Golden State Warriors win NBA Finals with 13-point Game 6 victory
This may sound like a cliché, especially in a league that has become all about offense. Tonight was the epitome of that statement. In a game where the Warriors were hot and cold, one thing was consistent.
The defensive effort and intensity. Starting with Draymond Green who easily had his best game of the playoffs. Boston only scored 90 points while committing 23 turnovers. In all four of the Warriors wins in this finals, they held Boston to under 100 points.
The Golden State Warriors are back on top of the NBA. Defeating the Celtics 4-2, here is a recap on game six and how the Dubs were able to reclaim the throne.
All the talk is usually about the splash brothers and the high-paced offense. Not enough credit is given to their outstanding defense, nor the effort that Stephen Curry puts on that end of the floor.
Game of Runs
Basketball is certainly a game of runs, and a double-digit lead in the NBA is nothing with the three-point line. Boston jumped out to a 14-2 lead early in the first. Golden State responded with a 21-0 run, the largest run in the NBA Finals in the last 50 years.
In total, a 52-25 run at halftime gave the Warriors the lead and never looked back.
This wouldn’t be the end of runs in Game 6. After the Warriors took a 22-point lead, Boston responded with a run to make it a 10-point game heading into the 4th. Tonight was all about weathering the storm.
Golden State knew that Boston would not go out quietly, and the Warriors did a fantastic job answering each of these runs to keep the game out of reach.
Adding To The Résumé
Stephen Curry has accomplished so much in his career, yet seems to catch slack for his few “shortcomings”. After being robbed in 2015 of Finals MVP, all of the sudden the media, as well as NBA fans, began to overvalue the award.
When Kobe Bryant won three rings with Shaq but had no Finals MVP, no one seemed to care. After it became a way to bring down Steph, you couldn’t hear the end of it.
Even after the 2017 and 2018 championships, Kevin Durant was the better player by a slight margin. Curry holds a ton of NBA finals records to go along with having a higher PPG average than a lot of NBA legends.
So what will they say now? Steph wins his first Finals MVP and did so in convincing fashion. How about 43 points in a must-win game on the road. He finished it off tonight with an impressive 34 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds.
As the clock dwindled down, Curry became quite emotional. I think you could tell how bad he not only wanted to win the Championship but also left no doubt about who the Finals MVP is.
Steph is already a top ten player to ever touch a basketball, and he has been since about 2019. It can now be argued that he is up there with the likes of LeBron James and Michael Jordan. Give Steph his damn respect.
Strength In Numbers
Out of all the championship teams, this may be the best team chemistry I have seen. Every single player on the roster contributed to this. Draymond mentioned after game four, how Juan Toscano-Anderson, Chris Chiozza, and Gary Payton II were in his ear giving him confidence.
We saw how Andre Iguodala was in Andrew Wiggins’ ear, which seemed to light a fire in his game. Jordan Poole, Looney, Gary Payton II, and Otto Porter, all played a massive role tonight. When it came to winning time, Stephen Curry smelt blood and said “night-night” to Boston.
This team truly showed why it will always be “Strength In Numbers”.