The Boston Celtics return home for their final home game of the season. But can they win this Thursday and force the 2022 NBA Finals to have a Game 7? The Golden State Warriors can smell the Larry O’Brien Trophy, but can they touch it at TD Garden on Thursday? Check out our preview below of Game 6 of Warriors vs. Celtics 2022 NBA Finals series.
Somehow the Warriors found a way to eke out a 104-94 win in Game 5 despite a disappointing performance from Stephen Curry, who did not have a single make from deep and finished the contest with 16 points on a salty 7/22 shooting from the field. That’s also why the victory is a credit to the depth of the Warriors, who got tremendous showings from Curry’s supporting cast, particularly Andrew Wiggins, who led his team with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Klay Thompson also got 21 points. Everyone knows too what game of a series Thompson loves the most, hence “Game 6 Klay.” Despite Curry’s struggles in Game 5, his ability to just stretch the floor with his mere presence will do wonders for the other Warriors’ shooters like Thompson and Jordan Poole. The Warriors have been here a lot of times before. Golden State knows how to close out a series, notwithstanding that 2016 collapse against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Warriors are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 contests after scoring at least 100 points in their previous game.
Don’t tell Boston how it’s like to be down 3-2 in a series. The Celtics dealt with that scenario in the second round of the 2022 NBA Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, and look where they are now. But this is a much tougher team than the Bucks the Celtics are facing. If Boston is to force the 2022 NBA Finals to a Game 7, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will have to be at their absolute best. Tatum finished with 27 points in Game 5, but couldn’t consistently hit his shot in the fourth period. Brown was just cold, going 5/18 for 18 points. A big part of their struggles there was the Warriors’ defense, but that’s also why the Celtics should be winning the rebounding battle – to give them more chances to score. Wiggins was able to come away with a ton of rebounds again in the last game, and the Celtics just couldn’t allow that to happen the rest of the way.
The Celtics are 19-7 ATS in their last 26 games after failing to cover the spread in the previous contest.
