Curry drops 43 as Warriors knot NBA Finals at 2-2 with 107-97 win over Celtics in Game 4
BOSTON -- Steph Curry was Steph Curry on Friday night, and now the NBA Finals is down to a best-of-three. The Warriors went on a furious run late in Game 4 to beat the Celtics, 107-97, in Boston.
The Celtics didn't do themselves any favors, either. They scored just three points down the stretch and let the Warriors go on a 10-0 run late to steal the game. Golden State outplayed Boston in the second half, outscoring the Celtics 58-43 over the final 24 minutes. They outscored the Celtics 15-3 over the final five minutes.
Now the series now heads back to San Francisco tied 2-2.
Curry was phenomenal, and that may be selling his performance short. He led the way for Golden State with 43 points, 24 of which came after halftime. He hit 14 of his 26 shots and seven of his 14 threes in the game. All of that came despite the Celtics playing some pretty solid defense against him.
As he's done a few times in his career, Curry hit a pair of clutch threes late to lead the Warriors to a victory.
Klay Thompson (18 points) and Andrew Wiggins (17 points, 16 rebounds) also came up big for the Warriors. The Celtics got 23 points from Jayson Tatum and 21 from Jaylen Brown, but it didn't matter when the team couldn't hit a bucket down the stretch. (Or with Curry nearly outscoring the duo by himself.)
Tatum was just 8-for-23 for the night, and hit just one of his five shots in the fourth quarter. The Celtics needed a superstar performance out of him, but did not get it. He was responsible for six of Boston's 16 turnovers on the night.
The Warriors, meanwhile, got exactly what they needed out of Steph Curry, and now the title is back up for grabs.
Boston did jump out to an early lead, but the Warriors went on a 17-6 run in the first quarter after Rob Williams checked out. Curry turned a Derrick White turnover into a deep three, and then drained another on his next trip down the floor to put Golden State ahead 23-18. He had some words for Boston fans after that make:
The Celtics didn't play particularly well in the first half with 10 turnovers and five missed free throws (on 15 attempts). But they got a strong start from Robert Williams, who had five points, 10 rebounds (four offensive), and a pair of blocks in his 15 minutes. Per usual, the Celtics were a different team when Williams was on the floor Friday night.
Boston finished the second quarter strong thanks to Tatum and White. White was fouled as he made a nice spinning layup to cap a 10-0 Celtics run and put the team ahead 49-42. He hit a few possessions later, and Tatum followed with a nice finger roll to give Boston a 54-47 edge. The Celtics took a 54-49 lead into the break.
The Celtics lost the third quarter once again, in large part because Steph Curry did Steph Curry things.
Curry hit another triple with 58.5 left to put the Warriors on top 79-78, which was the lead they took into the fourth quarter. Curry scored 14 points in the third quarter, hitting four of his five threes.
The Warriors outscored the Celtics 30-24 in the frame, and Boston only losing the quarter by six points felt like a win considering how poorly the team had played in the third over the first three games of the series.
Brown turned it up for a few minutes in the fourth, turning two straight Golden State turnovers into easy buckets to put the Celtics on top 90-86 midway through the quarter. But then the Celtics went ice cold and the Warriors kept pushing.
After Boston took a 94-90 lead off a Marcus Smart three, Golden State rattled off seven straight. Andrew Wiggins put in a Jordan Poole miss, Curry fed Klay Thompson for a three, and then Curry hit a floater to put the Warriors on top 97-94 with 3:49 in the game.
The Celtics then missed their next four shots -- all from downtown, including two by Smart on one trip down the floor -- only for Curry to drain a three on the other end to put Golden State up 100-94 with 1:42 left. Boston went nearly four minutes without a make and scored just three points over the final 5:18 of the game. It cost them dearly.
Now the Celtics face a must-win in San Francisco on Monday night. At least they're 7-0 following a loss this postseason, a streak Boston will look to keep going with a Game 5 victory.
