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The Golden State Warriors are one win away from hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the fourth time in eight seasons. Down 2-1 to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, the Warriors have responded with the type of precise, unrelenting aplomb that's led to two straight victories and makes them favorites to win yet another title as this shifts back to Boston.
Just because Golden State looks more comfortable than ever against the Celtics after a pivotal Game 5 win, though, certainly doesn't guarantee a celebration will be in order on Thursday night.
The Celtics, after all, have already staved off elimination on three separate occasions during the playoffs. They first beat Milwaukee Bucks in a do-or-die Game 6 on the road, then blew the doors off Giannis Antetokounmpo and the defending champs one game later at TD Garden. Boston had complete control of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals until the Miami Heat's last-gasp run, too, ultimately hanging on after Jimmy Butler's go-ahead triple in the final seconds came up just short.
The Celtics are comfortable with their backs against the wall, basically, and will have a raucous home crowd behind them with a championship on the line. Good thing Golden State is up for the challenge.
“The fact that we have an opportunity to win one more game and accomplish the task, it's exciting. We know it's not gonna be easy,” Steph Curry said. “We know that that building is a different environment. We had a great win in Game 4, had some solid moments in Game 3 but couldn't get it done. So we understand what we need to do. It's just about going out and executing, bottling up your emotions knowing how hard a close-out game is.”
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Curry was relatively quiet on Monday following his epic explosion in Game 4, failing to hit at least one three-pointer for the first time in a whopping 233 games. But just like they overcame the individual struggles of Klay Thompson and Draymond Green at different points in the Finals, the Warriors received enough offensive contributions elsewhere and played stout, disruptive enough defense to compensate for their superstar's rare off shooting night.
Needless to say, don't count on another wholly uncharacteristic performance from Curry in Game 6. If his jumper stays wayward, Boston gets hot or something else goes wrong, though, Golden State can take solace from knowing it doesn't have to be perfect to take home the title.
“That's all you want is an opportunity to play hopefully the best game of the year,” Curry said. “It doesn't have to be perfect, but play the best game of the year in terms of our intensity, focus, execution, and know what one more win means. You can talk about it, you can embrace it, embrace the challenge. A lot of guys in our locker room have been here before. But we just gotta go do it.”
Game 6 tips off on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. (PST). Buckle up.
