Steph Curry and Klay Thompson combined to lead the Golden State Warriors to a huge win over the Boston Celtics in an NBA Finals rematch on Saturday night.
Back in June, the Warriors defeated the Celtics in six games to clinch the fourth NBA championship of the Steve Kerr era. Curry was named Finals MVP thanks to his brilliance, sealing the first such honour of his career.
In the anticipated rematch between the Celtics and Warriors at Chase Center, Boston simply could not keep pace with the offensive firepower of their opponents. Curry and Thompson scored 66 points between them in the 123-107 victory.
The Celtics star duo of MVP frontrunner Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown fared worse, although the latter still dropped 31 points and nine rebounds. While Tatum has enjoyed a sensational season thus far, he ultimately struggled with 18 points on six-of-21 shooting.
Brown stepped up on Tatum's off night, particularly in the fourth quarter. Through 27 games, Brown is averaging 26.8 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 50.1 per cent from the floor, which are impressive numbers that should perhaps see the guard get more acclaim.
With Robert Williams and Al Horford out, the Warriors shooters took advantage of Blake Griffin, who simply had no answer for Curry and Thompson’s elusive ability around screens on the perimeter. Thompson finished with a game-high 34 points on 14-of-26 shooting while Curry added 32 points on 12-of-20 from the floor and six-of-11 from three.
Golden State went into the game fourth in the West Conference Pacific division after successive defeats, and they still have plenty to do despite their 14-13 record. They will be undoubtedly buoyed by the result given the Celtics have the best record in the NBA, and Draymond Green suggested the result laid down a marker.
“We just played these guys in the NBA Finals, you want to send a message,” Green said.
Head coach Kerr was pleased with the performance, declaring: “We gutted it out. Steph and Klay obviously had it rolling so we were making shots.”
He added: “The crowd was excited. We were excited, just the feeling of going against the team the team that you just played in the finals, especially the way they’ve played this year, they’ve just been so good, so dominant. I thought we needed a game like that. We’ve been a little bit stuck in the mud.”
Meanwhile, the Celtics suffered a defeat after three successive wins but they remain top of the Eastern Conference with a 21-6 record. Boston are next in action against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night while the Warriors will face Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.
Elsewhere, the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Indiana Pacers on the road. The 136-133 victory was achieved without injured star duo Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Cam Thomas' career-high 33 points helped them come from nine points down in the final quarter to claim a third successive win.
