SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry led Golden State to another electric third quarter outburst Sunday night in front of a sold-out Chase Center crowd. But unlike their embarrassing collapse in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Warriors held strong and fended off the Celtics in Game 2 for a 107-88 win.
Curry scored 14 of his 29 points in the third, helping the Warriors outscore the Celtics 35-14 to take a 23-point lead heading into the final 12 minutes.
After coughing up a double-digit fourth quarter lead in Game 1 in an epic fourth quarter meltdown, the Warriors were able to sustain their third quarter momentum on Sunday, cruising throughout a comfortable fourth to tie the series 1-1.
The Celtics hit back-to-back 3-pointers with 4:32 remaining in the third quarter to pull within six of the Warriors, but that was the closest they would get to Golden State for the rest of the game. Curry nailed two 3-pointers during an 11-0 run that extended the Warriors’ lead to 79-62 with 1:54 left in the third quarter.
A poor first half performance kept Jordan Poole out of the game until the last 1:19 of the third quarter, but he made the most of that final 79 seconds. Poole handed out an assist on a Kevon Looney layup and hit two 3-pointers, including a highlight worthy pull-up shot from 39-feet to beat the buzzer.
Poole finished with five 3-pointers and 17 points off the bench.
Boston made five straight shots to start the game, including a pair of 3-pointers, to jump out to a nine-point lead, but the Celtics’ sharpshooting went cold and the Warriors held a 52-50 advantage at halftime.
Poole emerged in the second half, but Andrew Wiggins finished with 11 points and Klay Thompson had a postseason low 11 on what was a shoddy night of shooting for the two starters.
Meanwhile, Gary Payton II made his return after being out for a month with a broken elbow. He took turns guarding Jayson Tatum, who finished with a team-high 28 points for Boston. Payton put to rest any doubts of whether his elbow would hinder his shooting, making all three of his shots for seven points.
The Warriors improved to 10-1 in the playoffs at Chase Center, while the Celtics are now 8-3 away from home this postseason. The best-of-seven series moves to Boston for the next two games.
