Boston 97 Golden State 107: Curry’s 43 Points Crushes Celtics In Game 4

Curry Crushes Celtic’s Crowd

Steph Curry is a three-time NBA champion, all-time record three-point scorer and a two-time MVP but the 34-year-old looks better than ever in the 2022 NBA Finals. The No30 put up a mammoth 43 points to carry Golden State’s offense on his shoulders in the TD Garden to quell the Boston crowd in Game 4. Curry sunk 7 of his 14 three-point attempts, typically coming at crucial times in the game to silence the rambunctious Boston crowd. The point guard finished with a double-double following 43 points and 10 rebounds to clinch a Game 4 win. Unbelievably, there’s a sense in some critical quarters that Curry still has a point to prove in a NBA Finals series. Although he’s won the Championship three times, he’s done so with a superior team and missed out on the Finals MVP three times (once to Andre Iguodala and twice to Kevin Durant). But Curry is averaging 34.3 points on 50 per cent shooting in the 2022 NBA Finals playing on a team that is inferior to Boston’s squad. That’s comfortably superior to his Finals average of 26.5 points. There’s little doubt Curry is fired up.

Brave Kerr Calls

Steve Kerr (Photo: headlinephotos / Marty Jean-Louis / depositphotos.com)

Steve Kerr earned his $8.7m salary (just like Curry earned his $53.8m pay packet) in Game 4 with some crunch decisions throughout the 48 minutes in Boston. Kerr made the brave decision to bench Draymond Green in the fourth quarter as the 33-year-old continued to struggle up against Boston’s offense. Kevon Looney has been Golden State’s best defender in this series and in the post-season – and Kerr had the courage to go with the form player rather than one of his stars. The Golden State head coach conceded that he made a mistake in Game 3 by not giving Looney enough minutes. “I didn’t play Looney enough in Game 3. That was my mistake,” Kerr said of Looney’s 17 minutes in Game 3. Looney played 28 minutes in Game 4 and it paid off.

Tentative Tatum

Jayson Tatum (Photo: ChinaImages / IMAGINECHINA LIMITED / depositphotos.com)

At the end of the first quarter, it looked like we were gearing up for a Curry vs Tatum matchup. The Boston star had 12 points and the Celtics were in position with a three-point lead. But Tatum’s shooting faltered in the final 36 minutes. Tatum finished with 23 points but the No0 was just 34.8% from the field and had six of Boston’s 16 total turnovers. Asked about Tatum’s struggles post-match, Marcus Smart said: “We are telling him ‘we trust you and we believe in you’. Jayson has to figure it out. He will”. Tatum knows that he needs to improve. “It’s on me. I’ve got to be better,” Tatum said. “I know I’m impacting the game in other ways, but I’ve got to be more efficient, shoot the ball better, finish at the rim better.”

Wholesome Wiggins

While Curry has been dominating for the Warriors, Wiggins deserve a mention. The former Minnesota Timberwovles star played a key supporting role to help put Golden State in position to take the lead in the series for the first time on Monday night. Wiggins finished with 17 points with two three-pointers made and 42% shooting in the field. His most notable stat was a career-best 16 rebounds to help the Warriors dominate the glass. Wiggins was superb guarding Luka Doncic in the Western Conference Finals but the 27-year-old made more of an impact in a make-or-break night for the Dubs. He added in some clutch points at the end of the fourth quarter to help get the Warriors over the line.