NBA Finals recap: Steph Curry gets emotional after fourth title; Steve Kerr joins elite player-coach company

The Golden State Warriors spent two years in the NBA wilderness. Now they are back in a familiar spot: on top of the NBA.

The Warriors beat the Boston Celtics, 103-90, Thursday night to clinch their fourth title in eight years behind Stephen Curry’s 34 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds.

The Warriors finished with the league’s worst record in 2019-20 and then failed to make the playoffs last season. That stopped a string of five consecutive Finals appearances.

The Warriors joined the 1985 Los Angeles Lakers as the only visiting team to celebrate winning an NBA on the Celtics’ home court.

The Warriors accomplished that by going on a 21-0 first-quarter run, the longest such run in the Finals since 1972. They had a 22-point lead at one point in the second half. The Celtics eventually trimmed the deficit to 86-78. But they were never able to seriously threaten the Warriors.

Steve Kerr joins elite company as player, coach

Steve Kerr won his fourth title as a head coach when the Warriors clinched the title in Game 6 Thursday in Boston. He also won five titles as a player with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs.

Phil Jackson won 11 titles as a coach (Bulls, New York Knicks) and two as a player. K.C. Jones won eight titles as a player and two as a head coach (all with the Celtics). But Kerr, a second-round pick who started only 30 games in his 15-year NBA career, is the first in the league’s history to win at least three titles as a player and coach.

Steph Curry collapsed on the court in tears; wins Finals MVP

Steph Curry collapsed on the court in tears with 3.3 seconds left in the game while the Warriors were up by 13 as the realization that he won his fourth NBA title started to sink.

"I’m so proud of our group. I thank God every day that I get to play this game at the highest level," Curry told Lisa Salters afterwards. "This is what is all about, playing for a championship and what we’ve been through these last three years. Beginning of the season, nobody thought we would be here expect everybody on this court. It’s amazing. Very surreal."

Curry shared an emotional embrace with Steve Kerr after the final buzzer: “We did it coach. We did it."

Steph Curry, who demoralized Boston with his shooting in the series, crushed the Celtics with one 3-pointer after another. He had 34 points on 12-for-21 shooting, including 6-for-11 on 3s. It was Curry’s fifth 30-point game of the Finals, earning his first Finals MVP.

Missing out in 2015 when Andre Iguodala won in a controversial ballot and in 2017 and 2018 when Kevin Durant won the award, Curry won the 2022 Finals MVP hands down.

There was no doubt this time. Curry, 34, was the unanimous selection from the Finals MVP voters. And this was not a pity vote or Finals MVP lifetime achievement award. He earned it in this series.

Adam Silver misses Game 6 in COVID protocols; won’t present trophy

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has missed his second consecutive NBA Finals game on Thursday after entering the league’s health and safety protocols earlier this week.

As commissioner, Silver has handed out the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy the past eight seasons, but NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum will take over in Silver’s absence if the Warriors maintain their lead.

Silver has been the NBA’s commissioner since February 2014. This is the ninth championship series the league has held during his tenure, including the 2020 season pandemic bubble season.

Celtics cut Warriors lead to 10

The Warriors kept their foot on the gas to start the third quarter and extended their lead to as many as 22. But the Celtics climbed back into the game and cut the Warriors lead to 76-66 with a 16-4 run to close the third.

Al Horford scored 12 of his 16 points in the third quarter. Jaylen Brown scored 10 of his 24 points, while Jayson Tatum was held scoreless in the third quarter.

Four of the Warriors five starters are in double figures. Steph Curry has 21 points and Klay Thompson has 12.

Odell Beckham Jr. sends love to Klay Thompson after back-to-back injuries

Klay Thompson is one victory away from winning his fourth NBA title after tearing his ACL in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals and his Achilles Tendon in 2020. Los Angeles Rams receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is familiar with Thompson’s journey: He tore his ACL in 2020 and again in the 2022 Super Bowl.

“For someone whose been thru what I’ve been thru, U can’t help but truly want @KlayThompson  to win this n get another ring and MVP,” Beckham tweeted. “Thank u for inspiring frfr! Every minute of pain and suffering was all for this. U motivated me, just wanted to say I appreciate u 11”

Warriors up 15 at halftime

Golden State headed to the locker room with a 15-point lead over Boston, 54-39, following a rollercoaster ride of a first half that saw the Warriors trail by 12 and lead by as many as 21.

The Splash Brothers, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, led the Warriors with 12 points each. Golden State is shooting 42.9% (12-for-49) and 43.5% from 3-point range (10-for-23). Jordan Poole has 11 of the Warriors' 15 bench points.

On the other hand, the Celtics only have two bench points from Derrick White. The Celtics have 12 turnovers, compared to the Warriors’ eight, and Boston is getting outrebounded 26-17.

Jaylen Brown has 14 points, while Jayson Tatum has 11 points. The Celtics are shooting 40.5% (15-for-37) from the field and 21.4% (3-for-14) from 3.

Jayson Tatum, Marcus in foul trouble

Jayson Tatum picked up his third foul with 4:22 left in the second quarter after hooking Andrew Wiggins’ arm while driving to the basket. Ime Udoka instantly pulled Tatum out of the game as the Warriors lead ballooned to 14. The Warriors extended their lead to 18 (51-33) before Tatum checked back into the game with 2:39 to go.

Tatum is not the only Celtic in foul trouble. Marcus Smart also has three fouls. Kevon Looney has three fouls and Klay Thompson has two.

Warriors go on 21-0 run, longest in the NBA Finals in 50 years

A stretch of undisciplined fouls and turnovers sent the Warriors on a torrid run late in the first quarter and into the second.

The Warriors scored 10 points in the first 1:47 of the second quarter, cementing a dominant 21-0 run for Golden State.

