This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics took a 65-49 lead into the second half.
3RD QUARTER: Warriors Momentum Stopped By Bass
Stephen Curry came out determined, as he got two finger rolls to go and Klay Thompson got a step-back long two assisted by Andrew Bogut. Curry then got his hands on an errant pass by Evan Turner and pulled up for three, good.
Boston head coach Brad Stevens called timeout as Curry swung his fist in the air in celebration, cutting the Warriors’ deficit to 69-60 with 8:40 to go in the third frame.
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But Cody Zeller was the unexpected contributor again, getting a jumper to fall then, after an impressive Harrison Barnes one-handed putback off the board, Avery Bradley snuck behind Curry for an in-transition run-out layup, Zeller dunked on a pick-and-roll and the Celtics were back up by double-digits, 77-62.
The Warriors got lucky as Bogut fielded a defensive rebound, then passed the ball at a teammate’s foot, with the ball going out of bounds. Referee Violet Palmer gave the ball back to Golden State after conferring with the other two refs. Still, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr used the lull in the game to call timeout with 4:54 remaining.
Thompson was in rhythm, getting a long two to drop to make it 81-70 with 1:41 to play, then with Bradley draped all over him, calmly drained a three-pointer from the top on a catch-and-shoot from Draymond Green, next to a screen by Andre Iguodala.
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But Celtics power forward Brandon Bass got a two-handed dunk, a tip-in of an Isaiah Thomas missed reverse layup, then another two-handed dunk after Thomas penetrated past Shaun Livingston.
Livingston countered with a turnaround bucket over the smaller Thomas with 1.5 ticks remaining in the quarter, and the Celtics had an 86-75 lead heading into the final frame. Bass scored 10 of the Celtics’ 21 points in the quarter, with 15 points total for the game, tied with Thomas, while Curry was up to 26 and Klay at 20.
4TH QUARTER: Warriors Claw Back
Justin Holiday started the fourth quarter, but after Livingston converted an beautiful and-one lefty one-handed banker against Thomas and Jae Crowder to make it 86-81 Celtics, Holiday took an ill-advised three-pointer that only drew far backboard.
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But Holiday would make up for it, initiating a “tic-tac-toe” sequence to a cutting Livingston, who found Curry from beyond the arc, who drilled it to cut the lead to 87-84, Boston, with 9:22 to play.
Thomas took up the challenge, rattling in a three of his own, but Green answered back with a trey as well, then upped the ante by blocking Thomas’ next try the next sequence down — a three-pointer, of course.
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Curry then dribbled left-handed against Zeller to the baseline, stopped, up-faked to let Zeller fly by, and calmly netted a jumper to make it 92-90, Boston. Then Zeller got a putback of a Crowder miss, after Curry missed two threes and Holiday one, followed by an Iguodala missed reverse layup in transition. Kerr called timeout to give his troops a rest, down 94-90 with 6:19 to go.
Out of the timeout, Green got a tomahawk dunk over Crowder after getting the slip on action with Curry.
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After Curry bothered Bradley and forced him into a bad dribble out of bounds, Curry scissored through the Celtics’ perimeter and found Iguodala for a left baseline dunk to tie the game, 94-94, with 4:41 left.
Green followed up that great play with a putback of his own miss on an aggressive take to the hole and Stevens called timeout with 3:26 remaining.
Zeller got another dunk on a touchdown pass from Marcus Smart, after rebounding a missed three by Thompson, but Curry answered the call with a swish of a jumper after posting up from the high post on Thomas. But Palmer called Livingston for moving his pivot foot on a high post against Thomas, and Smart stepped back for a triple to give Boston a 99-98 lead with 1:43 to play as Kerr called timeout.
On the inbound, Klay got doubled in the right corner and found Barnes with a high pass. Harrison leapt high for the catch, then gathered and attacked with a right finger roll that trickled in, to give the Warriors a 100-99 lead.
Thomas kept the Warriors on their heels, dancing around and finding Crowder for a three-pointer, but the shot went in and out, and the Warriors finally had a possession in which they led the game, now with less than a minute to play.
Bradley played great defense on Curry as Steph tried to dribble up. Bradley tapped the ball out and the ball trickled all the way towards the backcourt baseline. Curry knew that the 8-second call was at risk, so he immediately turned and fired a jump pass to Thompson in the front court, seeing Klay in his peripheral vision. Luckily, Thompson was wide open and Kerr called timeout to calm everything down. There was just 37.4 seconds remaining with the Warriors still up 100-99.
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On the ensuing inbound, Iguodala got the ball and was hounded by the pesky Thomas, who tapped the ball out. Andre retrieved it and immediately attacked, getting it tapped momentarily again by Thomas, then getting a strong left-hander to fall over the helping Crowder.
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Golden State suddenly had a 102-99 lead with 26.2 left to play as Stevens called timeout.
With 10.5 seconds remaining, Thomas dribbled around Thompson for a lefty layup to cut the Warriors’ lead to 102-101, then Curry was immediately fouled on the inbound. Steph made both, Thomas missed a three that Curry rebounded, and was fouled again.
Two more free throws made the 106-101 final score as Crowder threw the ball away on the Celtics’ final possession.
Six Celtics scored double-figures, led by Thomas with 20, but Curry totaled 37 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists while Thompson added 20. Green had 14 points, 11 rebounds, and Barnes had 17 points and 8 rebounds.
The Warriors came back from a 26-point deficit, ending with a small lineup with Green playing center.
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The Warriors (46-11) face the Brooklyn Nets tomorrow, then go home two nights later.
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