With everything to play for and only two wins away from the 18th championship in franchise history, Boston sadly could not get the job done tonight in Game 5 of the 2022 NBA Finals at the Chase Center. Golden State only led by one point (75-74) going into the fourth quarter but they dominated in the final frame (29-20) to take a 3-2 series lead. Game 6 is on Thursday (9, ABC) at TD Garden as the Celtics will now have two win two games in a row to take the title, not to mention survive three Game 7s in a row which is absurd. They put themselves in this mess by choking down the stretch in Game 4 at home and this was the first time in the 2022 playoffs (7-1) that they were defeated again directly following a loss.
It was an odd night since the Warriors did all this with their superstar guard Stephen Curry (16 points, 8 assists) having one of the worst performances in his storied career. In fact, it was the first time in the last 233 games (regular season and playoffs) that he didn't make a single three-pointer (0-for-9). They not only survived but played well without him thanks to small forward Andrew Wiggins (26 points, game-high 13 rebounds and 2 steals) having his second great outing in a row. Curry had carried his team in the first four games of the series so it was only fitting that his teammates finally paid him back. Shooting guard Klay Thompson added 21 points and two steals while Golden State's bench outscored Boston's 31-10. Backup shooting guard Gary Payton II added 15 points, five rebounds and three steals while backup guard Jordan Poole scored 14 points off the bench including another buzzer beater to end the third quarter (quite similar to what he did in Game 2).
After a brutal first quarter where they were outscored 27-16, the C's slowly started to wake up in the second quarter but they still trailed by 12 points (51-39) at halftime. They changed a narrative that's haunted them all postseason long by actually playing outstanding basketball in the third quarter (35-24). They erased a 16-point deficit and even briefly led for a few moments. This should have been Boston's stars' time to shine but small forward Jayson Tatum (27 points, 10 rebounds) was outdueled by Wiggins when it really counted and shooting guard Jaylen Brown (18 points, 9 rebounds) was nowhere to be found for the most part. Point guard Marcus Smart scored 20 points but his constant flopping predictably caught up to him and center Robert Williams (10 points, 8 rebounds) was the only Celtic starter to finish with a positive plus-minus (plus-11).
It doesn't matter that Boston might be more talented and deeper than Golden State since they have no answer for the Warriors' championship experience and mental toughness; they don't get rattled in any situation unlike the Celts who seem to have a panic attack in every game that is when they aren't freaking out on the refs or yelling at each other like a bad high school team. The Warriors shot five percent better from the field (46%-41%), dished out five more assists (23-18), had seven more steals (9-2), scored 14 more points in the paint (50-36) and 13 more points off turnovers (22-9) than the C's. Boston hit two more three-pointers (11-9), they made eight more free throws (21-13) and grabbed eight more rebounds (47-39) including twice as many offensive boards (8-4). Turnovers absolutely killed the road team (18-6!) though, otherwise they would have been fine with nine more second chance points (16-7) than the undersized Warriors.
So what does this all mean for Game 6? I'd be lying if I said I have the faintest idea what will transpire in Boston's final home game of the season. Time and again, the C's have responded in tough situations like that (already going 3-0 in elimination games this postseason) and this is kind of their thing to make things as difficult as possible. However, this is not the Bucks and it isn't the Heat either for that matter. They might have rallied from down 3-2 in the series against Milwaukee and won Game 7 in Miami but these Warriors are in a different weight class than those previous solid opponents. There is no chance that Curry will be that ice cold once again so the C's have to hope that they don't let the pressure get to them so they can just go out and try to get this series to a Game 7 where (cliche alert!) anything can happen.
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