Steph Curry leads another electric third quarter run, Warriors best
Celtics to tie NBA Finals at 1-1
Warriors star Steph Curry scored 14 points in a third quarter run that
enabled Golden State to pull even with Boston in the NBA Finals
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 5: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry (30) scores a 3-point basket against the Boston Celtics in the
third quarter of Game 2 of the NBA Finals at the Chase Center in San
Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, June 5, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News
Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 5: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry (30) scores a 3-point basket against the Boston Celtics in the
third quarter of Game 2 of the NBA Finals at the Chase Center in San
Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, June 5, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News
Group)
By MADELINE KENNEY | mkenney@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: June 5, 2022 at 7:37 p.m. | UPDATED: June 6, 2022 at 4:12 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/06/05/steph-curry-leads-another-electric-third-quarter-run-warriors-best-celtics-to-tie-nba-finals-at-1-1/

SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry led Golden State to another electric
third quarter outburst Sunday night in front of a sold-out Chase Center
crowd. But unlike their embarrassing collapse in Game 1 of the NBA
Finals, the Warriors held strong and fended off the Celtics in Game 2
for a 107-88 win.

Curry scored 14 of his 29 points in the third, helping the Warriors
outscore the Celtics 35-14 to take a 23-point lead heading into the
final 12 minutes.

After coughing up a double-digit fourth quarter lead in Game 1 in an
epic fourth quarter meltdown, the Warriors were able to sustain their
third quarter momentum on Sunday, cruising throughout a comfortable
fourth to tie the series 1-1.

The Warriors didn’t make many strategic changes heading into Game 2,
according to coach Steve Kerr.

“The preparation was mostly about our intensity and physicality. It was
obviously ramped up tonight, and it needed to be, given what Boston did
in Game 1,” Kerr said. “That’s the name of the game in the Finals. It’s
hard to get an open shot out there, and it’s supposed to be difficult.
Game 1 was too easy for Boston with the looks they were getting in that
fourth quarter.”

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 5: Golden State Warriors’ Gary Payton
II (0) prepares to go into the game next to Golden State Warriors head
coach Steve Kerr against the Boston Celtics in the first quarter of Game
2 of the NBA Finals at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Sunday, June 5, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

The Celtics hit back-to-back 3-pointers with 4:32 remaining in the third
quarter to pull within six of the Warriors, but that was the closest
they would get to Golden State for the rest of the game. Curry, the main
focus of Boston’s league-best defense, nailed two 3-pointers during an
11-0 run that extended the Warriors’ lead to 79-62 with 1:54 left in the
third quarter.

“Steph was breathtaking in that quarter — not just the shot making but
the defensive effort,” Kerr said. “He just doesn’t get enough credit for
his level of conditioning, physicality and defense.

“People go at him to try to wear him down because they know how
important he is to us offensively, and it’s pretty dramatic the
difference in Steph’s strength and physicality in his body now than from
eight years ago when I first got here. So the guy’s amazing, he just
keeps working on his game, his strength, his conditioning year after
year, and it’s a pleasure to watch him play every night.”

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 5: Golden State Warriors’ Jordan
Poole (3) makes a 3-point basket against Boston Celtics’ Payton
Pritchard (11) as time expires in the third quarter of Game 2 of the NBA
Finals at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, June 5,
2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

A poor first half performance kept Jordan Poole out of the game until
the last 1:19 of the third quarter, but he made the most of that final
79 seconds. Poole handed out an assist on a Kevon Looney layup and hit
two 3-pointers, including a highlight worthy pull-up shot from 39-feet
to beat the buzzer.

Poole finished with five 3-pointers and 17 points off the bench.

Boston made five straight shots to start the game, including a pair of
3-pointers, to jump out to a nine-point lead, but the Celtics’
sharpshooting went cold and the Warriors held a 52-50 advantage at halftime.

Poole emerged in the second half, but Andrew Wiggins finished with 11
points and Klay Thompson had a postseason low 11 on what was a shoddy
night of shooting for the two starters.

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 5: Golden State Warriors’ Draymond
Green (23) argues against Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown (7) and Boston
Celtics’ Marcus Smart (36) in the second quarter of Game 2 of the NBA
Finals at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, June 5,
2022. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)

Meanwhile, Draymond Green’s impact went far beyond the box score. He
finished with nine points, seven assists and five rebounds but was the
heart of the Warriors’ attack Sunday. He set the tone on defense and was
a menace to the Celtics.

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“We knew our backs were against the wall, we couldn’t go into Boston
being down 2-0,” Gary Payton II said. Green “lit the fire under us, as
this whole season. He lights it and everybody else follows, and tonight
was one of those big nights that everybody responded.”

The Warriors were without Andre Iguodala after his knee flare up with
swelling following Saturday’s practice, but Payton made his return after
being out for a month with a broken elbow. He took turns guarding Jayson
Tatum, who finished with a team-high 28 points for Boston. After missing
a pair of free throws, Payton put to rest any doubts of whether his
elbow would hinder his shooting, making all three of his shots for seven
points in 25 minutes.

The Warriors improved to 10-1 in the playoffs at Chase Center, while the
Celtics are now 8-3 on the road this postseason. The best-of-seven
series moves to Boston for the next two games.

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 5: Golden State Warriors’ Gary Payton
II (0) defends against Boston Celtics’ Derrick White (9) in the third
quarter of Game 2 of the NBA Finals at the Chase Center in San
Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, June 5, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News
Group)