Two nights after besting the Hawks on the road, the Golden State Warriors (52-11) returned home to face the current No. 2 seed in the East, the Boston Celtics (40-24).
The Warriors were without Kevin Durant (left knee MCL sprain and bone bruise) and Damian Jones (D-League assignment).
Q1: Splash Brothers Support
Klay Thompson ended a mini-drought for both teams with a jumper, then a three…
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https://twitter.com/JaeAzizi/status/839684134377185281/video/1
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…but Draymond Green smoked a layup which led to a run-out for the Celtics.
Stephen Curry and Isaiah Thomas both traded three free throws apiece, drawing fouls beyond the arc, then Curry drove in, made a fake pass and finished with an exquisite lefty reverse that trickled in:
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/839687725943033857/video/1
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Steph added a dribble-and-pop three, going from the top to the left wing…
https://twitter.com/JaeAzizi/status/839685171112628224/video/1
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…but the Celtics hung tough as Avery Bradley made an impressive jumper and Thomas made an even more impressive trey to keep things close, with the Warriors ahead, 15-12, with 5:03 remaining before Steve Kerr called the first timeout for Golden State.
Out of the timeout, JaVale McGee tapped out a missed corner three by Green, then late in the shotclock, made an improbable running righty hook off the board:
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With 2:28 to play, the Warriors held a 24-17 lead.
But Jonas Jerebko came off the bench for Boston and drilled a jumper followed by a catch-and-splash, with Matt Barnes, who came in to a nice hand from #Roaracle…
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Iguodala made a nice pump-fake reverse layup, and Golden State took a 28-25 lead into the second stanza.
Q2: Tit For Tat
Iguodala hit an open jumper to start the second frame, followed by an inside bucket by Draymond…
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Hitting the free throw after Kerr called timeout, the Celtics evened the score at 34-34.
Klay curled around for a catch-and-bury “J”, but Smart then Bradley tightened the clamps on Thompson and the Warriors committed a shot clock violation, then Klay got stripped by Bradley, although Shaun Livingston made up for it with a nice block on Horford.
Livingston later made a great close-out on a Jae Crowder jumper, leading to a run-out righty scoop by McCaw, who turned on the jets to finish the break:
[protected-iframe id=”8a307111c5ae2cdc877af46c94a72bfc-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJaeAzizi%2Fstatus%2F839693693544079360″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]Kelly Olynyk struck back with a catch-and-shoot trey from the left arc, Curry threw the ball away on a lefty sling pass inside, but Matt Barnes did well to hustle back and swat away the fast break by Bradley:
[protected-iframe id=”eda98a9827042b3b2d9b1a66ba699309-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FCSNWarriors%2Fstatus%2F839693714171674624″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]Amir Johnson ended up scoring on a nifty up-and-under with the lefty, but Steph came back with a crazy scoop play drawing contact, with no foul to his dismay, and Olynyk accidentally tipped the ball in, the bucket credited to Curry:
[protected-iframe id=”77b1091277cd7fc3ca2544774fa5a48f-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FCSNWarriors%2Fstatus%2F839694085321433088″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]With 2:45 left, the Celtics maintained a 45-42 lead.
Kerr got Iguodala a dunk assisted by Curry on the “ATO” (after-timeout) play and, a couple possessions later, Klay blocked a Bradley drive, then was rewarded with a layup at the other end after a skip pass, with the assist to McCaw:
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Out of the timeout, Bradley hit the side of the board on a corner three, leading to a shot clock violation, and Green tapped a missed three by Klay to Curry, then cut to the hole and dropped in a floater fed by Steph, with 30 seconds to play.
Smart smoked an open lefty layup, although the Warriors blew an assignment on the play…
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The Warriors took a 50-46 lead into halftime.
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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @thedimsum)
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