The Golden State Warriors are just one win away from continuing their dynasty and securing a fourth NBA championship in eight years after Andrew Wiggins inspired them to a 104-94 home win in Game 5 against the Boston Celtics on Monday night.
In a crucial NBA Finals contest, Wiggins duly delivered the biggest performance of his eight-year career as he dropped 26 points and collected 13 rebounds. He and teammate Klay Thompson did most of the damage, with Thompson - who returned from back-to-back Achilles and ACL injuries earlier this season - contributing 21 points to give the Warriors a 3-2 series lead.
After producing a masterful 43-point game to level the finals at two games apiece, Steph Curry’s NBA-record streak of 132 successive postseason games with at least one three-pointer made ended, along with his NBA-best run of 233 consecutive matches with a three when accounting for regular season games too. The 34-year-old shot 0-9 from beyond the arc, but the Warriors overcame his poor shooting as the Celtics committed 18 total turnovers and missed 10 free throws at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
Curry finished with 16 points and eight assists, but Wiggins was undoubtedly the star man for the Warriors in Game 5 as the Canadian produced a terrific all-round display that highlighted his prowess in scoring, defending, and rebounding. Wiggins’ performance came 36 years after his father Mitchell came off the bench to lead the Houston Rockets to the win against the Celtics in Game 5 of the 1986 NBA Finals - but the Rockets went on to lose the series.
Wiggins - dubbed ‘Maple Jordan’ as a highly-rated youngster - had zero turnovers and clearly has no intention to let the Warriors suffer the same fate as his father's Rockets. He capped his sensational night with an assertive one-handed slam dunk late in the fourth quarter.
Ultimately though, other Warriors outside of Wiggins stood up amid Curry’s struggles as he failed to make a three in an NBA game for the first time since November 8 2018. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr admitted the two-time MVP was ‘probably due a game like this’ as Curry has starred in these NBA Finals and is the frontrunner to take home the Finals MVP award.
Draymond Green brought the energy, making an early play where he collided with an audience member - and an enormous cheer ripped through the arena when he checked if the woman involved was OK. The crowd then exploded into raptures when Green sold a fake to the entire Celtics defence, allowing the former Defensive Player of the Year to easily get to the basket.
Thompson also hit some mega three-pointers, including a quick-fire double in the middle of a dominant Boston run in the third quarter after the Warriors had thrown away a 16-point lead. The 32-year-old went 5-of-11 from deep in the win.
As for the Celtics, it was a tough night. For so long, Jayson Tatum looked like he was set to unleash his best performance of the series for a spell in the third quarter but his wildly inconsistent play ensured he unravelled with poor decisions and erroneous shooting from the free throw line.
The 24-year-old twice missed his opportunity to score after fouls, and Boston finished a poor 21-of-31 from the line. Tatum scored a game-high 27 points to go with 10 rebounds, but he could only give the Celtics - who led these NBA Finals 2-1 - their first made three in the closing moments of the second quarter as the road team struggled to put the ball in the basket from deep.
Marcus Smart overcame a sluggish start to finish with 20 points, while Jaylen Brown put up 18 points after originally going 2-of-11 to start the game. Brown even finished without a three-pointer, as he missed each of his five attempts.
The Warriors have made exceptional third quarter performances their USP this season, but the Celtics used the period to conjure up their best basketball of the evening. Boston trailed Golden State 51-39 at the break before storming back with 35-point burst in the third.
Al Horford hit a huge go-ahead three-pointer with 6:28 left in the quarter that made it 58-55 as the Celtics appeared to finally find their shooting rhythm from deep. Grant Williams’ three with approximately four minutes remaining was Boston’s eighth straight three after missing their first 12 attempts.
The erratic nature of the game was embodied by the Celtics’ deep shooting, with Tatum and Smart coming to the fore while Brown faded in and out of the game. On the other hand, the Warriors overcame an awful shooting display in the first half (17% from three) to play with more composure in the second half - and it paid dividends.
The key moment came in the third quarter when Thompson connected on a three after the Warriors had missed 14 straight efforts, and it allowed the five-time All-Star to find his rhythm for the remainder of the contest. Jordan Poole - who finished with 14 points - struck with a 33ft three to beat the third-quarter buzzer, giving the Warriors a slender 75-74 lead heading into the fourth.
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With momentum back on their side, the Warriors cemented the massive win as Wiggins, the first overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, powered home a dunk with 2:10 remaining. The 2022 NBA Finals have proved to be a series defined by hard and physical defence, and Wiggins excelled as he unsettled Tatum throughout.
Throughout this campaign, the Warriors have insisted their current roster is different from the iconic side that clinched three titles and reached five NBA Finals between 2015 and 2019. It appears they are more similar than even the staff and players realise, as the Warriors continue to collect high-profile wins one way or another.
One more win in Boston on Thursday night and the Warriors will seal another championship, ensuring they will have that in common with their Kevin Durant-led predecessors. One more win to elongate the dynasty and secure NBA immortality.
