BOSTON (Diya TV) — Even with a furious comeback from the Golden State Warriors, the Boston Celtics handled business in front of their home crowd to win 116-100 and take a 2-1 series lead.
The first half saw the Celtics race to a strong start behind Jaylen Brown’s scoring (22 points in the first half on 57.4% from the field). Most of those points came via the opening quarter with all but 5 points coming in the first. The Warriors saw a resurgence from Klay Thompson in the first half with 15 first half points to his name after he struggled shooting in the previous two games. Not far behind him was his longtime teammate Stephen Curry with 14 points and 31 for the game. Andrew Wiggins was aggressive in attacking the basket, scoring 13 points while not letting up on defense.
Although there were bright spots from the aforementioned Warriors players, Boston took advantage of the Warriors defense (or lack thereof) in the first half. Any time a Boston player drove towards the cup, it felt as if it was all but guaranteed to go in due to the Warriors being lackadaisical and not closing in to force stops. However, the third quarter marked a turning point in the game.
Behind Curry’s 15 third quarter points (and a miraculous 4 point play which turned into a 7 point possession), the Warriors clawed their way back from an 18 point deficit. The “third quarter Warriors” were known for showing up and having big runs out of the half. The Dubs exposed some lapses on defense from Boston to get back in the game, especially on pick-and-rolls.
Boston ultimately settled down and won the 4th quarter to erase the Warriors’ hopes for good. The Warriors will look to regroup and even the series while the Celtics will try to ride the momentum of this Game 3 win and take a commanding 3-1 lead before going back to San Francisco.
