Steph Curry scored reliably as always. Klay Thompson finally played strong again. Still, they lost Golden State Warriors the third NBA-Final game in Boston clear. That was due to a Celtics trio that made history.
The hall announcer roared “JayyyyTeeeee!!!!” into his microphone and the 19,156 sold-out spectators TD Garden jumped up cheering. Because this “JayyyyTeeeee“, whose real name is Jayson Christopher Tatum, had the lead with just under six minutes before the end of the game Boston Celtics against the Golden State Warriors to eleven points (107:96).
It was an action of sorts “You-can’t-stop-me“. Tatum was almost two meters behind the three-point line. Then he stepped in, dribbled vigorously around Steph Curry, jumped towards the basket, put the ball from his left hand to his right, flew past Draymond Green in front of him and let it go rolling the ball over his fingers into the net. It all took three seconds. It was three seconds of basketball perfection.
Boston succeeds in everything, Golden State does nothing
And it was the first of four actions in 69 seconds involving the game’s top five players. And in which it became clear that only the Celtics would probably win this encounter. Because in these 69 seconds everything worked for them – and nothing for the guests. After Tatum’s lay-up, Curry threw a three-pointer. He did that often that evening – and he had been successful six times. But this attempt failed.
On the other side, Boston playmaker Marcus Smart made his three-point attempt after a pass from Tatum, giving the Celtics a 110-96 lead. And when Klay Thompson tried to shorten to 98:110 from close range for the Warriors, Boston’s Jaylen Brown suddenly flew in and blocked the attempt. Again the spectators jumped up enthusiastically – among them Paul Pierce.
Brown with 17 points in the opening quarter
In the first Celtics home final since 2010, he sat on the edge of the field in a green and white club jacket. Pierce captained Boston’s last championship win in 2008. And he formed at that time together with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen “The Big Three“. In the third game of the finals, the Celtics again had Tatum (26 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists), Brown (27/9/5) and Smart (24/7/5) “Three big ones“. Brown took command at the beginning, contributed 17 points to the 33:22 lead after the first quarter. “He led us, we followed him“Said Smart, arriving at the press conference just after midnight wearing sunglasses. He and Tatum had their best moments, especially in the final section.
Brown, Tatum and Smart managed something in this important game that has since Los Angeles LakersTrio Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Cooper in the finals In 1984 no three teammates had succeeded. Everyone had at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists. “We’re in great company there“, said Tatum and asked to build on this achievement. At the same time he warned to “not too happy about it“but to focus on preparing for game four and being prepared.
Thompson almost as perfect as ever
For the guests, Klay Thompson showed his best game of the final series. The long-range shooter, who missed 941 days due to a cruciate ligament rupture and a torn Achilles tendon and only made his comeback in January, was considered a great unknown in the run-up to the finals. What can be expected from him? Can he possibly come close to his outstanding form of the three victorious finals in 2015, 2017 and 2018? At least somewhat?
After Thompson only got 11 and 15 points in the first two games, he played well this time. Some of his throws were so smooth that they recalled his perfection before the serious injuries. Thompson hit five threes, collected 25 points. And Curry (31 points) was reliable anyway. However, in the final quarter neither could prevent the Celtics from pulling away from 93:89 to 116:100.
Lockdown defense makes the difference
This in turn was due to the strong defense of the hosts. “We have been able to rely on our lockdown defense“, stated Celtics coach Ime Udoka with satisfaction. Thompson didn’t score at all, Curry only once. The fact that Draymond Green, the “pit bull” of the Warriors defense, had to leave the floor four minutes before the end of the game after his sixth foul, made it more difficult thing additionally.
The Celtics continued their impressive streak and also won their seventh game after a previous loss. “Two more wins‘ roared Al Horford in the post-game interview, giving the fans the through ball.’Two more wins“They roared for minutes as they left the arena.
Boston has home advantage again on Friday. But the Warriors have also shown so far that they can put up with a lost game well. They too have not left the floor as losers twice in a row. They have to defend this record on Friday.