• Complete coverage: 2022 NBA Finals

For the second straight game of the 2022 NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors dominated the third quarter to build a commanding lead. After relinquishing that lead in Game 1 as Boston rallied for the win, this time the Warriors were able to hang on long enough and even the series before the Finals shifts to Boston for the next two games.

Let’s take a deep dive into all aspects of the box score:

Traditional

•  While Game 2 featured eight lead changes and seven ties, the Warriors led at the end of each quarter — and hit the final shot of the first three periods. Stephen Curry hit a floating bank shot in the final second of the first quarter to give Golden State a 31-30 lead; Andrew Wiggins hit a putback off a missed 3 by Curry with 10 seconds left in the half to give Golden State a 52-50 lead. Then the third-quarter avalanche began as the Warriors outscored the Celtics 35-14, capped off by a Jordan Poole buzzer-beater from one step inside halfcourt.

Jordan Poole beats the Q3 buzzer!

The @warriors end Q3 on a 19-2 run 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jsPrjwODaK

— NBA (@NBA) June 6, 2022

• Through the first two games, the Warriors have outscored the Celtics by 35 points in the third quarter — plus-14 in Game 1 and plus-21 in Game 2. For the series, Golden State is plus-5 in the first quarter, while Boston is plus-five in the second quarter, giving us a first-half draw. Golden State has dominated the third (+35) and Boston has won the fourth (+28, with +24 of that coming in Game 1).

• Curry led all scorers with 29 points despite not playing in the fourth quarter with the Warriors already in a commanding lead. Curry shot 9-for-21 from the field, 5-for-12 from 3-point range and 6-for-7 at the free-throw line, while adding six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Through two games, Curry leads the series in points (63), field goals made (21), 3-pointers made (12) and steals (6).

• After scoring just 12 points on 3-for-17 shooting in Game 1, Jayson Tatum found his offense in Game 2, finishing with a team-high 28 points on 8-for-19 shooting from the field and 6-for-9 from 3-point range, while adding six rebounds, three assists and a steal. However, Tatum not only finished with the lowest plus/minus of his career at -36, but the lowest plus/minus in a Finals game in the play-by-play era (since 1996-97).

• Boston built its biggest lead of the game in the first quarter behind a hot start from Jaylen Brown, who scored 13 points and shot 4-for-6 from the field and 3-for-4 from 3-point range in the game’s first eight minutes. From that point on, Brown crumbled, shooting just 1-for-11 from the field and missing all five of his 3-point attempts. He finished with 17 points.

• Game 1 was dominated by the Celtics’ trio of Al Horford, Derrick White and Marcus Smart as they combined for 65 points on 22-for-34 (64.7%) shooting from the field and 15-for-23 (65.2%) from 3-point range. In Game 2, the trio combined to score just 16 points on 6-for-23 (26.1%) shooting from the field and 2-of-7 (28.6%) from 3-point range.

• Game 2 saw the return of Gary Payton II to the Warriors’ lineup after he missed the previous month due to a fractured elbow suffered against Memphis in the conference semifinals. Payton played 25 minutes off the bench and finished with seven points on 3-for-3 shooting, three rebounds, three assists and provided another defender to throw at Tatum and Brown.

• In his first six quarters of the 2022 NBA Finals — all of Game 1 and the first half of Game 2 — Poole scored 12 points on 3-for-12 shooting (25.0%) from the field and 2-for-7 (28.6%) shooting from 3-point range with four assists and five turnovers in 34 minutes on court. Poole put the finishing touches on the Warriors’ brilliant third quarter. With 30 seconds left in the period, Poole hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 20 and pulled up from just inside halfcourt and bombed another triple to increase the lead to 23. Poole finished the game as Golden State’s second-leading scorer with 17 points.

• Klay Thompson had a rough shooting night as he finished with 11 points on 4-for-19 (21.1%) shooting from the field and 1-for-8 (12.5%) from 3-point range. In 141 career playoff games, Thompson has had only six games in which he’s attempted at least 10 shots and shot lower than 25%. Game 2 was the first time it had happened since 2018 and only the second time it has happened in the Finals (Game 1, 2017). Although, the Warriors are 6-0 in those games when Klay has struggled with his shot.

Advanced

• After posting their second-worst defensive rating of the 2022 Playoffs in Game 1 of The Finals (129.0), the Warriors bounced back with their best defensive rating of the postseason in Game 2 (89.8).

• Boston’s 89.8 offensive rating in Game 2 of The Finals was its second-lowest of the 2022 Playoffs; only Game 1 against Milwaukee in the conference semifinals was lower (89.0).

• Boston’s 19.4% turnover rate in Game 2 of The Finals was its second-highest of the 2022 Playoffs; only Game 3 against Miami in the conference finals was worse (25.5%).

Miscellaneous

• Boston committed 18 turnovers in Game 2 — including 15 live-ball turnovers — that the Warriors took full advantage of, racking up 33 points off turnovers, compared to just 15 points for the Celtics off Golden State’s 12 turnovers.

• Curry nearly had as many points off Boston’s turnovers (14) as the Celtics had as a team off Golden State’s turnovers (15).

• The Warriors finished with a 40-24 advantage in points in the paint, with Kevon Looney leading all players with 12 points (on 6-for-6 shooting) as he was the recipient of numerous drop-off passes by Golden State’s guards off drives when the Boston defense had to collapse and help.

Scoring

• Only two of Curry’s field goals were assisted in Game 2. It marks his second-lowest rate of assisted field goals (77.8%) and 3-pointers (80%) of the postseason; only Game 4 against Denver in the first round had lower marks (80% FG, 100% 3P).

• Curry was the only player in the game on either team to have less than half of his made field goals come off an assist.

