Wiggins Big in Game #5

Wiggins Big In Game 5 Win

Photo: Special to the NY Beacon

 

The Golden State Warriors 104-94 victory in Game 5 of the NBA Finals in San Francisco Monday left them one win away from another championship ring.

The Warriors tied the series 2-2 Friday in Boston, returned home and fought back to gain a 3-2 lead. Boston fell behind Monday night with turnovers as Golden State stepped up with aggressiveness and scoring led by Andrew Wiggins.

“It’s something I’ve dreamt about for sure,” said Andrew Wiggins after the game about his dreams of performing on the NBA Finals stage, as tweeted by the NBA. “This is the ultimate stage. It doesn’t get bigger than this.”

 

 

 

Wiggins led the Warriors with 26 points and 13 rebounds. He had two assists and two steals. “I was out there being aggressive and it was a good game,” Wiggins said.

The Warriors grabbed the ball at tip-off.  Draymond Green set up the play with a pass to Otto Porter who made the first basket of the night. Golden State kept the lead and ended the quarter ahead 27-16 as Wiggins made a foul shot with about .2 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Boston Coach Ime Udoka voiced his disagreement with the referee and received a technical foul.

Boston pushed back as Marcus Smart and Jason Tatum both scored seven points in the second quarter but it was not enough. The Warriors led 51-39 at halftime in part due to nine turnovers by Boston. Golden State only had three turnovers by halftime.

Boston did not lead in the first half, but cut the Warriors lead from down to two points with 10:15 remaining in the third quarter. The Celtics had their first lead of the game after a 3-pointer by Al Horford bringing the score to 58-55 with about 6:27 minutes remaining in the quarter.

The Celtics were ahead 74-72 in the last few seconds of the third quarter, but a buzzer-beater 3-pointer by Jordan Poole gave the Warriors a 75-74 lead. The Warriors built the momentum and bounced back in the fourth quarter as Wiggins led the Warriors with 10 points.

Steph Curry led the Warriors with eight assists. Gary Payton led the Warriors with three steals. Draymond Green added seven rebounds.  Klay Thompson added 21 points.

The Warriors tweeted Thompson had passed LeBron James for the second most career threes in NBA Finals history.

Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 27 total points and 10 rebounds.

The Warriors return to Boston for Game 6 on Thursday.