Warriors take a 3-2 Lead After a Back and Fourth Game Five

Welcome, once again, to another edition of NBA Finals For Three! These finals have been amazing. As a neutral fan, they've given me everything I could ask for in a finals with close games and ballistic performances from star players. There's been a lot of great basketball, and I'm excited to talk about it.

Game three was a convincing game for the Boston Celtics. Even with a not very efficient game from Jayson Tatum, him, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart all put up over 20 points. Along with their scoring, they all put up at least five boards and five assists, along with great defense on the other end. The Celtics played what seemed to be a perfect game, with their stars and their role players playing their roles to a tea. This culminated in a 16 point win that never felt like it was close. The warriors had a typical outing in this finals where Steph gave his all and Wiggins played well, but it just wasn't enough.

Game four was a different story for Steph Curry and the Warriors. Steph put up an absurd 43-10-4 game on 14/26 shooting in a game where he willed the Warriors to a win. In this game, Klay was closer to his old self than he has been for most of this series, and Wiggins continued to be the anchor for this Golden State team who desperately needed one. Nemanja Bjelica also came out of nowhere, playing a huge part in the success of the Warriors. The C's lost because of the same things that have been happening the whole series, poor efficiency from Tatum and lackluster second halves from Jaylen Brown. This combined with bad shooting from the others results in a sad fourth quarter collapse that Celtics fans are trying to forget as quickly as possible.

Surprisingly, the Warriors were not carried by Steph in the fifth game of this series. Instead, their most reliable player in this playoffs stepped up, Andrew Wiggins. He's been a great second option for Steph while clamping up Tatum on the other end, but this game he elevated his offense as well. The first can be summed up with the three point percentages for both teams, Warriors at 3/17 with the Celtics at 3/15. This first half, while close, was not the pretty basketball that occurs when these two teams have it going. Instead, it was an ugly half with 12 turnovers and a lot of sloppy plays For the Celtics, Tatum made up for a slow start by finishing the first half with 13 points on 67 percent shooting.

The third quarter was different for the Celtics. They were on the other end of the typical third quarter Warriors beat downs as they finished the quarter 34-25, with the Warriors adding three points from Jordan Poole on yet another half court heave. But the Warriors remained unphased. Instead, they went on their own huge run to cap off the game. Even with an off night from Steph, they were able to pull through and win the game.

The rest of the finals are going to be interesting. I think that there is still a world where the Celtics can win, but the Warriors have a huge advantage winning the uber important game five. My hot take is that if this series is to go to seven, the Celtics will take it home, but anything can happen. As the season winds to an end, I would recommend to do all you can to watch these last games of such an amazing series. Have a great night!