SAN FRANCISCO – Following their challenging Game 1 loss at home at the Chase Center, redemption was the name of the game for the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
Stephen Curry’s 34 points from seven three-point buckets wouldn’t be enough to make a statement to open the finals the right way in Game 1, and with the fourth quarter takeover from Boston’s Al Horford and Derrick White, the Warriors did not want to relive the distasteful lost on their homecourt.
Boston’s first five shots would give them a boost in the contest with a quick 13-5 lead in the first three minutes of play, giving Golden State fans a slight flashback of Thursday night’s loss. As for Draymond Green, he wasn’t going for another “L” in the Warriors’ house as he began to use his strong emotions to get in the heads of key players such as Jaylen Brown and leading scorer Jayson Tatum.
In the second quarter, a Green foul on a Brown three-pointer was reviewed after Green’s legs landed on top of Brown’s head, which he did now take very well as Brown threw Green’s legs off of his head and gave him a light push as he stood to his feet.
“He tried to pull my pants down. I don’t know what that was about, but hey, that’s what Draymond Green does,” said Brown about the altercation.
Green won the bottle in the long run after throwing Brown out of his game by limiting him to only four points after the situation prevailed before getting benched for the fourth quarter.
What has seemed to become a trend in Golden State’s play is catching fire and turning up in the third quarter to take control of things which would be the case in Game 2 with the Warriors outscoring the Celtics 35-14 to go 11-of-23 from the field and 7-of-12 from the perimeter, including two huge back-to-back three-pointers from Jordan Poole to close out the third quarter in style.
The Warriors are confident in their game in the third quarter and would be demonstrated by a deep 30-footer from the Chase Center logo from Curry with two minutes left of play. Poole almost reenacted Curry’s play but only at the top of the arch with a between-the-legs hesitation dribble and quick release to sink the 29-footer.
Andrew Wiggins grabbed the rebound from a missed White pullup and advanced the basketball ahead to Poole for the outlet pass. Sizing up Payton Pritchard at halfcourt, Poole gave Pritchard an in-and-out between-the-legs crossover before looking up at the clock and releasing the ball just before halfcourt with a result of nothing-but-net to close out the half.
The Warriors have seemed to find their groove but must be on their toes in Boston for Games 3 and 4.
The Celtics committed 18 turnovers in Game 2 with four from Tatum and five from Marcus Smart.
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