MASSACHUSETTS – Boston Celtics regained the lead in the 2021-2022 NBA Finals via a 116-100 triumph over the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 on Wednesday night (Thursday in the Philippines) at the TD Garden in Boston.
Jaylen Brown spearheaded the offense with 27 points to go with nine rebounds and five assists. Jayson Tatum added 26 markers and nine assists as the Celtics took a 2-1 edge in the series.
After being held to two points each in Game 2, Marcus Smart and Al Horford regained their shooting with 24 and 11 markers, respectively, while Grant Williams contributed 10 for Boston.
Celtics center Robert Williams was also a force inside against the undersized Warriors as the finished with 10 rebounds, eight points and four blocks.
The Celtics set the tone early with conversions from Brown, Horford and Tatum for a 30-15 lead. The Warriors converted late baskets to trim the deficit to 22-33.
Boston continued its rampage in the second period behind Williams and Payton Pritchard to build a 54-36 lead. GSW got conversions from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to cut it to 56-68 at the half.
Despite being tagged with his fourth foul, Curry still caught fire in the third quarter with consecutive treys as the Warriors took an 83-82 lead. The Celtics answered with hits from Smart, Tatum and Williams for a 93-89 lead.
The Celtics got the much needed break from referees inefficiency in the fourth as they zoomed to a 102-91 lead following conversions from Tatum, Smart and Williams.
The Warriors came closest for the last time at 96-104 on a Curry triple but the Celtics went for the kill with timely hits by Tatum and Smart as the lead swelled to 116-100.
Curry led the way for the Warriors with 31 points, including six triples, Thompson added 25 markers, while Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole contributed 18 and 10 points, respectively.
BOX SCORE:
BOSTON 116 — Brown 27, Tatum 26, Smart 24, Horford 11, G. Williams 10, R. Williams 8, White 7, Pritchard 3, Stauskas 0, Morgan 0, Nesmith 0, Fitts 0, Hauser 0.
GOLDEN STATE 100 — Curry 31, Thompson 25, Wiggins 18, Poole 10, Looney 6, Porter 6, Green 2, Payton 2, Iguodala 0, Bjelica 0, Lee 0, Toscano-Anderson 0, Kuminga 0, Moody 0.
Quarterscores: 33-22, 68-56, 93-89, 116-100./PN
