By Jerry Wein
The Dubs Andrew Wiggins hit 12-of-23 shots for a team-high 26 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block with zero turnovers in last night’s 104-94 Game 5 win over the Celtics to take a 3-2 lead with the series heading back to Boston on Thursday.
Wiggins was fantastic tonight, despite going 0-for-6 from downtown, and carried the Warriors on his back.
The Celtics hit eight straight 3-point shots between the second and third quarters, overcoming a 16-point deficit and took a 58-55 lead with 6:27 left in the third quarter.
But the Warriors righted the ship by starting out the fourth quarter on a 14-5 run and never looked back.
Wiggins has scored 20, 11, 17, 17 and 26 points in his five Finals games with double-doubles in his last two, putting him in the hunt for the Finals MVP Award, although Stephen Curry is still the favorite for that one.
The winner of Game 5 goes on to win the Finals 73 percent of the time and the last team to win three straight Game 7s and win a title was Pat Riley’s 1988 Lakers. And that’s what the Celtics would have to pull off to win the Championship. Neither of these teams had lost in the playoffs after losing their previous game so all signs are still pointing to a Game 7 at Golden State on Sunday, although the Celtics broke that streak tonight, losing their second straight game.
