The Golden State Warriors were at TD Garden to face the Boston Celtics.
The Warriors were without Klay Thompson, whose sprained right ankle was still stiff pregame, as well as Harrison Barnes (sprained left ankle) and Kevon Looney. Ian Clark and Brandon Rush started in Thompson and Barnes’ spots, respectively.
The Celtics were without Marcus Smart (lower left leg injury) and RJ Hunter (left hip flexor strain).
1st Quarter – Bradley Anxious
Avery Bradley came out of the gate hot, with 12 of the Celtics’ first 15 points on two treys, a pullup jumper, and a finger roll layup as Boston pushed the pace.
Clark was aggressive to start, but got his confidence tested early as Amir Johnson rejected both of his attacks. Brandon Rush got on the board early after Draymond Green stole the ball on a bad pass from Isaiah Thomas.
Stephen Curry hit his first three, but missed his next five shots on from a variety of spots on the floor as the hungry young Celtics played spirited basketball on both ends.
After Green got blocked by Johnson, Curry collected the loose ball and, with the shotclock buzzing, fired from straightaway, missed, and Bradley came back with two straight triples before Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton called timeout to cool Avery down, with Boston up, 15-10 and 5:34 to play in the opening stanza.
Andre Iguodala came in for Rush and posted up on the left block, then fed Green for a catch-and-shoot trey from the left wing, but Thomas missed inside, got his own rebound next to Andrew Bogut and fired back out to Bradley for yet another three-pointer.
Iguodala missed his next three on a catch from the left corner, but came back on the defensive end to pick his friend Evan Turner’s pocket and feed Curry for the runout finger roll, which cut the deficit to an 18-15 Celtics lead:
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Fast break fly-by, courtesy of @StephenCurry30. #NBAVote pic.twitter.com/Q6ZVTqGaBe
— Golden St. Warriors (@warriors) December 12, 2015
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After a timeout, Shaun Livingston checked in for Clark, as did David Lee for Boston, and Livingston got a turnaround jumper to fall over Celtics reserve guard James Young.
Curry then tracked a Lee lead pass for a steal and, in stride, slung a lefty laser submarine pass to a streaking Iguodala for a slam dunk:
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Young maintained his poise and drilled a three in transition after Green missed a trey from the top, then came back with a jumper off a curl from a screen.
Curry then dribbled into some traffic but fed an open Green who found Festus Ezeli down low for a bucket, with the foul:
Nice interior passing for the Dubs & @Festus finishes with an easy two. #NBAVote #DubTheVote pic.twitter.com/SkhIGlEaRb
— Golden St. Warriors (@warriors) December 12, 2015
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Ezeli converted and Celtics head coach Brad Stevens had Lee hack Ezeli, but Ezeli made both free throws. After Bradley missed a fall-away trey from the left wing with Green lunging out, the Warriors held a 26-25 lead heading into the second quarter.
2nd Quarter – Counter-Jabs
Leandro Barbosa, who had come in for Curry late in the first quarter with the Celtics having the last possession, got off to a quick start as he usually does, with a layup after Lee missed a jumper and Iguodala corralled the rebound and outlet the ball to Barbosa.
Marreese Speights got swatted by Jae Crowder, but made up for it later with a nice feed inside to Ezeli, who converted the righty hook.
Speights then got an “and-one” against Kelly Olynyk inside, digging his head into Olynyk’s chest with the generous call and Ezeli also powered a bucket over Olynyk.
Curry found a cutting Livingston for a layup as Lee doubled, but Lee fed Thomas for a turn-and-fade, then after Livingston missed a jumper over Thomas, Thomas came back again and hit a stop-and-pop baseline jumper.
Walton was wary of any Celtics getting hot again after Bradley’s first-quarter outburst, and called timeout, down 43-41.
Out of the timeout, Curry got going, getting a catch-and-shoot that was nearly from his hip on the left wing with his defender draped all over him.
Jared Sullinger got a tip-in after Thomas missed a three at the shotclock buzzer, but Curry brought the ball up the court, went behind-the-back with a dribble and pulled up for three, the ball once again not going in smoothly, but nevertheless going in, and that gave the Warriors a 47-45 lead approaching three minutes remaining in the half.
After Sullinger made a tough running hook shot over Green, Green came right back with a near-identical move on the other end, but also got fouled by Sullinger.
Green yelled, “And-one!” and gave himself a one-armed gorilla chest thump three times:
SULLY DRAYMOND TALK-OFF pic.twitter.com/Bh2DBxP5Sg
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) December 12, 2015
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That put the Warriors back up, 52-50, with 2:20 left in the half.
Curry swatted Sullinger from behind, collected the loose ball, and found Barbosa for a fast break layup, then Green smothered Thomas on a layup attempt driving down the right side of the lane, but Barbosa killed the momentum with an offensive foul by grabbing Thomas’ arm trying to break free.
Curry couldn’t end the half with any explosives, although he did manage to maneuver past aggressive on-ball defense from Bradley to collect two free throws, but Steph missed a manufactured three-point attempt right before the buzzer and got blocked by Olynyk as the horn sounded, as Curry tried to make something out of nothing.
Golden State took at 57-53 lead into halftime. Curry had a quiet 15 points, Green added 13, and Iguodala collected 7 boards.
Meanwhile, Bradley led the Celtics with 15 points and Sullinger chipped in 7.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @insta_glenn93)
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