Rebounding could decide NBA champion

SAN FRANCISCO • The feeling-out process is complete. All even at 2-2 in the National Basketball Association Finals, the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors now contest a best-of-three for the championship.

Two relatively healthy teams, inspired by previous success on Golden State's home court and refreshed from having two days off, will duel in Game 5 in San Francisco this morning, Singapore time.

"It's the Finals," summed up Celtics star Jayson Tatum. "It's not going to be easy. It shouldn't be. We know we both want it, and we got to go take it."

The first four games have been about as evenly contested as they get, except the final scores.

The Warriors have outscored the Celtics by a total of just 422-421, belying the fact that no single game has been decided by fewer than 10 points.

Each team has made 64 three-pointers, underlining how tight the Finals have been.

Stephen Curry has a series-best 25 of the Warriors' 64 treys, including seven in 14 attempts in a dramatic 43-point performance that drew Golden State even in a 107-97 triumph in Boston in Game 4 last Friday.

For all his accolades, the All-Star guard has yet to win a Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) award but that virtuoso display has made him the front runner - so long as his team go on to claim their fourth championship since 2015.

"The heart on that man is incredible," teammate Klay Thompson gushed. "The things he does we kind of take for granted from time to time, but to go out there and put us on his back, I mean, we got to help him out (in Game 5)."

The Warriors did that the last time the teams met in San Francisco in Game 2.

Curry had 29 points, but Jordan Poole chipped in with 17 off the bench, Gary Payton II made all three of his shots, and the team's four other starters combined for 43 points, 21 rebounds, 12 assists and six steals in a team effort that produced a 107-88 win.

That came three nights after the Celtics, the top road team in the post-season, temporarily stole home-court advantage by getting a similar type of balanced production in a 120-108 series-opening win.

The Celtics have gone 8-3 on the road in the post-season, out-shooting their opponents 38.1 per cent to 31.2 per cent on three-pointers.

The Warriors have gone 10-1 at home, hitting 40.7 per cent of their threes as opposed to 36.3 per cent by their visitors.

The biggest factor in determining winners and losers in the series has been rebounding. Boston have held the upper hand on the boards 86-70 in their two wins, including 22-18 on the offensive end.

The opposite has been true in Golden State's two wins, during which they dominated the glass to the tune of 97-85, including 22-17 at the offensive end.

Having seen Curry at his best in Game 4, Tatum, the other leading Finals MVP candidate, believes it is his turn to play difference-maker.

"I just got to be better," the All-Star guard insisted. "I know I can be better, so it's not like I, myself or my team is asking me to do something I'm not capable of...

"It's not too much pressure at all. It's kind of like my job."

REUTERS

Game 5: StarHub Ch201, 9am