It's all about Stephen Curry in the NBA Finals. On Wednesday, in Game 3, the Boston crowd repeatedly insulted Draymond Green, They picked on him, a type of player always adored by the local parish and hateful by the rival.
Green is the perfect target to subject him to what they can not do with the 30 of the Golden State Warriors, Jason Gay argues in the pages of The Wall Street Journal. "It's hard to go against Stephen Curry, it's like going against the brightness of the sun," writes Gay.
If it causes that admiration in the opponents, how is it not going to be a source of pride for theirs. And that's why it's all about Curry. Even with him, these Warriors are far more flawed than those who won three titles in the past decade. So it is understandable that the fans of the Californian team had fear in their bodies knowing that he was injured in Wednesday's clash.
"I'm going to play," said Curry in the run-up to this fourth game, with a 2-1 lead for the locals, Ime Udoka's battle-hardened Celtics. The star of the Californians ended up injured in his foot in the previous match. Despite the fact that his star showed the will to be on the track, the doubts about his physical condition clouded the confidence in the final result.
Curry played. No, he didn't play, he gave leadership and quality teaching, the kind that he never hides. The Warriors achieved a huge victory (97-107) in a field like TD Garden, perhaps the most hostile in this league, which this time did not intimidate them. Curry had 43 points, with seven triples, some unlikely, grabbed ten rebounds and, above all, showed that he is one of the greatest, one who deserves to be among the biggest stars. His way of understanding this sport is an innovation.
Statistics indicate that he is the third oldest player (he is 34 years old) to achieve more than 40 points in a final match. But there are things that stats can't pick up and that's his personality. On this occasion, moreover, he was well supported by Andrew Wiggins (17 points and 17 rebounds, the most in his career), Klay Thompson (18 points), Jordan Poole (14) and the work of Kevon Looney in the body to Body.
Steven Kerr's relieved face and the general happiness among his players clearly expressed the achievement. They have put the tie tied at two and recover the field advantage in case it goes to seven. And they did it by counteracting the very tough game of Boston. He has antidote.
And that the game was going the same way as the previous one, the first in Boston, when the locals overwhelmed them. This time, the first period ended with a local advantage, just like at the break (54-49). Jayson Tatum led his team, with 23 points, with a Jayson Brown who had a hard time getting into the game this time, but finished with 21, and the incredible work of Marcus Smart in attack (18 points) and in defense.
However, everything changed in the second part. The magic of the third quarters of the San Francisco Bay team reappeared and they managed to win that stretch by one point, 78-79. And in the final quarter, after falling behind five points (91-86), when it seemed that the Celtics had broken the game, then the turn occurred but in reverse. A 3-pointer from Thompson, a couple of innings from Wiggins and impressive shooting from Curry opened a gap, from three to six points, just over a minute away that shattered the morale of the local players and dampened the warrior ardor of the crowd.
“We missed a great opportunity,” Celtics coach Udoka said after the game. They could have gone 3-1 and now they go to San Francisco with a draw and the feeling that, although their team shows signs of greater physical strength, the rivals have Curry.
“I am very proud of the group”, declared the 30 of the Warriors once the match was over. "We have overcome a scenario with a lot of hostility, a scenario that we already know, and we have managed to keep up with a very brilliant second part," he added.
It was more than proven that Curry was not injured, if he was, he hid it perfectly. The good news for him and his supporters of the Californians is that this time the leader was not alone. Wiggins and Thompson had their best moments in a long time. But it is also evident that this was just a battle. The Celtics are eager to make history
But back to the beginning, it's all about Curry in this NBA Finals.
