NBA Finals: Stephen Curry, Warriors crush Celtics to even series

June 6 (UPI) -- Stephen Curry scored a game-high 29 points to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 19-point blowout of the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. The lopsided win tied the series 1-1.

Curry scored 14 in the third quarter of the 107-88 triumph Sunday at Chase Center in San Francisco. Fellow Warriors guard Jordan Poole scored 17 points off the bench. Poole and Curry each sank five 3-pointers.

"The preparation was mostly about our intensity and physicality," Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters. "It was obviously ramped up, and it needed to be, given what Boston did in Game 1."

The Warriors outscored the Celtics 40-24 in the paint and 33-15 off turnovers and led by as many as 29 points. The game featured eight lead changes and was tied seven times. Game 3 will be Wednesday in Boston.

"We were a little stagnant in the third quarter, and I feel like it translated on the defensive end," Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said.

Tatum and guard Jaylen Brown poured in 13 points apiece over the first 12 minutes. The Celtics went on a 13-2 run early in the first quarter. The Warriors answered with a 10-2 run late in the quarter and took a 31-30 lead into the second.

The score stayed tight over the next 12 minutes, but the Warriors carried a 52-50 lead into the break. Brown tied the score 53 seconds into the third.

The Warriors responded with a 13-2 run and never looked back. They outscored the Celtics 35-14 in the quarter and carried an 87-64 lead into the fourth. The Celtics rested their starters for the majority of the final quarter.

Tatum totaled a team-high 28 points, with six 3-pointers in the loss. Brown totaled 17 for the Celtics. Derrick White scored a dozen off the Celtics bench.

Center Kevon Looney and guard Andrew Wiggins scored 12 and 11 points apiece for the Warriors. Klay Thompson also scored 11 points for the Warriors, but he made just 1 of 8 shots from 3-point range.

The Celtics will host the Warriors in Game 3 at 9 p.m. EDT Wednesday at TD Garden in Boston. The game will air on ABC.