Steph Curry scored 34 points, and the Golden State Warriors went on a 21-0 run that started in the first quarter and then stretched into the second on Thursday night in clinching their fourth NBA Championship in the last eight seasons by defeating the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston. Golden State won the final three games of the series to take the best of seven 4-2.
Boston started strong in the must win situation to keep their season alive, bolting out early to a 14-2 lead on a Jayson Tatum jumper less than four minutes in. Tatum hit another jumper later in the period to make it 22-16 with 2:53 left, but that ended up being the final lead of the night for the Celtics. Golden State ended the first scoring 11 straight points, including three-pointers by Draymond Green, Curry, and Jordan Poole for a 27-22 Warriors advantage. 10 more in a row by the guests to start the second (21-0 run) was finished off with an Andrew Wiggins dunk to extend it to 37-22 with 10:13 to go in the first half. They led by as many as 21, and 54-39 at the halftime break.
The lead went to 22 almost halfway through the third quarter, before Boston made a push cutting it to nine on a three point play by Al Horford with 44 seconds left. The C’s ended the period on a 16-4 run and would trail by 10 at 76-66 headed to the final 12 minutes. They would get within nine again one final time on a three point play by Robert Williams III with 6:37 to play, but Curry and the Warriors were just too much down the stretch in winning their first NBA Title since 2018.
Curry shot 12-21 from the floor (6-11 three-pointers) adding seven rebounds, seven assists, and two steals to earn the NBA Finals MVP. Wiggins finished with 18 points, Poole 15, while Green and Klay Thompson both chipped in 12 points a piece. Jaylen Brown had 34 points for Boston (5-11 three-pointers), adding seven rebounds and three assists. Horford had 19 points and 14 rebounds (4-5 three-pointers), in what his first NBA Finals experience of his 14 year career. Tatum finished with just 13 points on 6-18 shooting, and Williams III also got into double figures with 10 points, seven rebounds, and five blocked shots. The Celtics turnovers was the story once again, committing 22 of them in defeat. Tatum had 100 turnovers in the playoffs, the first time ever a player has done that in postseason history. This is also the first time since 1985 (LA Lakers) that Boston has allowed a visitor to win a championship on their home floor in a clinching game of the NBA Finals. They finish a great season at 65-41, going 45-20 over their final 65 games after stumbling in the first half at 20-21 at the halfway point but also finish just 6-5 at TD Garden during the postseason. Golden State (69-35) takes home the trophy with a 16-6 playoff run, and claiming the title after missing the playoffs two years ago and being knocked out in the play-in game last season. Curry added to a phenomenal 2021-22 season as the Finals MVP, while also taking home the Western Conference Finals MVP and the All-Star Game MVP. The sharpshooter, who has the record for most three-pointers made in NBA history also won the league MVP in 2015 and 2016 and three other NBA Titles in 2015, 2017, and 2018.
