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Strong Fourth Quarter Lifts Dubs to Game 5 Victory

Established 1946 | 7-time NBA Champions

It was a rollercoaster to get there, but the Warriors are one win away from an NBA Championship after taking a 3-2 series lead with Monday’s 104-94 win at Chase Center.

The Warriors jumped out to a 16-point lead in the first quarter but the Celtics surged ahead with a third quarter blitz. The Dubs would answer with a 10-0 spurt to open the fourth quarter and maintained their advantage from there.

Andrew Wiggins punctuated his 26-point night with an emphatic dunk with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Klay Thompson followed with a game-clinching 3-pointer and the Warriors improved to 11-1 at home this postseason.

With the win, the Warriors became the first team to win consecutive games in the series, also marking the first time the Celtics have lost consecutive games this postseason. Armed with a 3-2 series lead, the Warriors will look to close out the series and win their fourth NBA title in the last eight seasons when they visit the Celtics for Game 6 on Thursday (6 p.m. PDT, ABC).

TEAM LEADERS

FINISHING STRONG
After letting what was a double-digit advantage slip away in the third quarter, Wiggins got the Dubs back on track with a tough drive early in the fourth quarter. He secured a defensive rebound on one end of the court, and went coast-to-coast before finishing with a layup. Wiggins was tough all fourth quarter, hitting 5-of-6 from the floor and pulling down five rebounds in the period. Wiggins finished the game 12-for-23 from the floor with 13 rebounds, marking his second straight double-double and sixth of the postseason.

Thompson hit two of his five 3-pointers on the night in the fourth quarter, his first coming as part of a 10-0 run to open the frame, and Stephen Curry tallied three of his eight assists in the period as the Dubs outscored the Celtics 29-20 in the final period.

THIRD QUARTER TURNAROUND
All series long, the Warriors had controlled the third quarter, outscoring the Celtics by 49 points in that period through the first four games. But Boston flipped the script, hitting six straight 3-pointers in the third quarter to take their first lead of the game. And when they finally missed, they corralled the offensive rebound and Marcus Smart hit another 3-pointer, giving the Celtics a 61-57 advantage.

Boston had shot 0-for-their-first-12 from distance in the first half, but ended the second quarter with three straight makes. That momentum rolled into the second half, as Tatum hit on his first attempts, Smart made two threes and Al Horford made another. The Celtics outscored the Dubs 35-24 in the period, but the Warriors weathered the storm.

Thompson interrupted Boston’s 3-point parade with two of his own and Jordan Poole soon came through with what was perhaps the biggest shot of the game.

POOLE BEATS THE BUZZER … AGAIN
After hitting his second 3-pointer of the game to bring the Dubs within one at the 1:20 mark of the third quarter, Poole would end the third quarter like he did in Game 2 – with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. This time, he banked home the 38-footer from the left wing, giving the Dubs a 75-74 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

WARRIORS RESERVES LIGHT THE MATCH
Poole made another jumper early in the fourth quarter to cap an 18-3 Warriors run that put the Dubs in control of the game. Poole finished with 14 points in 14 minutes, and fellow reserve Gary Payton II played perhaps his best game of the postseason, finishing with 16 points and five rebounds while playing his typical disruptive defense that netted him three steals. Payton, who shot 6-for-8 from the floor, was a game-high plus-16 in his 26 minutes of game action.

DRAYMOND PROVIDES EARLY SPARK
Draymond Green wound up fouling out, but his play early on was instrumental in the Warriors’ strong start. A crafty pass to Otto Porter Jr. led to the first Warriors’ points of the game, and Green kept his foot on the gas from there, helping the Warriors get out to a 24-8 lead in the operning period. He’d finish with eight points, eight rebounds and six steals, shooting 3-for-6 from the field.

STAT OF THE NIGHT – PART I
The Warriors had a total of seven turnovers, leading to nine Boston points, whereas the Celtics had 18 turnovers leading to 22 points for the Warriors.

STAT OF THE NIGHT – PART II
The Warriors shot 32-for-48 (66.7 percent) on their two-point attempts, but just 9-for-40 on their 3-point attempts. Besides Thompson (5-for-11 3FG) and Poole (3-for-6 3FG), the rest of the Dubs combined to go 1-for-23 from distance. Stephen Curry was 0-for-9 on his threes, snapping his streak of 136 straight postseason games with at least one made 3-pointer.

More Notables ...

  • The Warriors improved to 11-1 at home this postseason, the league’s best mark… The Warriors have outscored their opponents, 115.1 to 102.8 points per game at home in this year’s playoffs and have a margin of victory of 12.3 points per game.
  • Golden State improved to 4-1 in NBA Finals Game 5s dating back to 2015, and 8-2 all-time… The Warriors are now 14-4 in postseason Game 5s dating back to 2015 and 28-23 all-time.
  • The Warriors handed the Celtics their first back-to-back losses this postseason… Boston came into tonight’s game 7-0 in games following a loss, which was tied for the longest such streak in league history (ESPN Stats & Info).
  • Golden State improved to 15-6 during the 2022 playoffs and have not lost consecutive games.
  • Tonight marked the 20th NBA Finals win for Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, the most by any All-NBA trio in the last 50 years (ESPN Stats & Info), surpassing the Spurs’ Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker (19).
  • The Warriors committed a 2022 postseason low seven turnovers (prev. eight on 5/24 at DAL).
  • Golden State improved to 7-0 during the 2022 postseason when holding its opponent to under 100 points… Tonight marked the third time during the Finals the Warriors have held the Celtics to 99-or-fewer points (3-0).
  • The Warriors held the Celtics to an opponent-first quarter season low 16 points (prev. 18 on 5/18 vs. DAL).
  • Tonight marked the Warriors’ 430th consecutive sellout (regular season and playoffs combined).
  • Gary Payton ll posted a postseason career-high-tying 15 points (4/27 vs. DEN)… His six field goals on eight attempts also was a postseason career-high-tying mark (4/27 vs. DEN)… He recorded a postseason-career high three steals (prev. two on 4/18 vs. DEN).
  • Andrew Wiggins recorded his second consecutive double-double (17 points and career-high 16 rebounds in Game 4) and sixth of this year’s playoffs with 26 points and a game-high 13 rebounds… It’s the second time in the regular season and playoffs that he’s had back-to-back double-doubles (3/3/20 & 3/5/20)… Tonight marked the first time this season (regular season or playoffs) he has lead the team outright in scoring and rebounding… He has grabbed 29 rebounds over the span of the last two games.
  • Klay Thompson recorded his 100th career Finals 3-point basket with his first make of the night, and finished with five (104 career), passing LeBron James (101) for second place on the NBA’s all-time Finals threes list, trailing only teammate Stephen Curry (146)… They are the only three in NBA history to reach the 100-Finals threes milestone.
  • Stephen Curry snapped his NBA-record streak of 132 consecutive postseason games with at least one made 3-point basket, going 0-of-9 from beyond the arc tonight… Prior to tonight he had made one-or-more threes in every career playoff game… Tonight marked the first time during the 2022 Finals he has scored fewer than 29 points.
  • Draymond Green passed Scottie Pippen (207) and Michael Jordan (209) for sole possession of seventh place on the NBA’s all-time Finals assist list… He has 211-career assists in the Finals.
  • Kevon Looney played in his 103rd combined regular season and playoff game, matching Harrison Barnes for the third most in a single season in franchise history… Only Klay Thompson and Draymond Green have played more games in a single campaign (104 in 2015-16).