Boston Celtics 94-104 Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are one win away from claiming their seventh NBA championship and their fourth in the last eight seasons as they beat the Boston Celtics 104-94 in Game 5 to take a commanding 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals.
With Stephen Curry and his scorching hot shooting finally cooling off, Andrew Wiggins led the Warriors with another big double-double with 26 points and 13 rebounds, while guards Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, and Gary Payton II also made some key contributions.
The Celtics – who had come back to win after every loss in the playoffs – made a Warriors-like third-quarter run after being down for most of the first half. But Golden State reclaimed control in the fourth and are now on the cusp of another championship.
Highlights of the game
The Warriors stuck to the new-look starting lineup they used in Game 4 as Otto Porter Jr started in place of Kevon Looney. And that opening lineup got them off to a good start as they ran out to an early 17-6 lead. Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson fueled the run with nine points.
The Warriors extended their lead to as many as 16, but Jayson Tatum got going with six quick points to keep the Celtics to within 11 points at the end of the first quarter.
The Celtics continued to cut into the Warriors’ lead at the start of the second quarter. They got to within six points as Marcus Smart scored a couple of key buckets and provided an assist to Robert Williams.
But Andrew Wiggins and Stephen Curry – who were both crucial in their gutsy Game 4 win– helped to keep the Warriors’ lead in double digits. Wiggins scored nine points in the last five minutes, while Curry added six as the Warriors entered half-time up a dozen.
The third quarter has usually been when the Warriors would overwhelm their opponents into submission, but this time it was Boston’s turn to come out of the break on fire. Led by All-Stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Celtics scored the first 10 points of the second half to cut the lead to just two.
Klay Thompson tried to answer, but the Celtics – who started 0-of-12 on 3-pointers in the first half – finally started knocking down shots from beyond the arc. They hit eight straight 3-pointers dating back to the end of the second quarter, and Marcus Smart’s second three of the third gave them a four-point lead as the game was turned completely on its head.
However, the Warriors did not allow the Celtics to extend their lead much further as they stayed within striking distance. And it was the Warriors who would enter the fourth quarter on top 75-74 as Jordan Poole banked in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, which was one of the top NBA 2022 highlights of the game.
And Poole was instrumental in the run that would seal the Warriors’ win. The 22-year-old started the fourth quarter and scored five points in a 10-0 Warriors run as they extended their lead back to 11.
The Celtics quickly hit back with four straight points from Brown and Tatum, but Wiggins answered with four points of his own to preserve the advantage.
Boston cut the lead to 10 points with five and a half minutes left in the game, but that was as close as they got as Golden State knocked down the shots down the stretch to secure the crucial win.
Key statistics
After shooting the lights out in the first four games of the Finals, Stephen Curry finally cooled off in Game 5. He finished with 16 points on just 7-of-22 shooting, and went 0-of-9 on 3-pointers, which snapped his league-record streaks of 132 consecutive playoff games and 233 regular and postseason games with at least one made 3.
But the Warriors were able to cope as Wiggins delivered another huge game with 26 points and 13 rebounds, the first time he’s led his team outright in both points and rebounds in a playoff game.
On the Celtics’ side, Jayson Tatum led the way with 27 points and 10 rebounds. He shot 10-of-20 from the field, the first time he’s made 50 per cent or more of his shots since Game 6 against the Heat in the East finals.
What’s next?
After losing back-to-back games for the first time in the playoffs, Game 6 will be a must-win situation for the Celtics. The SBOTOP NBA 2022 betting odds will back them to win at home, although they are just 6-5 at the TD Garden in the postseason.
Boston will be hoping that the home crowd can rejuvenate their role players, who struggled in Game 5. Derrick White, who has been so key for Boston off the bench in this series, finished with just one point in 21 minutes of play, while Grant Williams had just three points in 16 minutes.
As for the Warriors, they will have the chance to win the championship in Boston. However, they are 0-3 in closeout games on the road during these playoffs.
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