BOSTON – Wednesday's 116-100 Game 3 loss to the Boston Celtics left the Golden State Warriors in shambles after Stephen Curry tallied a 31-point game followed by a revived Klay Thompson with 25 points to go 7-of-17 to get himself out of his shooting slump.
Friday night, it all started in warmups for Golden State as Thompson walked out of the tunnel onto the court and was showered with many boos from the hostile TD Garden fans. However, Thompson didn't ignore it as any other player would. He asked for more as he waved his arms to signal an increase of boos from the Boston fans.
As for the Celtics, they had a 2-1 lead coming into Game 4, but they knew the Warriors weren't going to lay down and let them have the fourth game of the series after not only allowing three white jerseys to tally 20 points or more but the hostility from fans.
"We've played in front of rude people before, dropping f-bombs with kids in the crowd. Real classy, Boston," said Thompson in the Game 3 postgame presser about whether the crowd was a factor in their Game 3 loss.
An Andrew Wiggins screen for Curry on Brown to force Al Horford to pick up Curry created nothing but mobility, space, and opportunity for the quick, cooking Chef Curry as he put up a stepback three-pointer in the first quarter uncontested with a result of nothing but the bottom of the net for a five-point lead.
The only thing that could flash in Curry's mind after the shot was all the trash-talking fans did in Game 3 and during warmups which caused him to run to the other side of the court and express his emotions to the crowd to let them know he was in the building.
However, the Celtics wouldn't let Curry's emotions get too far away by closing out the first quarter with a beautiful play from Robert Williams with a touch pass to Grant Williams for a corner three after receiving an entry pass from Jayson Tatum to beat the clock and hold a one-point lead over the Warriors, 28-27.
The stage was set after the first quarter for the superstar duel between Curry and Tatum, who both finished the quarter with 12 points apiece, both knocking down four field goals.
The trendy third-quarter Warriors is where they would make their mark in the ballgame with Jordan Poole sinking two back-to-back threes, almost similar to Game 2 with one coming off a Draymond Green screen with pick and roll action at the top of the key and another on transition to cause Ime Udoka to call a timeout.
Later in the quarter, Curry jacked up a wild three-pointer at the top of the key guarded by Grant Williams to see the ball sink through the net and immediately glanced at the referee due to no whistle being blown.
Later down the stretch, Curry would repeat the same play but from the left-wing, this time with clear evident contact on the back from Tatum as he was in the motion of letting the ball fly as he fell to the ground after the shot. With the typical result of nothing but net, Curry picked himself off the ground, quickly stomping with his hands in the air, furious that there should've been a foul called on the play.
The Warriors outscored Boston in the third quarter, 30-24.
Derrick White guarded Curry late in the fourth quarter, with the Celtics trailing the Warriors 97-94 with 1:45 left in gameplay. Curry cut the wing with the ball in Green's hands at the nail. Seeing an opening, Green gave a Curry a bounce pass to allow a size up against White before raising in his face for a 27-footer to sink his seventh three-pointer of the night.
Curry finished with a double-double of 43 points and ten rebounds to beat on his chest, knowing he completed the Game 4 task.
As for Green, he continued to struggle offensively but found his niche with nine rebounds and eight assists, but only scored two points through seven shot attempts on the night, leaving his mother to go to Twitter and make a tweet regarding her son's poor performances lately.
The Warrior's 107-97 win will knot the series at two games apiece as the finals relocate again across the country to San Francisco.
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