How important is Game 3 when the NBA Finals are tied 1-1?
The Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors will battle to take the series lead on Wednesday night, and the statistics show Game 3′s winner will be champs.
It all comes down to this. Well not really, but the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics will play Game 3 from TD Garden on Wednesday night and history shows that the winner of the third game in a 1-1 series becomes the heavy favorite to win the title.
Horford with a dream debut in Finals
The Celtics got a big win in the opener when the stormed back from 12 down in the fourth quarter to take a 120-108 victory thanks to a historic night for Al Horford who set a career high with six three pointers in his first Finals appearance in 15 NBA seasons.
Taking home court advantage in the first two games is always the goal of a team that has to start the series on the road. The Celtics took care of business in Game 1, but the Warriors drew level thanks to the fabulous play of Steph Curry and some stifling defense in the second half. Curry went on to score 29, 14 of those in a third quarter where the Warriors defense held Boston to the same amount of points as Curry.
Game 3 winners up 2-1 almost always lift Larry O’Brien
So no we head east for Game 3, and statistically the winner of the third game in a 1-1 series is almost always a shoe in to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy.
This will be the 40th time and NBA Finals is heading to a third game tied at 1-1. Of the previous 39 series that went to Game 3 like Boston and Golden State are, 32 of the Game 3 winners have gone on to win the title.
The last time a team won Game 3 to take a 2-1 series and go on to lose the series was the Cleveland Cavaliers against guess who.. The Golden State Warriors in 2015. That was the first of a four Finals matchups between those two teams. After splitting the first two games, the Cavs won Game 3 but the Warriors responded by winning three straight earning their first of three NBA Championships in a span of four years.
While they won’t be etching the name of the Game 3 winner on the Larry O’Brien trophy when they walk off the court on Wednesday night, the numbers are pretty convincing. Which is why Game 3 from TD Garden will be a can’t miss match up.