SAN FRANCISCO – If a fortune teller tells you that Stephen Curry will go down in history in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, you would probably assume that the Golden State Warriors will come out victorious. After all, Curry had a mind-boggling 43-point, 10-rebound shot in Game 4 that put him in the respected point guard of legends Magic Johnson and Jerry West. The possibilities seemed endless.
You will then curse the shadow fortune teller with all your heart when you realize that the story Curry has created is one of infamous diversity. The greatest scorer of all time made a 0-for-9 from a range of 3 points on Monday night, noting for the first time in 132 consecutive playoff games – 233 consecutive games, including the regular season – that he failed to make a single 3-pointer . Curry finished with 16 points, almost 20 below his average in the first four games of the finals.
Yet this Warriors team, which found virtually zero fouls outside Curry in the finals, worked hard, struggled and made their way to a 104-94 victory over the Boston Celtics to a 3-2 lead to one victory. from the franchise’s fourth NBA title in eight seasons.
Watching Warriors on Monday was like watching Fresh Prince of Bel-Air after replacing Aunt Viv with another actress. You know it’s the same show, but it’s different from what you’re used to.
All the talk that came in Game 5 was about how hard Curry carried the Warriors. It was the subject of talk chapters, a topic in the media on Sunday and food for fun from NBA social media legend King Josiah.
In Monday’s 5th game, however, the other Warriors did more than just their weight. They also wore Curry.
“I think we have a really great group, a smart group of individuals. The game has a very high IQ and we’re just trying to make it easy for each and every one of us, every teammate, “said Warriors guard Gary Peyton II after the match. “True, everyone is just themselves and selfless and trying to make games for themselves, but again, they make games for their teammates by doing that.”
The supporting cast begins with Andrew Wiggins, who for the second consecutive game looked like the second best player on the Golden State list – probably the second best player in the series. He scored 26 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and a blockade for the monstrous 43 minutes, again taking on the responsibility of guarding Celtics stars Jason Tatum and Jaylan Brown. Wiggins was all over the floor, scoring 10 points in a 5-by-6 shot in the fourth quarter, ending things with a solid kick that ended any faint hope of a late return for the Celtics.
“We’re not more excited than when Wigs drowns someone and grabs them,” said Warriors guard Clay Thompson after the game. “And that really lifts the whole team and the Bay Area.”
Wiggins wasn’t the only one working while Curry struggled. Thompson scored 21 points in a 5-on-11 shooting out of 3 points, another in a series of clutch performances, with Warriors’ post-season life in balance. Draymond Green, very disgraced over the past two weeks, scored eight points – almost half of his total in the first four games of the series combined – to combine with eight rebounds and six assists, setting the starting lineup with his energy and pressure at both ends of the floor.
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As Kevon Looney was limited to 17 minutes due to an early foul, Warriors coach Steve Kerr went into smaller squads, which allowed Payton to thrive. He demonstrated his unique combination of elite perimeter defense and internal results on the road to 15 points, five rebounds and three stolen balls in a 6 to 8 shot.
“The man is a workhorse. He’s amazing,” Kerr told Peyton after winning Game 5. “An amazing athlete, a great defender. He has really good instincts and he’s obviously super competitive … He’s come a long way and now he has a chance to shines in the finals, so it’s great. “
In terms of momentum, perhaps no player was more important to the Warriors’ victory than Jordan Poole. The 22-year-old suffered his ups and downs during his first playoffs, but he came to the rescue at the end of the third quarter, during which the Celtics turned a 12-point deficit at half-time to a five-point lead. With a buzzer ready to sound at the end of the period, Poole fired a 38-foot that hit the glass and tilted. It was his second long buzzer in the series, and it gave the Warriors an advantage they wouldn’t want to back down.
“It was a crucial part of the game to answer that,” Kerr said. “Jordan hit a few big ones at the end of the third and then he had a good part to start the fourth. But the answer to Boston’s run to me was the key to the game.”
The supporting cast of the Warriors is growing at a huge moment is no accident. Kerr was constantly trying to give the last man on the bench a handful of minutes every few games, knowing from his own experience as a role player that spending too long without seeing the action of the game not only makes you rust, but also makes you to feel separated from the team. For the past three seasons since Kevin Durant left Warriors, critics have consistently called for a more direct pick-and-roll than Curry. Even with what was sometimes a young, inexperienced and inappropriate squad, Kerr claims that his smooth, ball-oriented attack creates the most cohesion and therefore leads to the best results when it matters most.
“Man, there are just a lot of great people here. Great people here who challenge you. They hold you accountable, “Wiggins said after the match. “The support system, everyone on this team, this organization, they support you and they want to see you do good, and they put you in a position to do good.”
Kerr always plays the long game and it paid off a lot in game 5 against the background of the uncharacteristic fights of his franchise player. The story goes that Curry will return strong in Game 6 on Thursday, but the cast has proven that they can win even if he doesn’t, and that’s a worrying development for Boston.
“The fact that everyone got stronger – Wiggs, JP, Clay made some big hits, Draymond discovered his life and his spirit and the way he influences the game,” said Curry. “We could withstand 9 against 40 [on 3-pointers] as a team, I’m 0-for-9, and I still win. Obviously, the record says that I will shoot better in the next game. We look forward to this recovery. “
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