Starfinancer

On the night in which Stephen Curry does not even make a three-pointer after 133 consecutive playoff games, the longest streak in NBA history, Andrew Wiggins thinks to break the game with Boston (104-94) and bring the Golden State Warriors to the 3-2 and a title match.

The son of the silver medal champion at the Los Angeles Olympics, the sixth youngest player to pass six thousand points, the boy from Ontario nicknamed Maple Jordan, Junior Jordan, The Prospect, Mr. Fantastic and Wiggs, scores 26 points and 13 rebounds, not only the algebraic sum of a match that the Warriors had set up on him for the first time, thanks to an always valid parish formula: aggressive defense and counter-attack, looking for Wiggins’ penetrations.

Andrew, 27, has struck from all sides: under the basket, dunking, flying like Antetokounmpo, with the hook from mid-area and from distance. The Canadian’s solidity came in the evening when Golden State was not Golden State, that is the usual Barnum circus of conclusions from the backyard, but he shot all that was possible in the three-point shot, (9 out of 40 attempts made) , with Curry making an unusual 0-9 from the arc.

Wiggins was the sure offensive terminal of the first two quarters, closed with the Warriors ahead 51-39, then the crutch on which his teammates clung when, in the third quarter, the Celtics had overturned the result with a run of 19-4 (55-52 in the middle of the fraction) then reduced to 35-24. And always Wiggins became the driving force in the last quarter, when the Warriors placed the partial that launched the hosts.

Among the key moments, Jordan Poole’s yet another crazy three-way conclusion, this time on the siren of the third quarter, which brought the Warriors forward again (75-74), giving a new shock to the race. Someone is probably starting to think that Poole deserves an Emmy for the show or an Oscar for special effects. His conclusion, as fatal as that of Game 2, came after the unabashed Celtics had recovered the gap in the third quarter, suggesting a re-edition of Race 1 won by Boston.

But Golden State, when it’s in the evening, is great at leaving opponents with a sense of frustration. If this time things went differently from Race 1 it was thanks to Wiggins, who – in the moment of real crisis for the Californians – showed everyone, including his teammates, how important it was to try trivially the conclusion from two points, shooting from three meters or, almost subversively in San Francisco, even from under the basket.

Sure points instead of circus numbers often help build wins. If the Celtics had managed not to get overwhelmed at the beginning (under 11 at the end of the first quarter, 27-16) it was precisely because they never seek the three-way conclusion at all costs, maybe they prepare it, they pretend to trigger it. one penetration for two safe points. But this time they found on their way someone who would also be fine with Boston, one who didn’t want to be a tightrope walker, but a real player. Against the overwhelming physical power and talent of the Canadian, Derrick White, Al Horford and Grant Williams rebounded. Now the match-ball is from Golden State, the first team in this final series to win two consecutive games. Boston has only one chance on Thursday: to win. The Celtics will be different from Monday night. But the same goes for Curry too.