Rise of the nice guy: Andrew Wiggins erases rare Curry dud in NBA finals

After 133 playoff games, it finally happened – the greatest shooter in NBA history endured a night without scoring a three-pointer.

Steph Curry missing shot after shot was a bad omen, all right. But for the Boston Celtics.

Curry followed his 43-point Game 4 genius-storm with a tepid 16-point effort, the presumptive NBA finals MVP an inconceivable zilch-for-nine from beyond the arc. Yet the final score in Monday’s Game 5 was – checks score, rubs eyes, checks again – a 104-94 victory for his Golden State Warriors.

It means the teams head back to Boston for Thursday’s game with the Warriors ahead 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. And it means the Celtics wasted a big opportunity, because the usually-metronomic Curry is unlikely to go haywire again any time soon. Including the regular season, it was his first NBA game without making a three-point shot since 8 November 2018.

“I think Boston did a really good job defensively, as we would expect, they’re a great defensive team. I thought they put more pressure on him early, and then Steph missed some open ones too,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told reporters.

“Even for the best shooter in the world, games like this happen. Fortunately they don’t happen too often, and I like Steph coming off of a game like this. I like his ability to bounce back. So to be able to win the game with our defense and with our depth, it was a great team effort.”

Boston will rue their own ragged play in the fourth quarter, which began with the contest finely poised after the Celtics mounted a stunning comeback immediately after half time. But it was the all-round excellence of Andrew Wiggins that helped disrupt the visitors while ably compensating for Curry’s below-par production.

The unassuming 27-year-old Canadian was selected first overall in the 2014 draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers and promptly traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves when LeBron James took his talents back to Ohio. Sent from the Timberwolves to the Warriors in 2020, he is realising his potential and is now on the brink of his first NBA championship. Not to mention family bragging rights: his father, Mitchell, was on the Houston Rockets team that lost to the Celtics in the 1986 finals.

The defining image of this game was not Curry sinking a shot from distance but Wiggins bustling to the basket and crashing down a dunk to hand the Warriors a 15-point lead with about two minutes remaining. Ably assisted by Jordan Poole (14 points) and Klay Thompson (21 points), Wiggins top-scored for Golden State with 26 points and contributed a game-best 13 rebounds.

Too nice to live up to the hype and the pressure of his first-pick status? That has long been the accusation. But on Monday at Chase Center he was merciless, impassioned, effective and emphatic as the Celtics lost back-to-back games for the first time in this season’s playoffs. Asked on ABC what message the slam sent, Wiggins replied: “we’re here and we’re hungry, we want this”.

He also impressed in last Friday’s 107-97 Warriors win, with 17 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, though was overshadowed by Curry’s extraordinary production: 43 points, 10 rebounds and an uncountable number of mouthguard chews.

Curry notched at least five three-pointers in each of the first four games against Boston, including seven last Friday. But here, with the 34-year-old wayward from distance – though he did supply eight assists – Wiggins strapped his team on to his back.

For a while in the second half it seemed as if the Celtics might prevail with the aid of a fitful performance from Jayson Tatum, who top-scored with 27, and thanks to a sudden three-point downpour. After missing their first 12 attempts, Boston sank eight in a row and overturned a 12-point half-time deficit.

Back roared Golden State in the final quarter, courtesy of yet another momentum shift in a series that has seen some vertiginous changes in fortune. As Tatum’s influence dipped – he was strong in the middle of the contest but quiet at the start and finish, with Wiggins a key reason – Boston’s tempers frayed. In total the Celtics committed a fatal 18 turnovers to the Warriors’ six.

Oddly, in a series between tightly-matched teams that may yet go the distance, the winning margin has been at least 10 points in each of the first five games.

This night was a corrective to the “as goes Steph, so go the Warriors” narrative. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that a team chasing its fourth title in eight seasons has the depth and savvy to adjust as required. That they are, indeed, a team. But Wiggins wasn’t a part of those three previous championships. Another night like this, though, and he might challenge Curry for MVP recognition.

“I’m just trying to do every little thing to win,” he said. “If I’ve got to score, rebound, defend, anything I’m asked to do on the court to help win, I’m going to do.”