SAN FRANCISCO: Andrew Wiggins scored 26 points as the Golden State Warriors battled past the Boston Celtics 104-94 to move within one win of a seventh NBA championship crown on Monday.
With Stephen Curry having a rare off-night after his 43-point game four heroics, Wiggins seized control to lead a balanced Golden State offensive effort which leaves the Warriors 3-2 up in the best-of-seven series.
Wiggins delivered a huge performance at both ends of the Warriors’ Chase Center court, shooting 12-of-23 while hauling in 13 rebounds with two steals and a block.
The Warriors can clinch the championship when the series heads back to Boston for game six on Thursday.
“We have two cracks at getting one win, but we also know how difficult it’s going to be,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
“Nobody’s celebrating but we are excited to be in this spot and we want to take advantage of it.”
Kerr led the tributes for Wiggins, the Canadian former No.1 draft pick who has steadily become an integral part of the Warriors set-up since joining the franchise two years ago.
“He loves the challenge. He loves the competition. And he’s found such a crucial role on our team, and I think that empowers him,” Kerr said. “He knows how much we need him, so he’s been fantastic.”
Wiggins led the Warriors scorers while Klay Thompson provided support with 21 points including five three-pointers. Gary Payton II (15 points) and Jordan Poole (14) both made double-digits from the bench.
Curry, the Warriors’ talisman and front-runner for NBA Finals MVP, chipped in with 16 points but shot only 7-of-22 from the field, going 0/9 from three-point distance.
It was the first time in Curry’s playoff career he has failed to score a three-pointer and the first time he has drawn a blank from beyond the arc in any NBA game since 2018.
“I think Steph was probably due for a game like this,” Kerr said. “But we’ve got a lot of talent and a lot of depth that can make up for that, and the guys did a good job of that tonight.”
Warriors star Draymond Green, who had an improved performance despite fouling out in the fourth quarter, said Curry’s display was good news for Golden State.
“He’s going to be livid going into game six, and that’s exactly what we need,” Green said.
Jayson Tatum led Boston’s scorers with 27 points while Marcus Smart added 20 and Jaylen Brown 18.
But the Celtics, who effectively marked Curry out of the game for long periods, were left ruing another high turnover count of 18 compared to just six from Golden State.
Boston had threatened to produce a repeat of their stunning game one win in San Francisco during a rampant third quarter display in which they outscored the Warriors 35-24 before fading in the fourth quarter.
Celtics coach Ime Udoka lamented his team’s inconsistent form from one quarter to the next.
“That’s the thing — (what) we’re not having throughout a full game is consistent efforts, sustained effort, more so offensively than anything,” Udoka said.
“That’s the part where we got to have carryover, not only game to game but quarter to quarter, where we saw it happened in the third but not the fourth.”
Boston’s electrifying burst of second-half scoring wiped out a 12-point Warriors advantage after the first two quarters.
After a superb Golden State defensive performance in the first half, Boston had been restricted to just 39 points to trail 51-39 at the break.
But the Celtics flipped the switch after the interval, erasing Golden State’s advantage in a matter of minutes with back-to-back Tatum three-pointers to get within two at 51-49.
Smart drained another three soon afterwards to tie the game at 55-55 before Al Horford rained in another triple — Boston’s eighth straight three-pointer — to give the Celtics their first lead of the game at 58-55.
Boston would go on to lead by five points at 66-61 — a 17-point turnaround from half-time — but the Warriors dug deep to respond.
Poole’s buzzer-beating three-pointer put the Warriors ahead 75-74 heading into the final period.
The Warriors regrouped in the fourth quarter, Wiggins driving home a layup to launch an unanswered 10-0 run by the home team that gave Golden State a hefty 11-point advantage at 85-74.
From there the Warriors never looked like surrendering the initiative and Wiggins would go on to score 10 points as the Warriors slammed the door to close out a deserved win.
Warriors on brink of NBA title as Andrew Wiggins punishes Celtics
https://arab.news/v7r8y
Warriors on brink of NBA title as Andrew Wiggins punishes Celtics
- Wiggins seizes control to lead a balanced Golden State offensive effort
- The Warriors can clinch the championship when the series heads back to Boston
Humbert stuns Tsitsipas as defending champion exits Dubai in first round
- Last year’s winner lost in straight sets to the 2024 champion
- Ugo Humbert will now play the 2022 champion, Andrey Rublev, on Wednesday
DUBAI: Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas crashed out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday night, falling in the first round to 2024 title-winner Ugo Humbert under the bright lights of the center court.
