Stephen Curry erupts for 43 points and seven 3s in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
BOSTON — The NBA Finals are all even after the Golden State Warriors ended a terrific Game 4 with a 21-6 run to earn a a 107-97 victory on Friday.
It was the Stephen Curry Show at TD Garden, with the all-time 3-point leader scoring 43 points, his third-highest total in 132 career playoff games (the top two — 47 and 44 — came in losses). The Celtics, as they’ve done all series, chose not to double-team Curry … and they paid for it. The two-time Kia MVP shot 14-for-26, including 7-for-14 from 3-point range.
One stat stood out from the rest as the Warriors evened the series at two games apiece and regained home-court advantage.
The basics
| Game 4 | GSW | BOS |
|---|---|---|
| Points | 107 | 97 |
| Possessions | 96 | 96 |
| OffRtg | 111.5 | 101.0 |
| eFG% | 52.2% | 48.8% |
| FTA/FGA | 0.165 | 0.165 |
| TO% | 16.7% | 16.7% |
| OREB% | 38.5% | 26.4% |
OffRtg = Points scored per 100 possessions
eFG% = (FGM + (0.5 * 3PM)) / FGA
TO% = Turnovers per 100 possessions
OREB% = % of available offensive rebounds obtained
The stat
25-for-51 — Stephen Curry’s 3-point shooting in the series.
The context
That’s 49.0%, what would be Curry’s third-highest 3-point percentage among his 26 playoff series. His 6.3 made 3-pointers per game would be the second-highest average for any player in any playoff series, topped only by the 6.5 per game he made as the Warriors swept the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2019 Western Conference finals. (The record for total made 3s in a series is 36, from Donovan Mitchell in the 2021 Western Conference semifinals.)
On Friday, Curry was just 2-for-8 from beyond the arc in the first half, but was 4-for-5 in the third quarter and drained his only 3-point attempt in the fourth, putting the Warriors up six with 1:42 to go. They trailed by five 6 1/2 minutes left, but then scored on nine of their final 11 possessions against what has been the best defensive team in the league.
After being held under a point per possession (49 on 51) in the first half, the Warriors scored 58 points on just 45 possessions (129 per 100) after halftime. The Celtics have outscored the Warriors in the first, second and fourth quarters in this series, but the cumulative score of the four third quarters is Warriors 136, Celtics 87.
Curry has 52 points (and is a plus-50) in those four third quarters, having shot 12-for-20 from deep. He’s totaled 137 points over the four games in the Finals, just about twice as many as any of his teammates (Klay Thompson has 69).
In the series, the Warriors have taken 48.1% of their shots from 3-point range, up from 41.5% through the first three rounds. Three is greater than two and Curry’s 49% from beyond the arc is like shooting 73.5% inside it.
More numbers
The Finals: Traditional | Advanced | 4 factors | Players | Player shooting | Lineups
Matchups: Warriors on offense | Celtics on offense
Warriors playoffs: Team stats | Advanced splits | Player stats | Player shooting | Lineups
Celtics playoffs: Team stats | Advanced splits | Player stats | Player shooting | Lineups
John Schuhmann is a senior stats analyst for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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