BOSTON – It was a regular three-pointer, though for the second time in a row. It gave the Warriors a five-point lead. He arrived with 2:03 at the end of the first quarter. None of this sequence, and when it occurred, suggested that it was of special importance.
Still, after watching his noise, and after the Celtics called for a timeout, Steph Curry had something to say. He walked away from the Warriors’ bench to the other end of the court. Screaming. Flexing. Teasing. At the bottom line, near the Boston bank, he roared toward the sea of green and white, as if his soul wanted to tremble. A tiger’s roar is said to be loud enough to paralyze its prey. Curry usually saves his demonstrative displays for the big moments, when the opponent is defeated. But tonight, in the early stages of this must-have game for the Warriors, he was not celebrating a conquest. He was preparing it.
He pointed to the sacred hardwood beneath his feet and declared the reality the Celtics face. They should face a big one of all time tonight. All night long.
“He wouldn’t let us down,” Draymond Green said.
That he didn’t. Curry scored 43 points on 14 of 26 shots with 10 rebounds in a 107-97 win in Game 4. A Curry Classic on Causeway. He snatched the lead at home from the clutches of the Celtics. Boston had a chance to take the lead. But Curry flexed and the Warriors head home for Game 5 with a chance to take control of the series.
Curry has had some great NBA Finals games before, contrary to popular narrative. In 2015, he scored 17 of his 37 in the fourth quarter of a crucial 5 game, taking on LeBron James to take control of the series. In 2016, game 4 on the road in Cleveland, with torn knee wear, Curry scored 24 of his 38 in the second half to put the Warriors 3-1 in the series. He totaled 47 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in the third game of the 2019 final despite facing a cash defense and one of the Raptors, while Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson were sidelined due to injury. Two games later, Curry finished with 31 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a big win in the fifth game in Toronto to keep the Warriors alive.
But what happened Friday night was a performance that flew his legend. He left even his harshest critics with torn vocal cords. Beneath the 17 championship banners hung on the beams of TD Garden, on the parquet floor adorned with legends like Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant, Curry showed the basketball world that he is, in fact, him.
“This man’s heart is amazing,” Thompson said.
Game 4 was the striking display often needed for proper acclaim. It was the kind of monster performance that was expected of players of its kind. But this game was just another episode of his legacy of winning. Going to the top often requires great toughness, it requires the determination of a hero. His superpower is shooting, but his greatest strength is his will to win.
His 43-point night was born from one of his great attributes. Sure, it was a shooting and ball handling clinic, but that was secondary. The star was his indomitable will, a framework that belies his harshness. Its resilience cannot be underestimated. Its entire history is a case study in determination. Friday night was the last example of his contempt for odds.
Want to know why the Warriors have now won a road game in 27 straight series? Wardell Stephen Curry II. The Warriors have now won 39 road playoff games in the Curry era. He has scored at least 30 points in 20 of them.
“I don’t classify my performances,” Curry said. “He just wins the game.”
Nothing reveals strength in the NBA like winning on the road. And the intimidating place in Boston requires a tenacious spirit. The Celtics fans had been two games with Green. They also called Thompson a spicy speech, after which he called them “rude” and overshadowed his class. A reply was needed. So Davidson’s 6-foot-3 guy played the big brother role driving the Warriors down the proverbial alley, obscured by the Celtics ’vitriol. He called them again. And when the crowd began to spit blasphemy in his own way, he responded with big baskets and goal kicks.
Remember he did it two days after a 6-foot, 9- and 240-pound man fell on his left foot, causing another injury clock while the world waited to see if he was injured.
Curry can’t stand when his health becomes history, a complex born of his ankle problems in his early years. But in retrospect, his painful left foot tilted his hand. He was determined to play and not talk about his foot. I wanted all the doubts about Game 4 next to the Boston aisle.
“I said with his behavior the last two days,” Green said, “even after Game 3, he would come out with that kind of fire.”
Remember that the Celtics attack is chasing him. Curry can’t hide and rest on defense.
