The bad night became even worse for Golden State when Curry fell to the ground in a fight for a loose ball with Boston’s Al Horford, who rolled on Curry’s foot four minutes from the end of the game.
Despite the pain on the ground, the Warriors spell continued to play before leaving the field two minutes later.
“We need him if we want to win this thing,” said Klay Thompson, a colleague of Carey’s, Splash Brother. “I know Steve will do everything in his power to play. I really hope he is ok because he is our identity, and without him it will be very difficult.”
Curry proved to be the only player in the Warriors capable of challenging the Celtics’ tough defense that showed his superiority of late, as Golden State netted 11 points in the fourth quarter.
He was Wednesday’s top scorer with 31 points and Golden State will be desperate to recover in time for Game 4.
“Obviously I’m in some pain but I’ll be fine,” Curry told reporters after the match. “See how I feel tomorrow and get ready for Friday.
“I don’t feel like I’m going to miss a match. I’m going to use the next 48 hours to prepare.”
Boston raced for an early lead with the help of two three-pointers from Jaylene Brown—who led the Celtics with 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists—in the first quarter. Boston’s advantage expanded to 15 points, and the Celtics led 33-22 in the second quarter.
The Warriors shot 8 of 23 at the start while their flailing defense conceded multiple fouls including three called up Curry in the first half.
But, as has so often been the case this season, Golden State regrouped in the third quarter and proceeded to 14-3, enough to erase the Celtics’ lead.
In Game 2, a spell of scoring in the third quarter was enough to secure the Dubs’ win, but this time the Celtics found a way to fight back.
“I felt like our team was well-prepared in those moments,” Horford told reporters after the match. “You know, earlier in the year, that could have gone south quickly.
“But we stayed right with it and locked it up and didn’t panic and just kept playing.”
Boston slipped by 11-6, reclaimed the lead heading into fourth and never lags behind again.
Jason Tatum, Marcus Smart, and Brown all contributed more than 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists and became the first trio of his teammates to accomplish this in an NBA Finals game since the trio of Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Cooper in 1984 – series The Celtics accidentally ended up winning seven games.
Will these NBA Finals be an echo of the 1984 results? Game 4, scheduled for Friday, will provide answers.
