The Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics 103-90 on Thursday night at TD Garden to claim the 2022 NBA championship. When the Warriors won Game 6 with a 21-0 run, they had won their fourth title in the last eight years, a spectacular performance on unfriendly territory.
Early on in the competition, things had looked very different. At first, the Celtics looked like they were going to force a decisive Game 7 in San Francisco. The Warriors, on the other hand, went on a run of their own and went into the second quarter up by five points. After that, things would only get worse
For the first two minutes of the second quarter, the Warriors limited Boston to zero points as Golden State pounded down three-pointers on their foes. A 21-0 streak was put together at the end of it, which was the largest run in the finals in 50 years. They were left to hope that the Celtics could pull off one more stunning comeback.
The Celtics trailed by 15 points at halftime, but that was not an insurmountable obstacle considering their playoff record of comebacks. However, the Warriors stood their ground. In the third quarter, a Stephen Curry three gave them a 22-point advantage, virtually ending the game and giving Curry the first finals MVP award of a career that will end with his induction into the Hall of Fame.
After being outscored by eight in the third quarter, Boston refused to give up and fought back. No amount of clawing could bring the Celtics back: they were in too deep, against an opponent with far more talent than them, to make any further progress.
In a matchup advertised as a showdown between the best of the young and the best of the old, it’s reasonable to say that the latter won out. As the series progressed, the Warriors capitalized on Boston errors, including 22 in Game 6 alone.
In our lineage, we’ve had a lot of success. After the game, Curry stated, “We built this for 10-11 years.” “When you get to this point, that means a lot.”
In spite of losing the first two games, Golden State rallied to win three straight, two of them on the road, against a team that had never lost two consecutive games in the playoffs before this series.
Curry, who scored 34 points in the last game, was excellent throughout the series, with the exception of Game 5, when he had a lapse in concentration. Finals MVP was not a career accomplishment award: Curry’s 43-point performance in Game 4 turned the series around. These were the last exams he had to take.
At the start of the season, hardly one predicted that we would be here today.” Curry described the experience as “extremely bizarre. It was simple to see why he was ecstatic: just two years earlier, the Warriors had the NBA’s worst record.
Injuries to Curry and longtime teammate Klay Thompson contributed to the slump. When asked how he felt after returning from a two-and-a-half-year absence, Thompson remarked, “It’s unbelievable, I’m on Cloud 109 right now.” A lot of tears had been shed, and it was hot as hell. It was possible, but to witness it happen in real time was surreal. You have to see this.”
The Warriors have now won seven NBA championships, tying the Chicago Bulls for the most in franchise history. In terms of total wins, only the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers have more (17 apiece). Despite their lack of experience, this year’s Warriors team may be the happiest yet following a difficult few years.
