Final: Warriors 103, Celtics 90 - Celtics falter in Game 6 as Warriors clinch title on TD-Garden court

The Celtics’ spirited pursuit of Banner 18 came to a crushing end on Thursday night. 

Once again, a fatal mix of turnovers, relinquished second-chance points, and fatigue sealed the Celtics’ fate in Game 6 of the NBA Finals — with the Warriors orchestrating a 31-point turn-around in the first half en route to an eventual championship-clinching 103-90 win on the parquet floor.

With the victory, Steph Curry and the Warriors secured their fourth NBA title in the last seven years, with Curry (34 points) all but locking up his first NBA Finals MVP after drilling six 3-pointers and posting 34 points on Thursday.

It looked as though Boston was poised to send this series back to the Bay Area based on the opening minutes of action — with crisp execution allowing Boston to build a 14-2 lead in short order.

But the Warriors absorbed that first punch and delivered a haymaker in response — orchestrating a 52-25 run (including a 21-0 stretch for the Dubs) to snatch the momentum away from the C’s and build a comfortable lead.

Boston made things interesting with some spirited pushes in the second half, but Golden State’s sustained surge in the first half was too much to overcome — while Curry, Jordan Poole (15 points) and Klay Thompson (12 points) and Andrew Wiggins (18 points) seemingly answering every shot with a basket of their own. 

Jaylen Brown finished with a team-high 34 points for the Celtics, who will now have a long summer to reflect on a memorable, unexpected championship push — one that, ultimately, feels like a missed opportunity against this veteran Warriors club. 

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NBA FINALS, GAME 6
Golden State Warriors vs. Boston Celtics
Warriors lead 3-2

TD Garden
9:00 PM - ABC 

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

Boston: Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Robert Williams

Golden State: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Otto Porter, Jr. 

OFFICIALS

#15 Zach Zarba

#16 David Guthrie

#10 Josh Goble

Replay Center: Josh Tiven

INJURIES

Celtics: 

Robert Williams – Available (left knee soreness)

Warriors:

Andre Iguodala – Available (right knee inflammation)

Otto Porter Jr. – Available (left foot soreness)

James Wiseman – OUT (right knee injury management)

ODDS

Boston is favored by -3.5

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. How they start: It’s a Finals elimination game, so obviously tensions will be high. Also, they seemed pretty loose in practice yesterday, and Ime Udoka talked about their “don’t give a s---” mentality. So let’s see how they start. Come out loose and free, and maybe they can build a big lead. Come out tight and nervous, and they’ll have to come back in a big way to make it a game. 

2. How they finish: Do they have the legs for a big closing kick? If this is a single-digit game in the fourth, which of these teams will be the one to run away with the final minutes? If the Celtics can show some life in the final minutes and close the game out, then that will lead to some optimism for a Game 7 win.

3. Ball movement: It gets no simpler than this. The Celtics defense has been good enough all series long. Now the offense needs to catch up. Will these guys give up the isolation, find teammates, drive-and-kick, go on multiple attacks, and run a smart, cohesive offense? If they can, they will win. 

A LITTLE MORE

I was joined by Abby Chin to discuss what we saw in practice on Wednesday, the team’s state of mind, and a lot more (including pulling back the curtain a little bit on covering the Finals)

GAME THREAD

Stick around for more comments below as the game goes on. Feel free to add your two cents in the comments.