ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Two nights after a comeback overtime victory in Utah, the Golden State Warriors (68-7) played host to the Boston Celtics (43-32).
The Warriors were without Andre Iguodala (ankle), Festus Ezeli (knee), and Kevon Looney (hip).
The Celtics were without Jae Crowder (rest) and James Young (inactive).
1st Quarter – Steph Saves The Best For Last
Draymond Green hit his first two triples, one on the first possession where he waited on the left wing for things to develop, nothing did, and he launched.
The second was an attack after Avery Bradley missed a jumper. Green went through the lane, dished back out to Andrew Bogut traling at the top of the arc, then Bogut hit Draymond back in the left corner and he hit the three-ball, corner pocket.
Green tried a heat-check with a pull-up from about 30 feet straightaway, but was short.
Harrison Barnes added a right-corner catch-and-shoot swish after Stephen Curry got some room dribbling against Bradley on tough man-to-man coverage, but the Celtics hit jumpers and Curry committed three unforced turnovers, plus one more by Draymond.
Boston center Jared Sullinger hit a three after Barnes missed one, and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr took a timeout with 7:17 remaining and the score tied, 9-9.
Out of the timeout, Klay Thompson missed a three, Bogut turned the ball over, Curry lost the ball again for his fifth turnover, and Bogut picked up his second personal and went to the bench.
Bradley hit three straight jumpers for the Celtics, but Leandro Barbosa made a nice cut to the lane for a finger roll, fed by Green, and Barnes hit another triple on a catch-and-shoot from the right elbow, assisted by Anderson Varejao:
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Celtics head coach Brad Stevens took a timeout as the Warriors knotted things up, 18-18, with 3:00 to play.
After a Jonas Jerebko jumper, with 27.3 seconds to go, Curry dribbled between several Celtics at the top and they left Varejao free to cut to the hole. Steph delivered with a laser pass, Varejao making the layup easily:
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Marcus Smart came back with an ill-advised runner with 21.3 seconds left, and the Warriors ran a play that had Varejao set an off-ball pick for Curry on the right side, and strong>Shaun Livingston provided the assist this time as Steph finally hit his first shot from beyond the arc:
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That gave the Warriors a 23-21 lead after one period.
2nd Quarter – More Turnovers
Barnes hit his third trey, this time from the top, to get things started for Golden State in the second stanza. Livingston added a block of Turner…
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…and a jumper over Kelly Olynyk and so did Thompson, but after a TV timeout at the 8:12 mark, both teams went cold.
After a combined 2-for-13 brickfest, Marreese Speights finally put some pizzazz into the game with a catch-and-shoot triple from the right arc, and the Stevens took another timeout as the Warriors creeped ahead, 35-28, with 5:17 left.
Jerebko hit a three, Curry missed a “put-on-the-brakes” three…
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…Sullinger hit a pick-and-roll jumper on the roll with Isaiah Thomas, and Turner buried a three from the right wing, and from the sidelines, Kerr called out a play, which was to Klay.
However, Thompson got the ball and promptly turned the ball over with a careless lob to Green that went into the baseline seats.
After a timeout taken by Kerr, Curry managed to drain another triple…
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…but the Celtics hung around. Sullinger and Bogut traded putbacks, then after a Thompson and-one on a drive against Sullinger, Steph got called for an offensive foul hooking Thomas on the dribble out of a post-up on the left block. Curry couldn’t believe the call…
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Turner made him pay with another jumper with 33 seconds remaining, Curry got trapped at halfcourt and stepped on the line for his seventh turnover of the half, and after another Stevens timeout to setup a play, Bradley dropped a triple from the left arc.
Klay made a hapless heave from the left side before halfcourt that didn’t get anywhere and the Celtics held a 45-43 lead at halftime.
Barnes led the Warriors with his three threes, while Turner, Sullinger, and Bradley were all in double-figures, although Boston shot just 38.7%. Golden State was 40% from the field and 8-for-18 from downtown. The Warriors committed 13 turnovers.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @kunal173011)
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