Curry praises Warriors resilience in leveling series

Stephen Curry declared “it means everything” to keep the NBA Finals series alive after his sensational performance dragged the Golden State Warriors past the Boston Celtics.

Curry scored 10 of the Warriors’ last 12 points, finishing with 43 overall after shooting 14-of-26 from the field and seven-of-14 from long range. He also added 10 rebounds and four assists.

That helped Golden State to a 107-97 road win to level the best-of-seven series at 2-2 as they prepare to return to the Chase Center for Game 5 on Monday.

Curry also played with an injury to his left foot throughout, but expressed his delight at returning to home-court advantage with the series even.

Curry: “I think the first quarter really set the tone”

“It means everything knowing the sense of urgency we had to have tonight to win on the road and keep some life in the series, get home-court advantage back and try to create some momentum our way,” he told reporters.

“It was a hard-fought win. I think the first quarter really set the tone. Even though we were down one, it was a night and day difference between Game 3 and Game 4 how we came out defensively, and that just gives you enough life to withstand some rough patches.

“And then find some runs. We get some stops, get out in transition, guys get involved. And you give yourself a chance to win it down the stretch.

“Proud of everybody in terms of our physicality, our focus, perseverance throughout the game. 2-2 is way better than 3-1 going home. Job well done tonight.”

Curry registered 12 points in the first quarter to keep the Warriors just one point adrift, and the 34-year-old believes it was vital he set the tone.

“It’s kind of how we wanted to start the game. We rely on Draymond [Green] bringing that energy and fire throughout the course of the season, and year after year,” he added.

“Felt like we just had to let everybody know that we were here tonight. Whether that’s their crowd, their team, our team, whoever wants to see that energy and that fire, we feed off of that.

“I think it helped us just get settled into the game because our experience, you can want it so bad, you get in your own way a little bit and everybody feels a little bit of pressure, and it can go the opposite way.

“I wanted to try to leverage that in a positive direction for us to start the game.”

Asked whether it was his best Finals performance as Klay Thompson suggested, Curry responded: “I can’t rate my performances, though. Just win the game.”