Warriors 23-18 Celtics, 2:01, first period: Remember when the Warriors hadn’t hit any 3s? They’re not missing any more. Curry hits two of them in less than a minute, and a suddenly reeling Boston team calls timeout.
Warriors 15-16 Celtics, 3:25, first period: Boston has dominated and only leads by one. Very strange. Wiggins does the damage here with another patient 3-pointer.
And what a shock. ABC/ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy is complaining about the refs. I’d love to see him come to the soccer games I’m reffing tomorrow — I haven’t used my cards in a while.
Warriors 12-16 Celtics, 4:18, first period: It’s a little sloppy now. Curry bangs the ball off Horford’s leg to keep possession. Then Draymond Green picks up his second foul, much to the crowd’s delight.
Warriors 12-14 Celtics, 4:53, first period: Gotta love the momentum swings in basketball. A scramble leaves Wiggins wide open for a 3-pointer, and we’re tied. Tatum responds with a jumper. He already has nine points.
Warriors 9-12 Celtics, 5:46, first period: Klay Thompson breaks the Warriors’ 3-point drought with a quick release off a good screen, and the lead is cut in half.
Looney must have been motivated by the benching, because he is cleaning the glass at both ends.
Shooting percentages: Boston 50.0%, Golden State 22.2%. Oops.
Warriors 6-12 Celtics, 6:41, first period: Well, that didn’t last long. Porter out, Looney in. Looney immediately collects an offensive rebound. And an offensive foul.
Tatum is called for an offensive foul at the other end, knocking into Wiggins after losing control at the top of the lane. Timeout.
Warriors 4-11 Celtics, 9:15, first period: Curry responds with two free throws after a foul by Marcus Smart, who follows up with an ill-advised pass to Al Horford on the baseline.
Then Smart wakes up with two quick assists to Tatum, who drains two 3-pointers sandwiching a block by Robert Williams III on Curry.
Warriors 2-3 Celtics, 10:56, first period: Uh oh. Stephen Curry has already picked up his first foul, a clear reach-in on Jayson Tatum.
And we’re off …
And so is my TV. Minor hiccup. Watching on the laptop to start, though.
Should we just accept at this point that people are going to sing “per-o-lous” in the national anthem?
Good rendition, though.
Tipoff is imminent.
And … the “Warriors come out to play” line was just cited in the ESPN pregame. Now I feel so derivative.
Lineup change for the Warriors tonight, with Otto Porter Jr. replacing Kevon Looney.
The move has brought about some skepticism:
Otto Porter Jr’s last start?
The Warriors 22-point loss to the Celtics in mid-March.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 11, 2022 As we approach 20 minutes until the time at which the pregame will end and the second pregame will begin (why can’t US sports events just start on the hour?), here’s a reminder that you can email me with your thoughts on the action. I might even check to see what’s been tweeted my way: @duresport.
Boston’s Grant Williams laughs with Golden State’s Andre Iguodala during pregame warmups. Photograph: Steven Senne/APSpeaking of polarizing people, Stephen A. Smith is not on the ESPN pregame show because he’s attending his daughter’s graduation. They’re managing to carry on and shout without him. (In their defense, the Garden is already quite noisy.)
Draymond Green is disliked:
He also had an abysmal Game 3.
Warrrriors … come out to plaaaay …
(OK, I’m probably the 5,000th person to make that reference, but it’s still a good one.)
Game 4. Winner has the edge in the series. Either the Celtics go up 3-1 or the Warriors level the series with two games remaining at home (Games 5 and 7).
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Tom Kludt’s lookback at Game 3.