Things are just golden in the Bay Area.
The Golden State Warriors again handled their championship business, eliminating the Boston Celtics in six games and winning their fourth NBA title in eight years via a 103-90 victory on Thursday night.
Game 6 quickly transformed into the Steph Curry show come the third quarter.
Boston came out on a mission, jumping out to a 14-2 lead at the 8: 03 mark of the first quarter. But after cutting the deficit to 22-16, G.S. used an 11-0 run to take a 27-22 lead into the second quarter, and opened that frame with a 10-0 run to take a 37-22 advantage, eventually leading to a 54-39 lead for the Warriors at half.
Then, Curry happened.
“Chef” hit three Curry-like 3s in the frame, including a near 30-footer at the 6: 15 mark that gave Golden State a 72-50 lead.
Curry finished the game with 34 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, as well as that Finals MVP trophy that so many in the media thought he desperately needed to etch his name alongside the game’s greatest performers.
“I’m so proud of our group,” said a crying Curry after the game. “At the beginning of the season, nobody thought we’d be here expect everybody on this court right now.
“Very surreal.”
With the win, G.S. once again rewrote the NBA history books from a franchise, player and coach standpoint.
Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala each won their fourth NBA championship, joining LeBron James as the only active players with four rings.
“We found a way to just get it done,” Curry said after the Warriors accepted the championship trophy and celebrated on the court. “It’s part of a championship pedigree, our experience. … We built this for 10-11 years. That means a lot when you get to this stage.”
Steve Kerr won his fourth title as a head coach and ninth overall. He won five titles as a player with the Chicago Bulls (3) and San Antonio Spurs (2).
Furthermore, the Warriors became the first team in NBA history to go from having the worst record in the NBA to winning an NBA championship in a span of three seasons or fewer, after Golden State finished 15-50 (.231) in 2019-20 amid a myriad of injuries.
Further-furthermore, the Warriors now have seven titles in franchise history, moving sole possession of third-most all-time. Only the Los Angeles Lakers (17) and Celtics (17) have more.
On the other side, Jayson Tatum’s first Finals appearance was memorable for the wrong reasons.
Tatum’s offense was routinely stifled by Andrew Wiggins (18 points) in Game 6, finishing the night with 13 points on 6-for-18 shooting.
As a whole, Tatum shot just 36.7% from the field in the Finals.
A scary proposition for the rest of the league is the fact that Golden State wasn’t at its best in the Finals and throughout the playoffs. Thompson played in just 32 regular-season games after missing two full seasons recovering from a torn ACL and a torn Achilles.
In addition, the second overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, big man James Wiseman, missed the entire 2021-22 season with a meniscus injury.
Add that to the fact that Wiggins and Jordan Poole (15 points) will presumably be back next season, and rookies Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody will be entering their second season, and Golden State will surely be favored to win it all again next year.
Enjoy the dub, Dub Nation.
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