BOSTON -- Never take Steph Curry for granted.
Once again, No. 30 absolutely carried the Warriors, and this time it resulted in a 107-97 Warriors win over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. The series now is tied at two wins apiece as it heads back to San Francisco.
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Curry simply was the best player on the floor. The Celtics had no answers for him, and in a game where his teammates weren't close to matching him the majority of the way, they can thank him for still having a chance to be crowned champions.
Steph finished with 43 points. He hit seven 3-pointers and grabbed 11 rebounds. Take a bow.
Klay Thompson scored 18 points, with eight of those coming in the fourth quarter. Draymond Green had nine rebounds, eight assists, four steals and came through when it mattered most after what looked like another rough performance.
The Warriors won the third quarter for the fourth straight time, but came out on top in the fourth for the first time, outscoring the Celtics by nine points.
Golden State Warriors
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors even the Finals through four games.
Lineup Change
Otto Porter Jr. landed on the injury report Thursday with left foot soreness. By the time Warriors shootaround was underway on Friday, Porter was deemed good to go. Eight hours later, he was in the Warriors' starting lineup, replacing center Kevon Looney.
The change likely was to add another shooter to start off the game, especially after Porter went 7-for-9 from 3-point range through the first three games. But the change didn't work early on.
The Warriors again were bullied on the glass early on, prompting Steve Kerr to put Looney in at the 7:23 mark. At that point, the Warriors only had two rebounds. Looney finished the first quarter with boards.
Looney ended up playing 28 minutes off the bench and was a game-high plus-21.
Porter played 15 minutes and scored only two points. He was a minus-1.
Half Man, Half Amazing
If it weren't for Curry, this series likely would be over by now. Celtics fans would have the brooms out to go with their uncensored chants.
Curry again did everything he could to will the Warriors to a win. By halftime, he was up to 19 points. He then scored 14 in the third quarter, entering the fourth with 33 points.
All he did in the fourth quarter was add 10 more points and close the door on the Celtics. Another amazing game from the all-time great on the biggest stage.
As each game passes, Curry continues to find himself among all-time greats. He now has scored at least 30 points 13 times in the Finals, tying Kobe Bryant for the eight-most Finals performances of reaching that mark. Curry also became the 11th player ever to score 30 points in at least 50 postseason games.
The Draymond Conundrum
Nobody believes in Green more than Kerr. But the coach made an eye-opening decision in the fourth quarter.
With the Warriors down 91-86, Kerr took Draymond out with 7:32 left. He sat for nearly four minutes and the Warriors went on an 11-3 run to go ahead 97-94. Green returned at the 3:41 mark for Jordan Poole, and whenever he had a chance, Kerr went back to Poole when the Warriors were about to be on offense.
At the time, Green was 1-for-7 from the field, scoring two points, and was a complete non-factor on offense.
But in the final minute-and-a-half, Green was amazing on defense, hustling for a crucial rebound and hit Looney for a perfect pass for two huge points. It will be extremely interesting to see how Kerr handles Green going forward.
The Warriors will need him for two more wins.