Now THAT was the result I was after! One thing I do absolutely love about the NBA Finals is the rollercoaster of emotions you can go through. The elation when your team wins, the bitterness and disgust when your team loses, and then the opportunity for those feelings to go back and forth whilst you ride the series out to find an overall winner.
The Golden State Warriors took game 4 with the help of an outstanding performance by Steph Curry. I was watching the game really not knowing which way it would go, convinced that the Warriors would fall short at the end of the night. I think I have been poisoned by Skip Bayliss with his harsh critique of Steph in fourth quarters, as I was starting to see it myself. Steph would deliver outstanding performances throughout the first few quarters of games, but then when it comes to the fourth quarter, his 3’s don’t fall, he takes less shots and unless the supporting cast make their shots, they don’t win. Thankfully, this latest game saw a better performance for Steph in the fourth quarter.
Steph finished the game with 43 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists, off 14 from 26 from the field, and 7 of 14 from 3. It wasn’t just the way the stats finished, watching the game you could see the impact he had on it, whether it was keeping the Warriors in it with desperation plays, or whether it was putting a stop to the building Boston momentum. He really is the epitome of a player that makes others better. Klay finished with 18, Wiggins finished with 17 and Poole finished with 14. No other player finished with double figures, so you could really say the Warriors should not have won that game.
In terms of predictions, the Warriors took Game 2 as I predicted, but I really didn’t like the way they looked in Game 3, so I was relieved when they managed to take back home court advantage in Game 4. The strength of that crowd is immense, and I do predict the Warriors will win Game 5 tonight, but then lose Game 6. I would love to be able to watch Game 6 knowing the Warriors are still in the driving seat.
One thing is for sure, both Klay and Wiggins need to have big contributions in the 20’s, and Draymond needs to start performing like the player he used to be. If they do, they’ll take this game.
Let’s go Dub nation!