The 4-6, 5-7 defeat at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium means the 27-year-old Greek, who left the court with his head bowed, will drop outside the world top 40 for the first time in almost eight years.
The first-round meeting between the two unseeded Dubai champions caught the eye as soon as the main draw took place on Saturday for this week’s ATP 500 tournament. Only seven world ranking places separated the pair and the lower-ranked Humbert, at No. 37, edged the pre-match head-to-head record at 3-1. Tsitsipas has not yet progressed beyond the quarterfinals across five events since the start of the year.
“It was a funny first round — the two last winners of the tournament,” said Humbert, who beat Alexander Bublik in the final here two years ago. “It’s so good to be back where I won the tournament. I have such good memories, and it was a tough battle tonight.”
From the first exchanges, both players dominated their service games with remarkable ease. Tsitsipas only conceded two points in his first four, while Humbert was forced to deuce in just one game. Yet as the scoreline progressed in undramatic fashion to 5-4 to Humbert, and with Tsitsipas’ majestic topspin backhand starting to purr, the Greek’s serve deserted him when he needed it most.
Fewer than 24 hours after he had enjoyed a Ramadan cultural experience that saw him don a dark blue kandura to eat the fast-breaking iftar meal, Tsitsipas demonstrated the season’s spirit of generosity by gifting Humbert a pair of double-faults, an unforced error and, ultimately, the opening set.
The second set followed a similar pattern, with Tsitsipas unable to change the course of the match. Humbert conceded two break points in the first game yet found the resolve to dig deep and hold on. The set stayed on serve for 11 consecutive games until, with Humbert 6-5 up and Tsitsipas serving to stay in the tournament, another two wasteful forehands by the three-time finalist handed Humbert two match points.
The Frenchman took the victory at the first opportunity as Tsitsipas’ third unforced forehand error in sequential points sealed his fate.
“I think today, it was a big battle,” said Humbert. “We both served very well, and I had just a few opportunities and I did it, so I’m super happy. It’s nice to come back to play again on this beautiful court. I have such a nice feeling when I play here and it’s nice to be in (the) second round.”
Next up for Humbert is 2022 champion Andrey Rublev, who eased past France’s Valentin Royer 6-3, 6-4. The energetic Muscovite shuttled around Center Court like a man incapable of letting a ball past him, with more than one seemingly impossible return sent safely back by the 28-year-old.
Royer saved eight second-set break points by the time he levelled the set at 2-2, but Rublev’s serving was at times unplayable. His shot selection must have left his opponent bewildered as he mixed impudent drop shots with returnable volleys at the net.
“It was a great win for me because I knew very well in our first meeting, I lost,” said Rublev. “[Royer’s] a great fighter, and I’m really happy that I was able to take that challenge and go through in straight sets. When you play so late, to have some time to recover before the next match is so important.”
On facing Humbert, he added: “It’s going to be great for me to see my level because Ugo is a great player. He’s hitting the ball really hard; he’s getting better and better, and always fights until the end, playing super aggressive and hitting bombs from all over the place. He’s won here in the past too, so it’s going to be an interesting fight.”
Earlier in the day, eighth seed Jiri Lehecka survived losing the first set to Lucky Loser Luca Nardi — a late injury replacement for France’s Arthur Fils — by recovering to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. The Czech world No. 22 will face Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta on Wednesday after the qualifier disposed of Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-4.
In the final game on New Court 1, sixth seed Jakub Mensik edged past Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 6-4, 7-6 (7). Mensik will face Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, the world No. 47, who narrowly edged out Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.
Meanwhile on Court 2, world No. 25 Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands — the highest-ranked player not seeded in Dubai this week — defeated Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen 6-3, 6-4 to set-up a mouthwatering second round match against second seed Alexander Bublik.
Elsewhere, Arthur Rinderknech also lost the first set en route to defeating Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The imposing Frenchman will play British fourth seed Jack Draper in the next round. The USA’s Jenson Brooksby, the world No. 49, dispatched Belgium’s Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-4 to seal a last-16 tie against seventh seed Karen Khachanov, who required three sets to eliminate Lucky Loser Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3.
