BOSTON – The Golden State Warriors are once again NBA champions, beating the Boston Celtics 103-90 on Thursday night for their fourth title in eight seasons.
Stephen Curry scored 34 points and was named NBA Finals MVP when the Warriors claimed the franchise’s seventh overall championship. And this one completed a journey like no other, after a series of five consecutive finals, then a collapse to the bottom of the NBA, and now a return to greatness just two seasons after having the worst record in the league.
“We’ve found a way to do that,” Curry said after the Warriors accepted the championship trophy and held it on the court. “Our experience is part of a championship pedigree. … We built this for 10-11 years. That means a lot when you get to that stage. “
For Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, it is a fourth championship. The first three rings came in 2015, 2017 and 2018, when Golden State was dynastic and made five consecutive trips to the final.
Injuries, including those left out by Thompson for 2 1/2 years, and list changes changed everything. But this season, with Thompson halfway back, the Warriors are finally back.
Back to top, too. Champions, again, denied the historic Celtics what would have been their 18th record championship, one that would have allowed Boston to break the tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for most of the league’s history.
This story for the Warriors ended very differently from their most recent appearance in the final against Toronto in 2019, one that saw Kevin Durant break his Achilles tendon in Game 5 and then to Thompson to tear the LCA in which it became the winner of the title of the Raptors to the game. 6.
The consequences of this loss were compounded by Durant’s decision to leave the agency for free that summer to join the Brooklyn Nets and Thompson’s Achilles injury while rehabilitating his knee injury. .
“Everything paid off,” Thompson said. “It simply came to our notice then. … You knew it was a possibility, but see it in real time. … It’s crazy.”
He drove a Golden State team to a rebuild that turned into a reload. The Warriors used their two-year hiatus from the NBA’s biggest rounds to reorganize their roster, adding a No. 1 draft pick from Andrew Wiggins, who stood out in his first finals, along with another rising star to Jordan Poole.
Everything clicked. For Golden State coach Steve Kerr, it is a ninth overall championship after winning five as a player. He is the sixth coach to win four titles, joining Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach, John Kundla, Gregg Popovich and Pat Riley.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 34 points. At Horford he added 19. Jayson Tatum finished with 13 points, but only shot 6 of 18 from the field. Boston also suffered 22 staff losses, dropping to 1-8 this postseason when it committed 16 or more.
It was only the fifth loss in 22 appearances in the Boston title series that he changed his season to have a chance at that crown. Boston was 25-25 after 50 games, then shed an absolute tear to reach the final and almost claim what would have been only the second franchise championship since 1986.
It was the third consecutive season that things were affected by the global pandemic of COVID-19 and, although things were closer to normal, the images and video of the celebration of the championship will serve as a reminder forever the virus was still a problem.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was unable to attend the game because he remained on the league’s virus-related health and safety protocols. The redesigned Larry O’Brien Trophy, the golden memory given to NBA champions, was presented to the Warriors by Assistant Commissioner Mark Tatum.
Boston was down by 22 points, but went 16-4 in the third quarter to reduce the deficit to 76-66 entering the fourth.
A triple by Jaylen Brown made it 86-78 with 5:33 to play, but the Warriors never gave up the lead.
ADVICES
Warriors: 19 of 45 passed from the 3-point line. … Improves to 20-1 when Green makes a triple.
Celtics: Former Celtic Ray Allen, a member of the last team in the 2008 Boston Championship, sat down on the side of the court. Robert Parish, a member of the Hall of Fame, was also present.
A CAREER AND AN ANSWER
The Celtics came out firing, grabbing the energy of a deafening TD Garden crowd to take an early 14-2 lead.
Golden State didn’t bother and responded with a 35-8 run that extended into the second quarter on the way to building up to a 22-point lead. The Warriors outscored the Celtics 27-17 during the period and took a 54-39 lead in the second half, as some Celtics fans booed the home team when they left the court.
Boston fought in the third, but the Warriors found their range from beyond the arc, connecting with six 3s in the fourth.