Post Game: don't worry don't stress - Warriors dominate game 2
No miracles in the 4th tonight for Boston!
As the fourth quarter came back from commercial, there was a video of Stephen Curry. Customary towel over his head, he was smirking as he looked across the assembled members of Dub Nation — and the poor Celtics fans that thought they were here for another miracle in game two. It was the look of a veteran that understood how well his team had just controlled the field of battle.
The fourth quarter hadn’t even started yet, but Curry knew there would be no second miracle. Those balanced role players that had been so deadly in game one were silent in game two — victims of a renewed Warriors focus and the harsh gods of random chance that turned their role players back into role players.
The Warriors put their stamp back onto this series, ensuring that when the games move back into Boston in a few days, the pressure is back on the home court.
For my money though, the return of Gary Payton was the most cathartic. When the ball swung to him for an open corner three, my heart lurched. Would he shoot it? Would he shoot if with his left hand? Yes, yes, and it was good. He was huge tonight.
Otherwise, there's a whole lot to like for the Golden State Warriors — a team that held a pretty dominant lead in most of game 1 until succumbing to a 24 point swing in the fourth. So it goes with the small sample sizes of a seven game series.
Golden State held serve for almost the entire game, keeping it close up to the half, when Jordan Poole hit one of the most disrespectful halfcourt shots I can recall. Not content with the usual running heave, Poole crossed over, stepped back, and took a straight up jumper from just a few steps inside the half court line. Bang.
From there it was all Golden State. They put on another clinic in the third.
Breathe out, Dub Nation.
I'm really enjoying this series. Celtics are a damn good team, as are the Dubs. The constant strategy changes and subsequent counters by the opponents makes the series interesting - it's a classical chess game. While the Celtics might have the athletic superiority, I think the Dubs (both players and coaching staff) are the better chess players and that should be enough for the Dubs to prevail in the end. It also doesn't hurt to be able to turn GP2 loose to guard 1-5 effectively - we really could have used him in Game 1.
Dubs in 6.
Just rewatched the third quarter for fun.
I'm not sure there has ever been a player who will blow your s*** up quite as cheerfully as Steph Curry.