Golden State Beats Boston Celtics to Win N.B.A. Championship

 It turns out the dynasty had just been paused. Golden State has won the N.B.A. championship again, four seasons after its last one. 

It is the franchise’s seventh title and the fourth for its three superstars: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, who have spent the past decade growing up together, winning together and, over the past three years, learning how fragile success can be.

On Thursday, they defeated the Boston Celtics, 103-90, in Game 6 of the N.B.A. finals. They won the series, 4-2, and celebrated their clinching victory on the parquet floor of TD Garden, below 17 championship banners, in front of a throng of disappointed partisans.

With 24 seconds left in the game, Curry found his father near the baseline, hugged him and shook as he sobbed in his arms. Then Curry turned back toward the game. He put his hands on his head and squatted down, then fell onto the court.

“I think I blacked out,” Curry said later. He thought about the past few months of the playoffs, about the past three years, about the people who didn’t think he could be here again.

“You get goose bumps just thinking about all those snapshots and episodes that we went through to get back here,” Curry said.

Curry, who scored 34 points in the clinching game, was named the most valuable player of the finals. It was the first time in his career he’s won the award.

“Without him, none of this happens,” Golden State Coach Steve Kerr said. “To me, this is his crowning achievement.”

Boston put up a fight. The Celtics took a 14-2 lead to open the game, playing better than they did in their lackluster start to Game 5, but Golden State’s firepower threatened to overwhelm them. For nearly six minutes of playing time from late in the first quarter until early in the second, Boston couldn’t score.

Golden State built a 21-point lead in the second quarter, and kept that cushion early in the third.

With 6 minutes 15 seconds left in the third, Curry hit his fifth 3 of the game, giving his team a 22-point lead. He held out his right hand and pointed at its ring finger, sure he was on his way to earning his fourth championship ring.