A6 BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2022
SPORTS
NBA FINALS GAME 2
Warriors rout Celtics, even series
NBA Finals move to
Boston for Game 3
Wednesday
BY TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
SAN FRANCISCO — Just
like in Game 1, the Golden
State Warriors took command
with a big third quarter.
Unlike Game 1, they finished
the job.
The NBA Finals are now
tied, after the Warriors turned
a close game into a rout with a
third-quarter masterpiece. Ste-
phen Curry scored 29 points,
Jordan Poole connected from
just inside of midcourt to cap
the pivotal period and the War-
riors beat the Boston Celtics
107-88 on Sunday night, June 5,
in Game 2.
“I thought everybody was
more engaged,” Warriors coach
Steve Kerr said after his team
improved to 5-0 after a loss in
these playoffs. “It’s pretty ob-
vious. Just our level of force
and physicality was ramped up
quite a bit, and it had to be.”
Poole finished with 17 points
for the Warriors, who outscored
Boston 35-14 in the third quar-
ter to turn a two-point halftime
lead into a 23-point edge. And
when the Warriors then scored
the first six points of the fourth,
the Celtics waved the surrender
flag and emptied their bench.
“We said we needed to play
with desperation,” Curry said.
“That’s what we did.”
Golden State also got 12
from Kevon Looney on 6-for-6
shooting, and 11 apiece from
Andrew Wiggins and Klay
Thompson.
Jayson Tatum scored 21 of
his 28 points in the first half
for Boston. Jaylen Brown
added 17 for the Celtics, but
fought through a 5-for-17
shooting night, and Derrick
White scored 12.
Just like in Game 1, a huge
run decided everything. The
Celtics went on a 48-18 run
in the second half to decide
the opener. The Warriors
didn’t wait that long in Game
2, going on a 43-14 burst
from late in the first half until
early in the fourth quarter to
turn a tie game into an abso-
lute runaway.
Game 3 is Wednesday, June
8 in Boston.
Curry had 14 of his points
in the third, making three of
his five 3-pointers in the quar-
ter. Boston was 4 for 15 in the
quarter, got outscored 21-6 on
3s and let the Warriors turn
five turnovers into 11 points.
“Steph was breathtaking in
that quarter,” Kerr said.
The Celtics turned a
15-point third-quarter deficit
into a 15-point fourth-quarter
lead in Game 1, but that wasn’t
happening again Sunday. Bos-
ton coach Ime Udoka even
picked up a technical in an
effort to show his displeasure
with things, including whistles
or lack thereof, to no avail.
All is not lost for Boston.
The Celtics need to only win
their remaining home games
to become champions, though
that won’t be easy against a
Warriors team that has won
at least one road game in an
NBA-record 26 consecutive
playoff series.
“It is what it is,” said the Celt-
ics’ Al Horford, who had 26
points in Game 1 and was held
to two points Sunday. “On to
Game 3.”
Tip-ins
Celtics: The Celtics fell to 8-3
Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group-TNS on the road in these playoffs.
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) scores a 3-point basket
They remain tied for the sec-
ond-most road wins in a single
against the Boston Celtics in the third quarter of Game 2 of the NBA
postseason; the record is nine,
Finals at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, June 5,
set by Houston in 1995. ... Rob-
2022.
ert Williams III, who has dealt
“I just let them know how
lose. Boston entered the night with knee issues throughout
I felt throughout the game
4-0 in the Warriors’ 3-year-old the playoffs, took a tough fall in
in a demonstrative way, on
home, the only team to have
the third quarter after getting
purpose, to get a technical,”
won its first four games in
crashed into by Marcus Smart.
Udoka said.
the arena.
He was subbed out 21 seconds
Poole provided the exclama-
But giving up 33 points off
later and didn’t return. ... Tatum
tion point as the third quarter 19 turnovers meant that streak and Brown had 40 of Boston’s
closed, taking a pass in the fi- had no chance of continuing.
first 54 points.
nal seconds, dribbling over the
“We have to take better care
Warriors: Draymond Green’s
midcourt stripe, creating a bit of the ball,” Tatum said.
impact on Game 2: nine points,
of space and letting fly.
