Curry stars as Warriors hit back at Celtics to level NBA Finals series

SAN FRANCISCO: Stephen Curry scored 29 points as the Golden State Warriors roared back into NBA Finals contention on Sunday with a series-leveling 107-88 game two victory over the Boston Celtics.

Curry spearheaded a deadly display of Golden State shooting in San Francisco while a superb Warriors defensive effort shut down Boston’s key offensive weapons.

The Warriors, who squandered a 12-point fourth-quarter lead in Game 1, were in no mood to allow lightning to strike twice as they cut loose to build a double-digit advantage in the third quarter to tie the best-of-seven series at 1-1.

Curry led the scoring for Golden State, with Jordan Poole (17 points), Andrew Wiggins (11), Kevon Looney (12) and Klay Thompson (11) also making double figures.

Jayson Tatum topped the Boston scorers with 28 points, but crucially 21 of those came in a hardfought first half.

Only two other Boston players — Jaylen Brown with 17 points and Derrick White with 12 — cracked double digits.

The Warriors defense, marshalled brilliantly by Draymond Green, suffocated Boston in the second half, with two high-scoring Celtics heroes from Game 1 — Al Horford and Marcus held to just four points combined.

The series now moves to Boston with Game 3 scheduled for Wednesday and Game 4 on Friday.

“We said we needed to play with desperation and that’s what we did,” said Curry. “It’s a good feeling to get back on track and now we’ve got to take it on the road.

“We got off to a better start defensively where we made an imprint on the game and they felt us more than they did in game one. Our third quarter was great and we got a bit more separation that made the fourth quarter easier tonight.”

The Warriors put themselves in a winning position after