Curry crowned MVP as Warriors clinch NBA title
Steph Curry was named Finals MVP as he led the Golden State Warriors to the NBA championship title with victory in Game 6 of their series against the Boston Celtics.
Curry scored 34 points in a 103-90 win for the Warriors on the road, earning them a fourth NBA crown in the past eight years and seventh in franchise history.
Curry’s tally in Boston included 6-of-11 from 3-point range, after his record 233-game streak of scoring at least one 3-pointer in a game had come to an end in Game 5 of the series.
Elsewhere for the Dubs at TD Garden on Thursday night, Draymond Green also shone with 12 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Andrew Wiggins added 18 points, six rebounds and five assists, Jordan Poole scored 15 off the bench, and Klay Thompson finished with 12 points.
The dynasty of coach Steve Kerr and Curry, Thompson, Green and Andre Iguodala was burnished further as they won a fourth title each with the Warriors, while the likes of Wiggins, Poole and Gary Payton II tasted championship glory for the first time.
For coach Kerr, 56, who took over at Golden State in the 2014-15 season, it’s a ninth NBA title overall as he added to the five he won as a player at Chicago and San Antonio.
Seeking to take the series all the way, the Celtics had opened up a 14-2 lead inside the first five minutes at TD Garden before the Warriors took control of the game, surging ahead in a blitz which began in the middle of the first quarter and at one stage included 21 unanswered points.
Backed by their vociferous home crowd, the Celtics pushed hard to keep themselves just about within reach but were never able to turn the tide.
Having led the series 1-0 and 2-1, the Celtics’ wait goes on for an 18th championship and first since 2008.
“It’s going to hurt and hurt for a while,” said Boston coach Ime Udoka
“Let it propel us forward with the growth and progress we made this season. A lot of guys in there are very emotional right now.
“The biggest message was learn from this and realize there is another level to get to.
“Don’t come back the same. Players, coaching staff. Let this fuel you.”
This season’s success for the Warriors is all the more remarkable as they bounced back from enduring the NBA’s worst record just two years ago and missing out on the playoffs last season, having made five straight finals appearances in the preceding years.
“We were so far away from it,” Curry, 34, told ABC after breaking down in tears at the end of the game.
“We were here five straight years and got three of them and then hit rock bottom and a long road of work ahead and trying to fill in the right pieces and right guys and you can never take it for granted.
“You never know when you’ll be back here. To get back here and get it done means the world,” added Curry, whose Finals MVP accolade was the first of his gilded career.
