Category: NBA

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30), forward Draymond Green (23), and owner Joe Lacob in blue sport jacket seated in the front row all look disappointed after looking at the scoreboard in the third quarter against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden in Boston on Wed Jun 8, 2022 (AP News photo)

Boston Tops Golden State In Game Three 116-100

By Barbara Mason

Wednesday night the Golden State Warriors took on the Boston Celtics in the third game of the NBA final series. This series was tied 1-1 with Boston taking the first game of the series and the Warriors taking game two.

Golden State played game 3 in Boston and dropped the contest 116-100. The Warriors needed to take at least one of those two games before returning back to Chase and will have another chance at the Celtics on Friday night.

After totally dominating Boston in game 2 the Warriors didn’t have that same energy in game 3 on Wednesday night. It was a given that Golden State would see a far different Celtic team from the one they saw in game two and sure enough the Celtics were prepared in this game 3.

Game 3 recap: Boston had a vastly improved offense and defense through the first two quarters. They totally dominated the first half. At one time they led by 18 points but the Warriors cut it to 68-56 at the half. Golden State was leaving too many open shots and the Celtics were taking full advantage. The Warriors offense was struggling making some poor shooting making choices.

It was not until 3:32 in the third quarter that the Warriors took the lead since they led 2-0 in the first quarter. The Celtics quickly got back on top but the Warriors remained within striking distance. Both Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry were having a great game trailing after three quarters 93-89.

Boston got back on track in the fourth quarter taking a 102-91 lead in the early minutes of the quarter. Turnovers in the fourth quarter were hurting Golden State and the fact that Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and Curry all had four personals was also disconcerting.

Nothing could slow down the Boston Celtics in this game. They played a great offensive and defensive game. The Warriors only had two leads in the entire game. With two minutes left the Warrior bench finished the game.

Boston took a 2-1 series lead winning this game. Jalen Brown was the point leader with 27 points and Jason Tatum was close behind with 26. Both Marcus Smart and Al Horford had a greatly improved game.

Klay Thompson had a 25 point game and Curry was the point leader with 31 points but it was not enough to top the lights out shooting that the Celtics were operating with. Golden State collapsed in the fourth quarter.

They had six turnovers in the final quarter and the Warriors could not overcome the play of Boston. “The offensive rebounds were the killer. Those were tough,” said Head Coach Steve Kerr after the game.

Friday night the Warriors will try to even the series in Game Four at TD Garden in Boston. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 PM.

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (top left) is restrained by Boston Celtics Marcus Smart (36) while the Celtics Jaylen Brown (7) is restrained his teammate (left bottom) and an official (right bottom) during a first half altercation at the Chase Center in San Francisco in game 2 of the NBA Finals (AP News photo)

Warriors Take Game Two To Tie Series; Golden State holds off Boston to 14 pts in 3rd quarter to win 107-88

By Barbara Mason

Sunday night the Golden State Warriors met the Boston Celtics in Game Two of the NBA finals. Golden State gave up a third quarter lead in the first game of this championship series totally collapsing. It was a real meltdown.

They could ill afford to finish another game like this. The Celtics are young and feisty and will continue to give the Warriors all sorts of problems if they have another fourth quarter like they did in game one. Golden State had to start finishing games. The Warriors didn’t have to worry about such problems coming away with a convincing 107-88 game 2 victory to tie the series at 1-1.

The first and the second quarters could not have been closer. The Warriors won both quarters by a single point. The first quarter had Golden State in the lead 31-30 and the second 21-20. At the half the Warriors led by the slimmest of margins a 52-50 lead.

The third quarter really picked up for the Warriors. They were forcing turnovers and tonight the shots from downtown were falling a huge plus.

Once again we saw the Warriors finish the third quarter with a healthy lead, even healthier than in game one. The fourth quarter of this game would be one that they desperately needed to dominate. They couldn’t let this game slip away the way they did in the first game of this series. They led after three quarters 87-64. They had outscored Boston 35-14 in the third in total domination.

Golden State did not disappoint extending their lead throughout the fourth quarter. There would be no let down for the Warriors in this game. They were hitting their shots, forcing turnovers and going to the line through the third and fourth quarters. The final was 107-88.

The Warriors now head out on the road in Game Three at TD Garden Arena. The majority of the time the home team has an advantage however the Celtics did lose games one, three and five at home against the Heat before winning game seven.

This was true championship basketball for Golden State. The Warriors had 18 points off turnovers in this blowout. Warrior guard Stephen Curry finished with 29 points and off the bench Jordan Poole had 17 points. We still await Klay Thompson to assist with the heavy lifting. It just hasn’t happened yet.

In this game Golden State held Al Horford to two points and the same for Marcus Smart with a couple. Jason Tatum finished the game with 28 points but needed his supporting cast to do a whole lot more.

“We came out with the right defensive energy. We were a little more organized,” said Curry after the game. “It was a tough task. We got it back on track and now we’ll take it on the road. We gave ourselves life in this series. I am excited about it and hopefully we can take that energy on the road”.

