BOSTON – The Celtics responded to their bullies in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
Boston’s 16-cup rebound was a strong response to Golden State Warriors’ victory in Game 2, while Jaylan Brown, Jason Tatum and Marcus Smart combined 77 points in a 116-100 victory. The Celtics lead 2-1 in the series before home game 4 on Friday at 21:00 ET.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 31 points in the defeat before leaving with an obvious foot injury two minutes before the end of the fourth quarter. Golden State does not expect to update its status until Thursday. Clay Thompson added 25 points in the return match for Golden State. Draymond Green, whose intensity led the Warriors to victory on Sunday, was eliminated by two points and four rebounds in 35 minutes.
“I was soft,” Green said clearly after the loss.
If there was ever any doubt that the Celtics would match the energy the Warriors brought in Game 2, Boston responded in the first quarter. Led by backed Robert Williams III (10 rebounds, eight points, four blocks, three stolen balls), the Celtics outscored the Warriors 16-3 in the first eight minutes, grabbing as many offensive fights as the Golden State combined. Brown attacked Green outside the dribble and rose above him from the perimeter, scoring 17 of his 26 points in a 6-against-9 (3-4 3P) shot in the first quarter.
The Warriors missed eight of their first 10 attempts in the 3-point range and couldn’t produce anything against Boston’s inside length. Even as Thompson heated up, the Celtics responded, finding delays in auspicious games against Curry, Poole, and virtually everyone Golden State threw at them. Boston doubled the Warriors’ 16 points in the fight and overtook them by 10 in a second chance in the first half.
Golden State made the inevitable breakthrough in 40 seconds in the middle of the second quarter, again taking advantage of the Celtics’ negligence in basketball. Thompson and Curry pinned three points around Andrew Wiggins’ three-pointer, and a minute later Curry’s lead reduced the deficit from 17 points to 56-49 by more than three minutes by the end of the half.
The story continues
Boston Celtics goalkeeper Joanne Brown reacted to a fourth-quarter game against the Golden State Warriors during Game 20 of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden. (Maddie Mayer / Getty Images)
Boston scored five consecutive goals and returned the lead to 12 at the break. There should have been more. The Celtics scored 68 points with 57% shooting from the field and 44% accuracy from depth in the first 24 minutes, but the changes continued to plague them as the Warriors scored 14 points from their eight errors.
Everyone who watched was expecting more magic from the third quarter of the Warriors. Six minutes did not come. One possession changed all that. Curry ran out of a 3-pointer, and officers confirmed that Al Horford had stepped into his landing site. The apparent foul-1 gave Golden State a free throw and the ball. Otto Porter Jr.’s three-pointer scored seven points in one descent, and Boston’s lead was reduced to 82-80.
Another triple with Curry, another minute later, gave Golden State the first lead since Keven Looney’s 17 seconds after the game. Curry and Thompson combined six of the Warriors’ seven three points and 15 of their 33 points in the fourth, but Boston did enough to stay on the 93-89 lead to enter the fourth.
The failure to finish on the edge disappointed Tatum in the first three quarters, but he broke in the last frame. He turned to Curry, whose fourth foul cost him enough aggression to open the door for Boston. The Celtics stepped up their defenses in return and started the quarter at 9-2 to extend their lead back to 11.
Golden State approached at least eight points the rest of the way. Tatum scored nine of his 27 points and Smart added 8 of his 24 before Boston coach Name Udoka withdrew two minutes to the end of the fourth. When the final referee’s signal sounded, the Celtics scored 52 points in the Warriors’ 26 points and 22 points for a second chance against their 11, grabbing four of their 15 offensive runs in the fourth quarter.
Boston won the noise and the game a recurring theme in this series. Who will be the bully on Friday?
Game 1: Celtics 120, Warriors 108
Game 2: Warriors 107, Celtics 88
Game 3: Celtics 116, Warriors 100 (Celtics lead 2-1)
Game 4: Warriors at the Celtics, Friday, 21:00 ET (ABC)
Game 5: Celtics at the Warriors, Monday, June 13, 21:00 ET (ABC)
Game 6: Warriors at the Celtics, Thursday, June 16, 9:00 PM ET (ABC) *
Match 7: Celtics in Warriors, Sunday, June 19, 20:00 ET (ABC) *
* – if necessary
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Ben Rohrbach is a full-time writer for Yahoo Sports. Do you have any advice? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
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