Stephen Curry scored 29 points, Jordan Poole scored a big third inning inside the midcourt and the Golden State Warriors beat the Boston Celtics 107-88 in Game 2 on Sunday night to advance to the NBA Finals.
Poole finished with 17 points for the Warriors, who beat Boston 35-14 in the third quarter and turned a two-point halftime lead into a 23-point edge. And when the Warriors finished fourth with the first six points, the Celtics waved the surrender flag and emptied their bench.
Golden State got 12 on 6-for-6 shooting from Kevin Looney and 11 each from Andrew Wiggins and Clay Thompson. For Boston, Jason Tatum scored 21 of 28 points in the first half. Jillian Brown added 17 runs for the Celtics, but struggled on the night of the 17-5-17 shootout and Derrick White added 12 runs.
Just like in Game 1, a huge run decided everything. Celtics won the toss and elected to field. The Warriors did not last long in Game 2, turning the game into a tie by scoring 43-14 from late in the first half to early in the fourth quarter.
Curry was third with 14 points, three out of five in the quarter. Boston won the quarterfinals 21-6 for 4 in 15 overs and the Warriors converted five turnovers of 11 points.
As the third quarter closed, Poole provided an exclamation point, taking last-minute passes, dribbling on the midcourt stripe, making room for himself and allowing him to fly. Curry greeted him with a smile and a hug, the fans at the chess center jumped to their feet – if they hadn’t already – and the result was decided.
And for the first time, the crowd at the Warriors’ new building finally defeated Celtic. Boston entered the Warriors’ three-year home run 4-0 at night, the only team to win the first four games in the arena.
The Celtics were only bidding to join two teams – the 1993 Chicago Bulls and the 1995 Houston Rockets – the club that won two road games in the final. The Bulls and Rockets won the championship, with 31 of the last 36 teams taking a 2-0 lead.
Of course, not everything is lost for Boston. The Celtics only need to win their remaining home games to win the title, although this is not an easy task against the Warriors, who have won at least one road game in the NBA-Record 26 consecutive playoff series.
