Stephen Curry scored 29 points, Jordan Poole came in right in the middle of the court to finish a huge series in the third quarter, and the Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics 107-88 Sunday night in Game 2 and tied the NBA Finals.
Poole finished with 17 points for the Warriors, who outscored Boston 35-14 in the third quarter, turning the two-point lead into a 23-point lead. And when the Warriors then scored the first six points of the fourth, the Celtics waved the capitulation flag and emptied their bench.
Golden State also received 12 from Kevan Looney in the 6-to-6 shootout and 11 each from Andrew Wiggins and Clay Thompson. Jason Tatum scored 21 of his 28 points in the first half for Boston. Jaylan Brown added 17 for the Celtics, but fought in the night to shoot 5 against 17, and Derrick White scored 12.
Just like in Game 1, the huge draw decided everything. The Celtics went 48-18 in the second half to decide the opening; The Warriors did not wait that long in Game 2, continuing 43-14 from the end of the first half to the beginning of the fourth quarter to turn a draw into an escape.
Curry had 14 of his points in the third, making three of his five threes in the fourth. Boston had 4 to 15 in the quarter, beating 21-6 in threes and allowing the Warriors to turn five turnovers into 11 points.
Poole gave the amazing signal at the end of the third quarter, making a pass in the final seconds, dribbling over the strip in the middle of the court, creating space for himself and letting go. Curry greeted him with a smile and a hug, Chase Center fans jumped to their feet – if they weren’t already there – and the result was almost decided there.
And for the first time, the audience in the new Warriors building finally saw the loss of the Celtics. Boston entered the night with 4-0 at the three-year home of the Warriors, the only team that won the first four games in the arena.
The Celtics have applied to join only two other teams – the Chicago Bulls in 1993 and the Houston Rockets in 1995 – on the list of clubs that have played two games on their way to the finals. These Bulls and Rockets won the championship, and 31 of the previous 36 teams, which opened with a 2-0 lead, eventually celebrated the title.
Not all is lost to Boston, of course. The Celtics only need to win their remaining home games to win the title, although this will not be an easy task against a Warriors team that has won at least one away game in the NBA’s record 26 consecutive playoff series.
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