Finals Game Three: Boston Baked Dominance

There is some turmoil in Boston sports lately as the NBA Finals heads to that very city. The Boston Red Sox, who fell two wins short of the American League pennant last season, are off to a rough start--but they are in a playoff position. The Boston Bruins could see their vaunted Perfection Line implode, as Patrice Bergeron could end up retiring, and David Pastrnak isn't happy with the team's GM. In spite of all of that, Boston does have one big positive to look forward to: their first NBA Finals game in 12 years. The Celtics split the first two games against the Golden State Warriors in the Bay Area; now, the Finals is a best-of-five and Boston has the home court.

Similar to Game Two, Boston dominated the first quarter mainly due to the efforts of Jaylen Brown, though Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart did make their presence felt. It was a big first for the team: 33-22 in favor of the Celtics, and they ended up scoring 35 in the second quarter as well. Boston took 68-56 lead into halftime, and it looked like they would ease their way to a home victory. However, the third quarter would happen, and it showed why I have disdain for the Warriors.

The very thing I am describing is the so-called "flagrant foul" on Al Horford while Stephen Curry made his three-pointer. Let me put it this way, I saw history: it was the first flagrant foul I saw with absolutely no contact. It's the main thing that annoys me about the Warriors: they get too many gift calls. That ended up sparking an attempted comeback that actually resulted in the game's only three lead changes, as well as the Warriors outscoring the Celtics 33-25. Even so, Boston led by four entering the fourth quarter, and they would take over the final frame, holding Golden State to just 11 points, and 1-for-8 from the three-point line.

The Celtics won, 116-100, and took a 2-1 lead in this year's Finals, but I want to talk about another thing that grinds my gears: Draymond Green. Let me be perfectly blunt: I can't stand this guy. In the time I've watched the Warriors' many runs to the Finals, I've seen many things change, I've seen many faces change, but one thing remains the same: Draymond Green is an absolute dick. For one, Green tries to pick fights with players smaller than him, and for another, he is ALWAYS arguing with refs over any little thing. It's bad enough that he does that, it's even worse that the refs don't do anything about it. I've seen many games where Green gets in the face of officials and literally screams at them, but they don't even ring him up for it. They just let it happen. Literally any other player would be ejected just for looking at a ref the wrong way, but not Green. Honestly? I think the refs are scared of Green.

Boston's big 3 of Tatum, Smart, and Brown combined for 77 points in Game Three; Brown scored 27, Tatum had 26, and Smart had 24. Al Horford had 11 points of his own, and as for the Warriors, Curry led the way with 31 points, Klay Thompson picked up the pace and put up 25 of his own, and Andrew Wiggins' 18 points made him the third scorer. This was the better of Boston's two wins, and I say that even though their Game One win was centered on a very strong fourth quarter.

Game Four is Friday in Boston.

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