Curry, who has held the position several times in the past, is hoping to draw on that past experience.
“Thankfully, I think six times[in the closest games]have been in so many different kinds of occasions, you just understand what the nerves are,” he told the media ahead of Game 6.
“You have to remind yourself as much as you can before the game starts. At the end of the day, once you’re out there, you just have to be in the moment. You have to be present as much as possible, Don’t worry about the consequences of winning or losing, you only have 48 minutes of opportunity.
“As much as you can trick your mind into being in the moment and being there, that’s the best advice I can give to anyone in that situation because it’s going to be probably the hardest game in your career.” Because that’s what the stakes are.”
For Thompson, it would complete a remarkable comeback from two back-to-back devastating injuries, forcing him to miss two consecutive seasons.
During the Warriors’ dominance of the past decade, Thompson has earned himself the nickname “Game 6 Kell” for his explosive play in Game 6s of the playoff series, and it’s something he’s hoping to come across on Thursday night.
“It’s clearly a nickname I’ve earned and I want to live it,” Thompson told reporters.
“At the same time, I don’t want to go out there and play Hero Ball. I’m just going to be there and be myself, do what I’ve been doing in the last few games. I know it will allow us to succeed.”
‘We’re not scared’
While the pressure of a close game in a playoff series is excessive for the Celtics, the team has so far shown remarkable persistence in high-pressure scenarios.
They were unbeaten in the later games of the season after the loss, until losing their Game 5 in the final. They are victorious in two win-or-go-home games against the Milwaukee Bucks and Game 7 against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals.
And that run was built on perseverance and a determination to stay on course and forward Jaylen Brown says that despite the pressure, they “are not intimidated.”
“We are not afraid of the Golden State Warriors,” Brown told reporters. “We want to come out and play the best version of basketball that we can.
“We know it’s a good team over there. We know they’ve done it before. But we have full faith in ourselves. We’ll come out and leave it there. That’s the whole intention.”
When Game 6 tips off Thursday night at TD Garden in Boston, the Celtics will be hoping to force Game 7 to feed their rowdy home crowd.
Celtics breakout star Jason Tatum said, “It’s already up to four. It’s not over. So until it’s over, you’ve got a chance.”
“I think doing it first should give you even more confidence that you can. It’s not like it’s going to be easy or that it’s going to be given to us, but as long as you get the chance, you should Must be very confident. We should have a chance tomorrow.”