The Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics once again spent the first half of Game 2 trading blows, with the Warriors clawing their way in front by two at the half — much in the way Boston did in Game 1.
As has been the case all postseason in home games, the Warriors came out of the locker room at halftime locked in, taking advantage of continued sloppy play by Boston, forcing turnovers, and finally started to get the three-ball working from their entire roster. As is usually the case, Stephen Curry led the way, as he poured in 14 in the third quarter, catching fire from three as he started to find some breathing room on the perimeter in the pick-and-roll.
Stephen Curry has his dancing shoes on 💦
He's up to 20 points on ABC pic.twitter.com/j77hnInhUp
— NBA (@NBA) June 6, 2022
Steph Curry from D33P 💦
The @warriors are in the midst of a 11-0 run on ABC pic.twitter.com/2qT7pttNwv
— NBA (@NBA) June 6, 2022
He wasn’t alone, as Klay Thompson and Otto Porter Jr. also got in on the act, but most importantly for the Warriors was Jordan Poole finally finding his stride late in the quarter. After hitting a three that broke him free of a 1-for-5 start to the game, Poole once again found the bottom of the net just before the halftime buzzer on a preposterously deep shot that you really only ever see from No. 30 on the Warriors.
Jordan Poole beats the Q3 buzzer!
The @warriors end Q3 on a 19-2 run 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jsPrjwODaK
— NBA (@NBA) June 6, 2022
That capped off a 19-2 run that pushed Golden State’s lead to 23 at the end of three quarters, but even bigger than that is it might be the sequence that gets Poole settled into this series after spending the first six quarters of the Finals looking absolutely lost. Poole is the type of player that can get hot and stay hot, and if that’s the case, the Warriors become significantly more dangerous in the halfcourt when he’s engaged and capable of creating for himself to take some pressure off of Curry.