Ask any Boston Celtics fan if they’d take Steph Curry not scoring any three-pointers after his 43-point statement show in Game 4, and they would have happily taken that and likely expected to win.
Well, the Boston Celtics defense lived up to their hard-hitting reputation, denying Curry his first game in 233 consecutive NBA matches without a three-point score.
They kept the Warriors star man to just 16-points and eight assists in the game, and yet it still wasn’t enough for the Celtics to claim the win as the Golden State Warriors took Game 5 104-94 in front of their home support in the Bay area.
The Warriors are now just one win away from their fourth NBA Championship in eight years, plus they have two runner-up defeats in that time too.
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Frustration For The Celtics
There must be a huge sense of frustration for the Boston Celtics given that their
game plan must have primarily included reducing the influence of Steph Curry on his home court.
Indeed, had the Celtics produced that kind of performance against Curry in any of the previous four games of the series, then they’d likely have won any of the two previous games that they were defeated in.
However, last night it was the turn of the Warriors defense to step up as they produced one of their best displays in the series to hold the Celtics to under 100 points once again.
Andrew Wiggins in particular stepped up to the mark landing his second double-double in consecutive games, this time top scoring for the Warriors with 26 points and adding 13 rebounds to that total.
Klay Thompson also produced some hugely important three-pointers in his 21-point haul, five of which came from beyond the arc.
Celtics Have One Last Chance
After two consecutive fourth quarter turnarounds that may well have cost them a chance at the NBA Championship, the Boston Celtics have one last chance to take the series into a seventh and deciding game on Thursday night.
“Our backs are against the wall. This is the time we look at each other in the eyes and we got to figure it out,” stated center Al Horford after the game.
“We have an opportunity. Got to figure it out. There’s no tomorrow for us.”
Those sentiments were echoed by top scorer last night Jayson Tatum who hit 27 points in defeat.
“We ain’t got to win two in one day,” claimed Tatum.
“We just got to win one game on Thursday. We’ve been in this situation before. So it’s not over. Got to win Thursday. That’s all we got to worry about right now.”
However, the Celtics are going to have to overcome their fourth quarter wobbles of the last two games which have seen their key trio of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart miss 12 of the 13 shots they have taken in those two periods, as well as committing five turnovers between them.
The difference in these crunch moments in the games in the series has been the big difference between the teams.
Yet strangely, in the regular season it was how the likes of Brown and Tatum came up clutch at key moments in games that put the Celtics on the road to the NBA Finals.
That dichotomy is one that they must solve, or they risk losing the NBA Championship on Thursday against a reinvigorated Dubs team.
Latest Betting Odds From PointsBet Sportsbook
Game 6 takes place on Thursday night in Boston and PointsBet Sportsbook have the Celtics the -171 favorites on the moneyline to take the series to a seventh game. The Warriors are +140 to clinch the NBA Championship in Boston.
The Warriors though are now the strong -375 favorites to win the NBA Championship, while the Celtics are +300 to earn a come from behind Championship win.
