.’s triple he made seven points in a single ground trip, and Boston’s lead was reduced to 82-80.
Another Curry triple, another minute later, gave Golden State their first lead from Kevon Looney’s tray 17 seconds into the game. Curry and Thompson combined six of the Warriors’ seven triples and 15 of their 33 points in the fourth, but Boston did enough to cling on to a 93-89 lead entering the fourth.
The lack of finishing on the edge frustrated Tatum for the first three quarters, but he broke in the final frame. He aimed at Curry, whose fourth foul cost him enough aggression to open the door to Boston. The Celtics increased their defense in return and started the quarter with a 9-2 run to extend their lead to 11.
Golden State was no closer than eight points the rest of the way. Tatum scored nine of his 27 points and Smart added eight of his 24 before Boston coach Ime Udoka stretched his headers with two minutes left in the quarter. When the final whistle sounded, the Celtics scored 52 points on the paint in the 26th of the Warriors and 22 second chances in their 11th, catching four of their 15 offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.
Boston won the fuss and the game, a recurring theme in this series. Who will be the bully on Friday?
Match 1: Celtics 120, Warriors 108
Game 2: Warriors 107, Celtics 88
Match 3: Celtics 116, Warriors 100 (Celtics lead 2-1)
Match 4: Warriors at Celtics, Friday, 9pm ET (ABC)
Game 5: Celtics to the Warriors, Monday, June 13, at 9 pm ET (ABC)
Match 6: Warriors at Celtics, Thursday, June 16, 9 pm ET (ABC) *
Game 7: Celtics to the Warriors, Sunday, June 19, 20:00 ET (ABC) *
* – if necessary
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Ben Rohrbach is a Yahoo Sports writer. Do you have any advice? Email rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach