In the confident mind of Draymond Green, it was only a matter of time until the dam broke and the Golden State Warriors were able to put the Boston Celtics away.
Golden State did just that during the final 4:32 of the third quarter in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. The Celtics, who acknowledged their third-quarter failures leading up to Sunday’s contest, were outscored 19-2 during the stretch as the Warriors got hot from long range and benefitted from Boston’s consistent miscues (two of its 19 turnovers).
It ultimately led to a 107-88 defeat for the Celtics.
“I felt like it was coming the entire game,” Green told reporters of the third-quarter surge, as transcribed by ASAP Sports. “I felt like we were playing really good basketball and we just didn’t pull away. If you stay the course and continue to play basketball, it will eventually go your way.
“I thought we did a good job of that, and we feed off it,” Green continued. “When Klay (Thompson) hits shots, it gets us going. So it was good to see him knock that shot down and that started a run for us.”
An Otto Porter Jr. 3-pointer extended the Warriors’ lead to 71-62 with four minutes left in the third before Golden State took a commanding 87-64 lead. Stephen Curry and Jordan Poole each made a pair of from long range to provide the hosts with separation. The game was over from there.
Green provided the Warriors with plenty of extracurriculars during the Game 2 victory, including a pair of dust-ups with Jaylen Brown and Grant Williams.
The best-of-seven series now shifts back to Boston with Game 3 at TD Garden on Wednesday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.
