BOSTON, MA- Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, and Jaylen Brown combined for 77 points, as they led the Boston Celtics past the Golden State Warriors in a 116-100 win.
Boston opened the game with an 18-9 lead with 5:44 left in the first quarter. In that stretch, Jaylen Brown scored 10 points. Boston then went on an 8-2 run to have a 26-11 lead over Golden State.
Brown had 17 points by the end of the first quarter and the Celtics entered the second quarter with a 33-22 lead.
Curry picked up two early fouls and the Warriors shot 8-23 (34.8%) from the field and 2-10 (20.0%) from deep in the first quarter.
Down 56-39, the Warriors went on an 8-0 run, in 37 seconds, to cut their deficit to nine points with 4:27 left in the second quarter.
Curry made another layup and the Warriors were down 56-49 with 3:32 left in the half. Klay Thompson scored 11 points in the second quarter.
However, Boston maintained their lead and entered halftime with a 68-56 lead. Brown led the Celtics with 22 points by halftime. Thompson led the Warriors with 15 first-half-points.
The Warriors climbed back as Stephen Curry scored 15 points in the third quarter.
In addition, the Warriors outscored Boston in the third quarter, 33-25, but Boston entered the fourth quarter with a 93-89 lead.
The Celtics opened the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run to take a 102-91 lead with 9:07 left in regulation. Boston held Golden State to 11 points in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
Golden State’s Bad Defense
The Warriors didn’t put the same amount of effort that they put on defense as they did on offense.
Golden State allowed Boston to score within the paint with ease. In the first half, the Warriors allowed Boston to score 32 points in the paint. Boston finished the game with 52 points in the paint.
There was a play in the third quarter where Al Horford threw a full court pass to Jaylen Brown for the easy dunk.
The Warriors did bounce back but were just cold in the fourth quarter. Curry led the Warriors with 31 points.
Brown led the Celtics with 27 points, followed by Tatum’s 26 points, and Smarts 24 points.
“Obviously, that’s a great team, they are going to go on runs, and it’s just how you respond,” Tatum said. “We know we had to deal with runs and play well in the third quarter.”
He continued.
“Obviously, I knew that I wasn’t shooting the ball great, but I just wanted to impose my will on the game and be aggressive,” he said.
Up Next
Game 4 of the NBA Finals will conclude on June 10, 2022.
