warriors vs celtics recap (Photo: Brian Babineau/NBAE/Getty)
The Golden State Warriors got a much-needed win tonight. As Klay Thompson, the hero from last night’s win against the Indiana Pacers (sights & sounds here), said, the win in Indiana would “mean nothing” if the Warriors weren’t able to take care of business against the lowly Celtics.
The Dubs got good play out of everyone tonight, one of the most well-rounded games of the season. They really kept their turnovers down, and really scored well in the paint tonight.
FIRST QUARTER
It looked like it was going to be a very good game for the Warriors right after the first possession when David Lee made a deep jumper to start off the scoring. Then Andre Iguodala, Stephen Curry and Thompson had back-to-back dunks on breakaways that got the Warriors a 10-2 lead early on.
The Warriors pounded the Celtics in the paint, especially in this quarter, scoring 20 of their first 25 points in the paint. They led the Celtics 30-22 after one.
#Warriors 12, Celtics 2 (6:47, 1st) Boston missed its first five shots and is now 1-for-8 with four turnovers.
— Rusty Simmons (@Rusty_SFChron) March 6, 2014
SECOND QUARTER
The Warriors started off the second quarter with a 7-0 run. Harrison Barnes and Jordan Crawford had big games off the bench and they got it rolling here in the second quarter.
Golden State would then go onto have a big halftime lead, blowing out the Celtics 61-40.
Dubs out-rebounding BOS 24-19 & out-assisting them 19-6. 12 Celticus turnovers have translated to 15 #Warriors points. #LetsGoWarriors
— Golden St. Warriors (@warriors) March 6, 2014
THIRD QUARTER
After exploding on the Celtics in the first half, the Warriors still had a ton of energy to start off the third quarter. Iguodala got another dunk this quarter, although Curry air-balled a three. However, he then buried one on a fast break.
Halfway through the quarter, Curry came out to have his right thigh looked at, and seemed a bit uncomfortable. The trainer would stretch Curry out, but Curry returned to the bench. It appeared to be just a cramp.
Thompson went on another spurt in the quarter like he did last night in the fourth against Indiana. The Warriors led the Celtics 84-54 after three quarters.
Stephen Curry has right leg soreness, according to the Warriors, and his return is questionable.
— Rusty Simmons (@Rusty_SFChron) March 6, 2014
FOURTH QUARTER
Steve Blake made the opening field goal of the fourth quarter. Also, at the beginning of the quarter, Marreese Speights checked in for the first time in the game — he did not play against the Pacers.
As the game was getting out of hand, the TD Garden crowd started chanting “Scalabrine”, in reference to Warriors assistant coach Brian Scalabrine, a veteran of the NBA who spent time in both Boston and Chicago.
The Warriors continued to dominate the rest of the quarter and would cruise to a 108-88 win.
#Warriors finish off the road trip 4-2 and blow out the #Celtics tonight! Great win. Warriors dominated in many categories.
— LetsGoWarriors (@LetsGoWarriors) March 6, 2014
RECAP ROUND-UP
Howard Ulman of the Associated Press:
“This win validates last night,” Thompson said.
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The Warriors were determined not to ease up against much weaker competition than they faced at Indiana, which has the league’s best home record.
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“It was big for us,” Lee said. “The starters really wanted to come out and set the tone tonight and not give the Celtics team any life.”
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That plan worked.
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The Warriors scored the first six points and led 12-2 with just over five minutes gone as they moved a season-high 14 games over .500 with a 38-24 record.
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“I read where if we lost this game then that takes away (Tuesday’s win). You cannot forget how tough it is to win games in this league,” Golden State coach Mark Jackson said. “Fortunately, we did not fall in love with what we did in Indy.”
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“We took care of business on the road,” Lee said. “Our thought is we shouldn’t lose any more games at home.”
Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle:
They made the adage about a defense’s ability to travel ring true, moving to 18-4, including 10-2 on the road, when limiting opponents to less than 40 percent shooting. The Warriors held Boston (20-41) to 39.5 percent shooting and forced 22 turnovers that they converted into 24 points.
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The Warriors had 12 layups and five dunks through three quarters, dominating the Celtics 48-16 in paint points and 20-4 in fastbreak points. David Lee had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Klay Thompson added 18 points, Stephen Curry chipped in 14 and Andre Iguodala put up 11.
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The starters weren’t needed for the fourth quarter, after building an 80-49 lead in the third quarter and punctuating the buzzer-beating victory at Indiana from the previous night.
Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group:
David Lee and Klay Thompson scored 18 points apiece while Stephen Curry added 14 points before leaving the game with 6:43 left in the third quarter due to right leg soreness.
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The sloppy Celtics committed 22 turnovers and shot 39.5 percent from the field as the Warriors’ defense continues to shine.
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The Warriors led by as many as 31 points and had an easy time getting to the basket with 58 points scored in the paint.
Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area:
Such was the rout that no Warriors starter played more than Thompson’s 28 minutes, a luxury that was welcome insofar as the regulars played heavy minutes in a 98-96 win at Indiana on Tuesday night.
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