By Ron Griffitts
Contributing columnist
In June 2022, the Boston Celtics (51-31) coached by Ime Udoka with former coach Brad Stevens as their executive met the Golden State Warriors (53-29) coached by Steve Kerr with executive Bob Myers in the NBA championship series.
The Celtics got past the Brooklyn Nets 4-0, the Milwaukee Bucks 4-3 and the Miami Heat 4-3 to get to the finals. They were led by Jayson Tatum (26.9 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 4.4 apg), Jaylen Brown (23.6 ppg, 6.1rpg), Marcus Smart (12.1 ppg, 5.9 apg), Robert Williams (10.0 ppg, 9.6 rpg), Dennis Schroder (14.4 ppg, 4.2 apg), Al Horford (10.2 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and Derrick White (11.0 ppg).
Golden State defeated the Denver Nuggets 4-1, the Memphis Grizzlies 4-2 and the Dallas Mavericks 4-1 to get to the championship series. They were led by Stephen Curry (25.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 6.3 apg), Andrew Wiggins (17.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg), Jordan Poole (18.5 ppg, 4.0 apg), Klay Thompson (20.4 ppg) and Dremond Green (7.3 rpg, 7.0 apg).
Game one was in Chase Arena in San Francisco, California where after being behind after three quarters, the Celtics went on a 40 to 16 fourth quarter run led by 10 points from Jaylen Brown and 11 from Al Horford for a 120-108 win and 1-0 lead in the series.
Horford led Boston with 26 points while Jaylen Brown had 24 and Jayson Tatum had 13 assists. Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 34 points, Andrew Wiggins added 20 and Draymond Green had 11 rebounds.
In game two, it was Golden State that had the big third quarter as they outscored the Celtics 35-14 in that quarter behind 14 points from Steph Curry on their way to a 107-88 win to tie the series at 1-1.
Curry led Golden State with 29 points while Jayson Tatum had 28. Jordan Poole had 17 points off the bench for Golden State.
For game three, the venue changed to the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts and the Celtics responded to the home crowd for a 116-100 victory. They were led by 26 points from Jayson Tatum, 27 from Jaylen Brown and 24 from Marcus Smart. Steph Curry had 31 points for the Warriors and Klay Thompson added 25.
The Warriors behind a strong fourth quarter won game four 107-97 behind 43 points and 10 rebounds by Stephen Curry and 17 points and 16 rebounds by Andrew Wiggins.
Jayson Tatum had 23 points and 11 rebounds and Jaylen Brown had 21 points for Boston as the Warriors evened the series at two games each.
Back in San Francisco, the Warriors took a 3-2 lead in the series with a 104-94 victory despite an off night by Steph Curry. Klay Thompson scored 21 points and Andrew Wiggins had 26 points and 13 rebounds while in bench scoring Gary Payton II had 15 points and Jordan Poole had 14.
Jayson Tatum had 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics and Marcus Smart had 20 points.
Sensing another NBA title, the Warriors outscored the Celtics in three of the four quarters for a 103-90 win for the game and their fourth title in eight years. Steph Curry led with 34 points and Draymond Green contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds while Jaylen Brown had 34 points for Boston and Al Horford had 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Stephen Curry won his second finals MVP award and neither team was back in the finals in 2023.
Statistics for this article were from basketball-reference.com.