• The Celtics assisted on 80% of their made field goals in Game 2, marking their highest assist rate of the postseason. Only Miami has posted a higher assist rate in this year’s playoffs (Game 1 vs. Atlanta in the first round).

• The Celtics made the same number of 2-point shots (15-for-43, 34.9 FG%) and 3-point shots (15-for-37, 40.5 FG%) in Game 2.

• The disparity between Boston’s 2-point shooting and 3-point shooting was more drastic prior to the fourth quarter when both teams emptied their benches with the outcome no longer in doubt. If we look at the first three quarters, the Celtics shot just 9-34 (26.5%) on 2-point shots and 12-27 (44.4%) on 3-point shots.

Usage

• Curry (35.2%) and Poole (35.1%) led the way in usage rate in Game 2. Tatum led the Celtics at 34.1%, followed by Brown at 31.2%; Thompson was the only other player that played more than five minutes to finish above 30% usage.

• Tatum scored 52.8% of Boston’s points while he was on the court in Game 2 — the highest mark of any player in the game. By comparison, Curry and Poole scored at nearly the same rate as their usage: Curry 35.2% usage, 34.9% points; Poole 35.1% usage, 34.0% points.

• Al Horford’s usage rate dropped from 20.3% in Game 1 when he scored a team-high 26 points to 9.1% in Game 2 when he was held to just two points.

• Draymond Green led all players with seven assists in Game 2 as he accounted for 43.8% of Golden State’s assists while he was on the court.

Four Factors

• Among players that logged at least 11 minutes in Game 2 (eight for Golden State, nine for Boston), the Warriors had six record an effective field goals percentage above 50%, while the Celtics had none.

• As discussed in the miscellaneous category above, turnovers played a huge role in the outcome of Game 2. The Celtics had six players with a turnover rate greater than 20%, while the Warriors had none.

• The other half of the four factors — free throw rate and offensive rebound rate — did not have a significant disparity between the teams. Although it is interesting that the two players with the highest offensive rebound rate were Payton Pritchard (11.1%) and Andrew Wiggins (9.1%)

Player Tracking

• The Warriors (21-for-49, 42.9%) and Celtics (20-for-46, 43.5%) shot similar percentages on a similar number of uncontested shot attempts in Game 2. The real disparity comes when we look at contested shots. The Warriors shot 18-for-37 (48.6%) on contested field goals, while the Celtics shot just 10-for-34 (29.4%).

• After all 12 of his field goals attempts in Game 1 were uncontested (and he made nine of them), all four of Horford’s shots were contested in Game 2 (and he only made one).

• Brown and Derrick White both shot 0-for-6 on contested field goals in Game 2, while Tatum finished 3-of-10 when his shot was contested compared to 5-of-9 when he was open.

• Curry shot better on contested shots (6-for-11) than he did on uncontested shots (3-for-10); the opposite was true for Poole who was just 1-of-5 on contested shots (including two that were blocked) and 5-for-9 when left open.

• Thompson’s shooting struggles came on both contested (1-for-6) and uncontested (3-for-10) shots.

• Green (2.41 miles) and Tatum (2.37 miles) led their respective teams in distance traveled in Game 2 as both logged over 34 minutes.

Hustle

• The Warriors finished with 30 deflections in Game 2, a key component to their 15 steals on the night. Green (8) and Curry (7) combined for half of Golden State’s deflections.

• Marcus Smart single-handedly accounted for half (9) of Boston’s 18 deflections in Game 2. No other Celtic had more than two deflections.

• The Warriors finished 10 screen assists that created 27 points in Game 2 as Green led all players with three. Boston had just five screen assists for 13 points.

Defense

• Green held his defensive matchups to 10 points on 3-for-14 (21.4%) shooting from the field and 1-of-7 (14.3%) from 3-point range, while forcing two turnovers and blocking one shot.

• Curry held his matchups to nine points on 3-for-11 (27.3%) shooting from the field and 1-for-5 (20%) shooting from 3-point range, while coming up with three steals.

• Looney allowed zero field goals made on seven attempts, including three from 3-point range, while also registering three steals against his defensive matchups.

• Brown had a strong defensive effort, allowing just six points on 3-for-12 (25%) shooting from the field and 0-for-4 from 3-point range. Smart (3-for-9, 33.3% allowed) and White (3-for-10, 30% allowed) also held their defensive matchups from making a third of their shots.

Matchups

• Smart defended Curry for a team-high 3:21, allowing four points on 1-for-2 shooting from the field and a pair of free throws. Curry scored five points apiece when matched up with White (2:50), Horford (1:25) or Pritchard (0:30).

• On the other side, Curry defended Smart for a team-high 6:04 and held Smart scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting from the field, including two 3-pointers and forcing two turnovers in the matchup.

• Wiggins defended Tatum for a team-high 7:03, allowing 11 points on 4-for-10 shooting from the field, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range. Tatum also scored 10 points on a perfect 3-for-3 FG, 2-for-2 3P, and 2-for-2 FT shooting in 2:54 against Gary Payton II.

• In Game 1, the Warriors primarily defended Horford with their bigs as Green logged 5:20 of matchup time and Looney logged 2:52 of matchup time against Horford — the two combined to allow 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field and 3-for-5 from 3-point range. In Game 2, Green still logged the most minutes at 3:10, allowing zero points on 0-for-2 shooting, but this time Thompson followed with 2:59 of matchup time with Horford, allowing Horford’s only two points.

• In Game 1, Green defended Horford (5:20), Robert Williams III (2:44), Tatum (2:00) and Daniel Theis (1:29) for more time than he matched up with Brown (1:26). In Game 2, Brown was Green’s top defensive matchup at 4:39 of matchup time, holding him to seven points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field and 1-for-5 from 3-point range. Green also held Tatum scoreless on 0-of-2 shooting in 1:40 of matchup time.