He has been the defender on 52 Boston field goal attempts in this series, according to NBA statistics. More than Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown. Opponents are throwing 44.2 percent against Curry. After going 10 of 16 against Curry in Game 3, the Celtics were 4 of 11 when Curry defended in Game 4.
Remember he did it against the league’s No. 1 defense, which is bigger and stronger in every position and plays with a physique that breaks boundaries and breaks spirits.
Curry has seen almost every defense imaginable. He was guarded across the track, bent 40 feet from the basket, trapped and bombed. But the Celtics pose unique problems. His youngest player is Defensive Player of the Year 2022, and he plays as if his freedom is at stake. Smart is so good at what he does and so constantly abrasive that he escapes with many illegal contacts. The entire Boston defense has taken this game plan: go into Curry, do whatever it takes to stay connected, even if that means holding on when he’s off the ball and checking it by hand when he’s there. In addition, the Celtics have the advantage over Curry in girth, athleticism, strength and length. However, he struggles, as he would have done if he had played in his father’s time.
And look at what he’s doing against the Celtics defense in this series – averaging 34.3 points on 50 percent shooting, including 25 of 51 of 3.
“Just awesome,” Steve Kerr said. “The physique is, you know, pretty dramatic. I mean, Boston obviously has the best defense in the league. Huge and powerful in every position. And let Steph take that: that kind of pressure during the whole game and still being able to defend at the other end when they come against him shows you, I think this is the strongest physically he has ever been in his career, and it is allowing him to do what he is doing. “
Another great third quarter, his favorite, put the Warriors in a position to come out of New England with renewed life.
He came out of a screen going to his right and punched a three over Derrick White from the far right, reducing the Celtics’ lead to three. He came out of another screen to the left, firing before Robert Williams III could react and before White could recover. The Celtics’ advantage was reduced to one. Leaving a Gary Payton II screen, he rose from 33 feet, suddenly enough for Jayson Tatum to meet him. That one tied the game. Then, in a play that adds to the most prominent reel, he drove and threw into the corner, then moved to the same corner, splashing another 3 to put the Warriors ahead by one point.
“We’ve been there,” Smart said. “It simply came to our notice then. We had someone there and he was just making them. That’s what he does. “
That put Kerr in a difficult spot. Curry was in 31 minutes and 28 seconds at the start of the fourth quarter. He usually sits for the first six minutes of the quarter. That has been reduced to about four minutes in the playoffs. The last game, Kerr had to reduce it to just over two. That’s because the Celtics have dominated the quarterfinals. In Game 1, they had it 40-16. In Game 3, it was 23-11.
Curry was rolling, and the Warriors needed an offense to prevent a pending Celtics concentration. But Kerr stuck to his instinct. He doesn’t like Curry for more than 40 minutes. There are declining returns. While Curry’s threat on the court is helpful, Kerr’s experience about his superstar knows he’s better off with a short break. So he opened the room with Curry on the bench.
“I wasn’t happy,” Kerr said. “I felt really good where we were. The other night he played the whole quarter, and I didn’t like how that quarter went, not how he played, but I think we were in a pretty good place. You know, buy- “I think it was important to me. But you never know how it all goes. You just go with your instincts.”
The movement did not condemn the Warriors. Boston led up to five, but that only set the bar on Curry’s historic night. The ball was in his hands. The Celtics defense was scattered. His presence pressured his attack to score. It all ended to break Boston.
The Celtics led by two when Curry pushed him into the transition. He tied three defenses, which left Thompson open for a 3 at the top. The Warriors were definitely ahead. The next time he went down, Curry dodged Smart on a screen and danced with Williams on the perimeter. A series of crossings led to an easy 12-foot float.
Then, with two minutes left, Green led a quick counterattack. He was stopped around the free throw line. But he knew exactly where he was going. All the attention was on him, as he had the ball. It was enough for Curry to break free of the whites for a split second. He entered a Green rebound, struck a small blow and hit the dagger 3.
Then, after the Celtics called for a timeout, their hopes were dashed and they faced the reality of a …