3:16 AM ET
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Kendra AndrewsESPN
BOSTON – Stephen Curry is not the one who shows tons of excitement throughout a game. But in the Golden State Warriors ’107-97 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, Curry carried his heart up his sleeve all night.
At the end of the first quarter, after knocking down three consecutive triples, Curry ran to the opposite end of the court and started yelling at Boston fans, which he does maybe once or twice along the stretch after a great shot, but rarely from the first moments.
“I felt like we just had to let everyone know we were here tonight,” Curry said. “Whether it’s your audience, your team, our team, who wants to see this energy and this fire, we feed on it.
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Curry finished with 43 points on 14 of 26 shots, including seven triples, and added 10 rebounds and four assists. He became only the fifth baseman in NBA history to have at least 40 points and 10 rebounds in a playoff game.
“Amazing,” Draymond Green said. “He turned his back on us. He wanted to win us. A much-needed victory. A game we had to have. He came out and showed why he’s one of the best players this game has ever played, you know, and for “You know, this organization has been able to make it so successful. It’s absolutely amazing.”
Green said he knew Curry would not miss the Warriors. Kerr called his game “awesome.” Klay Thompson ranked her as Curry’s No. 1 performance in the finals.
Curry did not classify his performances, but said he understood the importance of what he did on Friday night, especially considering what was at stake. The result of Friday’s game would have put the Warriors 3-1 up or tied the series in two games each.
Curry said it was the latter.
“It means that knowing the sense of urgency we had to have tonight to win on the road and keep some life in the series, regain the lead on the local track and try to create some momentum,” said Curry.
Curry scored 33 points in the first three quarters, a trend that had been constant during the first three games of the series. But his problem area had been the fourth quarter, where he only averaged three points on 30% field goals. He had only scored six points in the combined Games 1, 2 and 3.
On Friday, he scored 10 in the final frame. He had 24 points in the second half of the overall, which tied the most in his career in the second half of a finals game.
The fourth quarter is when the Warriors, as a team, put the tongs on the Celtics. Golden State beat Boston 15-0 at the time of the crisis and became the first team in the last 50 seasons to win a Final game by at least 10 points in regulation after being ahead at some point of the last five minutes of the match.
“We helped each other, playing together, playing aggressively on the defensive side, and most importantly, just shutting down,” Wiggins said. “You know, not catching rebounds. No offensive rebounds. I didn’t get second chance points. So it was great.”
With just over a minute to go and the Warriors coming up with three, Green caught the offensive rebound from a Thompson triple. He passed it back to Curry, but quickly got the ball back after the Celtics threw a double to Curry. Green then handed the ball to Looney, who ended up with a shot on Al Horford.
Kerr called it the biggest bucket of the night. But it was Curry who took them to the point where that shot could become the dagger.
“The things he does we take for granted from time to time,” Thompson said. “But to get out there and get on our backs, I mean, we have to help him on Monday.”
Curry received help on Friday from Thompson, who scored 18 points and knocked down four triples; Andrew Wiggins, who scored 17 points and 16 rebounds; and Jordan Poole, who scored 14 points. Kevon Looney, who came off the bench for the first time in this series, had 11 rebounds and finished with a net rating of over-21.
But Curry outscored the rest of the Warriors by 43-39. At 34, he is the oldest player to play in a finals game since Michael Jordan, 35, in Game 6 of the Jazz in 1998.
Green fought back, putting no substantial fingerprints on the game until his rebound at the end of the quarter. Kerr even opted to take Green out of the game with offensive possessions for the final five minutes of the game.
As Thompson said, the Warriors know they have to help Curry. But they don’t say they have to do it by sharing the weight of scoring responsibilities.
“When a guy is at a pace like that, you just get out of his way,” Thompson said.
Green added: “You just have to be more discriminating with the help you render toward other people. You have a shot, take it … I think if everyone is blunt on the offensive end, and that means cuts, that means sharp with your passes, then you allow him to be in the position to do what does”.
Green said he knew Curry would play with an additional level of fire in Game 4, saying he could only find out by watching Curry’s behavior in the days following his faint loss two days earlier.
Curry said he got into Game 4 knowing he wanted to take over. He knew how quickly he could change the momentum in the Finals and, if he could, his team would get a win in Boston, everything would be on his side.
“I was going to come out with that kind of fire,” Green said. “And he did, and we could all follow him.”