The Celtics were bidding to seven assists, five rebounds, a
Swish.
join only two other teams —
technical foul and a whole ton
Curry greeted him with a
the 1993 Chicago Bulls and
of physicality. “No impact,”
smile and a hug, the fans at
1995 Houston Rockets — on
Horford said. ... Andre Iguodala
Chase Center leaped to their
the list of clubs that swept two (right knee inflammation) was
feet — if they weren’t there al- road games to open the fi-
out for Game 2, after logging
ready — and the outcome was nals. Those Bulls and Rockets 12 minutes in Game 1. But the
pretty much decided.
went on to win the champion- knee swelled up Saturday and
And for the first time, the
ship, and 31 of the previous 36 he sat for the 13th time in the
crowd in the Warriors’ new
teams to open with 2-0 leads
Warriors’ last 14 games. ... Gary
building finally saw the Celtics ended up celebrating a title.
Payton II played for the first
time since fracturing his elbow
in the Memphis series.
Big quarters
The Warriors’ 35-14 advan-
tage in the third quarter was the
91st different quarter in these
playoffs where one team had a
double-digit margin over the
other. That’s the most in a sin-
gle playoff year ever, topping
the 90 such quarters in the 2017
playoffs.
Statement game
Players and coaches from
both teams wore orange
T-shirts before the game bear-
ing the words “End Gun Vio-
lence” on the front, a topic that
Kerr — whose father was killed
in an act of gun violence 38
years ago — has spoken out on
often. “It comes down to con-
vincing politicians that things
like background checks are
really crucial, and things that
don’t impact people’s Second
Amendment rights,” Kerr said.
Spectacular anniversary
Sunday marked the 31st an-
niversary of the first NBA Fi-
nals game win for Michael Jor-
dan, when he and the Chicago
Bulls rolled past the Los Ange-
les Lakers in Game 2 in 1991.
Jordan made 13 consecutive
shots in that game, the last of
those the iconic change-hands-
in-mid-air layup in the fourth
quarter. “A spectacular move by
Michael Jordan,” was NBC an-
nouncer Marv Albert’s call.
Nadal wins 14th French Open
ful-of-minutes final at Court
Philippe Chatrier explained
PARIS — Rafael Nadal’s
Nadal’s mindset: “Roland Gar-
painful left foot was numbed
ros is Roland Garros.”
by multiple injections to two
And so even if Nadal, a
nerves throughout the French French Open champion for the
Open, the only way he has
14th time now at age 36, is in
found to deal with a chronic
obvious ways different from
condition he acknowledges
Nadal, a French Open cham-
puts his tennis future in doubt. pion for the first time all the
At any other tournament, Na- way back in 2005 at age 19, that
dal said, he would not have per- desire to give his all, no matter
sisted through what he called
what, to “find solutions” — one
such “extreme conditions.”
of his oft-used phrases — re-
Ah, but five simple words ut- mains the same.
tered after he strung together
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images-TNS the last 11 games of a 6-3,
Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates with the trophy after winning against 6-3, 6-0 victory over an over-
whelmed Casper Ruud in Sun-
Casper Ruud of Norway during the Men’s Singles Final match on Day
15 of The 2022 French Open at Roland Garros on June 5, 2022, in Paris. day’s intriguing-for-a-hand-
BY HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Tennis Writer
He is the oldest champion
in the history of a tournament
that began in 1925, and his
hair is thinning on top. The
chartreuse T-shirt he wore
Sunday had sleeves, unlike his
biceps-baring look of nearly
two decades ago. The white
capri pants that ran below his
knees back in the day were
long since traded in for more
standard shorts; Sunday’s
were turquoise.
Here’s what hasn’t changed
along the way to his 22 Grand
Slam titles in all, another re-
cord, in addition to his be-
tween-point mannerisms
and meticulous attention
paid to the must-be-just-so
placement of water bottles
and towels: That lefty upper-
cut of a topspin-slathered,
high-bouncing forehand still
finds the mark much more
frequently than it misses,
confounding foes. That abil-
ity to read serves and re-
turn them with a purpose
still stings.
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