After starting the game just 4-for-12 shooting, the Warriors made nine of their next 13 shots to force Celtics head coach Ime Udoka into burning a pair of timeouts early into the second quarter.

Boston answered back by going on their own 7-0 run to cut the Warriors lead to eight, 37-29.

— Richard Morin

Celtics punch first; Warriors punch back harder to end first quarter

The Celtics came out with a sense of urgency. They jumped to 14-2 lead, but Golden State withstood Boston’s early punch and went on a 11-point run to close the first quarter. The Warriors lead 27-22.

Steph Curry was held scoreless until 4:30 left in the quarter, but he hit his first 3-poof the game following a Game 5 slump. Curry has 5 points, in addition to Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, who knocked down his first three of the entire NBA Finals. (He was 0-for-12 beyond the arch until that shot).

Jayson Tatum has made a habit of starting slow this series, but that wasn’t the case in Game 6. He and Brown lead the Celtics with 7 points each, but the Celtics offense stalled yet again toward to end the quarter.

Both teams are struggling with turnovers and foul trouble early. The Celtics have scored 7 points off 4 Warriors turnovers, while the Warriors have converted 4 Celtics turnovers into 2 points. Thompson and Marcus Smart both have 2 fouls.

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown cooking early for the Celtics

The Boston Celtics came out on a mission. They started the game on a 12-2 run, thanks to a better start from stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, who share eight of those points.

Brown knocked down a 3 to put the Celtics 9-2. The next possession, Tatum followed suit and knocked down his first shot beyond the arc to extend the Celtics’ lead to 12-2. Warriors coach Steve Kerr called a timeout soon after. Boston is shooting 66.7% (4-for-6) from the field and is 2-for-2 from 3-point range.

The Celtics have converted two Warriors turnovers into five points.

Should Finals MVP be changed to 'Most Outstanding Player'?

If the Golden State Warriors win Game 6 or Game 7 — maybe even if they lose, too — Steph Curry is practically a lock to be named the Most Valuable Player of the NBA Finals.

This will happen mostly because he deserves it, despite playing a poor game by his standards in Game 5. It will also be a make-good gesture for Curry, who probably should have won Finals MVP in 2015 instead of Andre Igoudala, who got the award after scoring 25 points in the close-out game and getting a lot of credit for his defense on LeBron James. Reasonable minds can disagree on this stuff.

But one thing that would help lend some historical clarity and consistency to the voting process would be getting rid of the most *valuable* player nomenclature and changing it to most *outstanding* player in the series.

The value of a single player in a basketball game, or in any team sport, is often hard to gauge and highly debatable. Identifying the best player in a series is much easier — and more appropriate.

The word “valuable” is an incentive for voters to overthink it. For instance, it’s quite obvious that Curry has been the best player in the series. It’s not particularly close, and that would be true whether the Warriors were winning or losing. But it’s also fair to say that the Warriors would be in position to close this out if not for Andrew Wiggins, who has played an immense role on both sides of the floor and picked up the slack offensively with 26 points in Game 5 when Curry went 0-for-9 from the 3-point line.

In other words, the Warriors won the most pivotal game of the series thus far because Wiggins was the most important player. Based on the criteria of the word valuable, it would not be outlandish to give Wiggins a vote at this point.

— Dan Wolken

Should Steph Curry win Finals MVP no matter which team wins?

If the Warriors were down 3-2 and Boston had the chance to close things out tonight, we’d be potentially debating whether Steph Curry could win MVP if his team didn’t win. It’s not hard to find examples where the most valuable player of a series could be on the losing team, but it would be highly controversial to give that person the MVP award because the mere existence of that award suggests it should go to someone on the winning team.

How about just calling it the most outstanding player award, in which case we would all have a more consistent understanding of how it should be voted on? Identifying the best player — win or lose — is a worthy enough idea.

— Dan Wolken

Celtics haven't lost three-straight games since December; will 'battle back'

Even with their backs against the wall, it's business as usual for the Celtics.

When asked pregame whether the mood in the locker room was angry or nervous, Celtics coach Ime Udoka didn't flinch. His guys have been in this position before.

The Celtics' Game 5 loss Monday was the first time they had dropped consecutive games this postseason. They haven't lost three straight games since December 25-29, 2021.

Boston is a changed unit since then. The Celtics were 16-19 after that December 29  defeat but found their stride in the new year to finish the regular season 51-31, proceeding to knock off the Nets, Bucks and Heat, respectively, in the playoffs. The Celtics also trailed 3-2 in their series against the Bucks.

Udoka said that early-season adversity gave the Celtics a "bounce-back ability" that helped them stay focused on details instead of getting caught up in the big picture.

"We do have a short memory and that's worked well for us and put it behind us," Udoka said. "And also being in these situations throughout the year where we had to battle back after a big hole early in the season, all of those things bode well for us."

— Richard Morin

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Steph Curry's golfing buddies may attend Game 6

Steph Curry has a lot of friends on the professional golf circuit. Many of them will be playing at the U.S. Open in Brookline, Massachusetts – about 40 minutes away from TD Garden, where Curry is trying playing the Celtics in Game 6.

Curry did not attend any of the first round of the U.S. Open, which began Thursday. But Curry, who got a close-up look at the U.S. Open Championship Trophy on Wednesday, expected to hear from some of his golfing buddies.

“Got a couple friends on the tour who will probably hit me up between now and next week if they get the early tee time, the early/late on Thursday. We’ll see. Or Thursday/Friday, we’ll see,” he said earlier this week. “I’m not going out there. Obviously, all of my attention is on rest and recovery, getting ready. I’ll pop in front of the TV and make sure I watch as much of it as possible, though.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Warriors-Celtics recap: Curry gets emotional; Kerr in elite company