One of the highlights of this game was the return of Gary Payton II. He played 25 minutes and a huge roar rose from the crowd when he hit his first shot. His return will be a real plus for the team going forward.

Game Three will take place at TD Garden in Boston Wednesday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 PM.

The Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) who was scoreless in the second quarter is seen upside down on the Chase Center floor in San Francisco in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the visiting Boston Celtics on Thu Jun 2, 2022 (AP News photo)

Celtics steal the game and the show from Warriors 120-108; Boston’s Horford leads with 26 points

By Barbara Mason

Thursday night the Golden State Warriors took on the Boston Celtics in game one of the NBA finals. Head Coach Steve Kerr described this year’s journey as a “rocky road.” “Everyone came into this season really hungry,” he said.

The Warriors battled injury throughout the season and have proven time and time again just how resilient they are and how they handle adversity. Unfortunately for Golden State in Game 1 of the NBA Finals the Celtics took adversity to their hosts at Chase Center in San Francisco defeating the Warriors 120-108 to go up 1-0.

The Warriors dismissed the Denver Nuggets 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs. They went on to take a 4-2 series from the Memphis Grizzlies. In the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors went right through Luca Doncic and the Mavericks to win the series 4-1.

Golden State has seen some brilliant basketball and at times some less than stellar play. There was far more of the latter than the former and they now are aiming for the ultimate prize; becoming the NBA Champions.

Game 1 recap: The Warriors had an amazing opening quarter. They were leading 32-28 after the first quarter and Stephen Curry was playing lights out basketball from the start.

Curry had six three’s in the quarter and was the driving force in this game. The Celtics were having trouble defensively to start the game and were playing catch up from the start. Although it was a close game the Celtics had yet to take the lead.

With 5:01 left in the second quarter the Celtics tied up the game at 47. Marcus Smart had begun to have a lot success containing Curry. Curry was unable to score in the entire second quarter.

With 2:32 left in the half Boston took their first lead of the game since mid-way through the first quarter 51-49. At the half Boston had a slim two point 56-54 lead. The Celtics defense had really come to life presenting a lot of problems for the Warriors especially the Marcus Smart-Curry matchup.

The third quarter was a frenzied one. The Curry shot drought came to and end and after three the Warriors had taken a 92-80 lead. Off the bench Otto Porter Jr. had 12 points and was just another reason for the Golden State turnaround. Andrew Wiggins had 20 points after three quarters and the Warriors defense had shown up in the third quarter.

The Warriors started the fourth quarter with a few misses and in a flash the Celtics trailed by five 92-87. With five minutes left in the final quarter the Warriors let the Celtics off the hook.

Boston took a 106-103 lead and the tide had really turned in favor of the Celtics. Jalen Brown was the driving force in the turnaround for Boston. The Celtics continued to extend their lead and with 3:23 left in the game had a 111-103 lead.

Golden State had really taken their foot off the pedal. They were missing inside the paint, from long and from the line. Boston on the other hand could not miss in the final minutes. The Celtics would take the first game of the series.

Golden State had suffered their first home loss of the playoffs. A sullen Curry made his way to the locker room after the game. He finished the game with 34 points but it was the letdown in the fourth quarter coupled with the red hot shooting by Boston that decided this game.

The Warriors had held Jason Tatum to 17 points but Al Horford picked up the slack with 26 points along with Jaylen Brown with 24. Boston took full advantage of the Warrior meltdown in the fourth quarter to win the game. They outscored Golden State 40-16 in the final quarter, a real shocker.

Game Two is scheduled for Sunday at 5:00. The Warriors will try to get back on the winning track at Chase before heading back to Boston for game three.

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) congratulates Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) after the Celtics won Game 7 at FTX Arena in Miami on Sun May 29, 2022

On Headline Sports podcast with Tony R:

#1 The NBA Finals open up on Thursday night in San Francisco between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors for game 1. The Celtics struggled to get into the Finals winning a 4-3 series over the Miami Heat. The Warriors made it look easy with 4 wins over the Dallas Mavericks who had one win.

#2 Tony, how much of an advantage is it for Golden State to have four games at Chase Center for the series and seven days rest?

#3 On the Celtics side of the coin three days rest and back to work taking a look how close their series was coming away with a 4-3 win over the Miami Heat how do you see the Celtics chances?

#4 Taking a look at some of the Warriors and Celtics top stats we’ll start with Golden State and get your take on the other end, Stephen Curry leads in scoring with 25.9 points, Kevon Looney 7.7 rebounds, and Draymond Green 6.3 assists.

#5 For the Boston Celtics Jason Tatum 27 points, Al Horford 9.6 rebounds, Marcus Smart 6.2 steals, seeing Tatum, Horford and Smart performed against Miami how do you see them matching up against Golden State in the Finals.

Headline Sports podcasts with Tony R are heard each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com