Your Morning Dump... Where history pays a visit to Golden State.

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

Survive, the Boston Celtics might have thought. Hang on for a quarter and keep going. Stay tight through the first half and continue working. Call timeout after a quick flurry early in the third quarter and push right back. Understand the Golden State Warriors All-Stars will all make huge plays, but cling tight and never let go.

MassLive

Well, if the Celtics have lost several games this season they should’ve won, they also have won a few they had no business winning.

Like taking on the Warriors. On the road. On the back half of a back to back. Without Jae Crowder.

Joe Lacob shot his mouth off earlier on Friday. Consider this game a bit of a lesson from a team that is so professionally run its owners and management don’t see the need to boast rather unprofessionally about their operations. A team with a bit more history than Golden State as well.

A team that went 50-1 at home thirty years ago.

Page 2: The Celtics kept their cool

The audacity a player demonstrates in taking that shot with 15 seconds left on the shot clock — let alone in burying it right in the teeth of a relatively solid contest — is completely demoralizing for many teams, and Brad Stevens knew it.

“I thought when Curry got going in the third quarter, the biggest moments of the game were us scoring consecutively when he scored, because when he got going, that’s usually when they run away with a 10-0 run or a 12-0 run,” Stevens told reporters after the game. “And we had to play.”

MassLive

One of my favorite scenes in Hoosiers–and I don’t know if it happened in real life with Bobby Plump and Milan High–is when Gene Hackman had his players measure the court and hoops at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

If you get caught up in the Warriors aura–and it’s so easy to do, even when you’re on the court–you can forget that Curry’s crazy shot is worth exactly as many points as a shot that a good player will hit 40% of the time from a much closer distance. And that it’s only worth one point more than a shot that a good player can hit half the time.

The spectacle is something else, but the result on the scoreboard is the same as a conventional three point shot coming out of a conventional half-court set. If you don’t buy into the hype, you can play the possession in front of you. And if you do a really good job at it, you can get the same results Curry got, even if it’s in a more workman like fashion.

And over the whole course of a game, your team might end up being enough better than Golden State to win. As long as you remember the baskets are just baskets. You can talk about ‘style points’ but they don’t, in fact, show up on the scoreboard.

Kudos to Stevens for setting that tone, and to the players who at no point last night gave in to the Warriors hype.

Page 3: Stevens gets it…

“I think it’s somebody else’s job to talk about expectations and ceilings. It’s coaches’ jobs to get the most out of people.”

…

Most pundits don’t think this Boston team, as currently constructed, is capable of competing much beyond the first round. Without more star power, most believe the Celtics can’t make the giant last step — that sort of leap the Warriors made during their quick climb.

But don’t tell that to Stevens. He won’t deter his players from dreaming big. The next Warriors? That team probably doesn’t exist. But Stevens wants to get his team to a point where other teams want to become the next Celtics.

ESPN Boston

At the Celtics’ media day in October 2013, Ainge was asked if his opinion of Stevens had changed since he’d hired him earlier that year. Ainge’s response: “I’d like to give him a four year extension.”

Time has justified Ainge’s optimism.

Page 4: …And is now a front-runner for coach of the year?

A performance like Friday before an ESPN audience might be the separation in coach of the year voting with competition from the likes of Steve Kerr (Warriors), Terry Stotts (Blazers) and Steve Clifford (Hornets). It also showed the Celtics are getting comfortable with the bright lights just before the playoffs.

“I don’t know that we’ve done that yet so I hope that’s something we can do,” Stevens said. “The level of lights is the same every night to me. You play 82 and you have to perform 82 times. It’s part of our job. But I thought the best part about today was there was a real sense of purpose. There was never any ducking our head or lowering our head. We just kind of stayed the course and kind of kept grinding at it.”

Stevens is known for not letting his emotions show but Thomas admitted that Stevens made an exception Friday night by smiling and encouraging his team late.

“In the huddle, he did [smile],” Thomas said. “He kept saying, ‘This is ours. We’re going to win it.’ Showing more emotion than usual. That’s just him. He’s even-keeled. You never know what type of game is going on because he’s so in the middle. That’s the special thing about him.”

WEEI

If you’re of the mindset that Steve Kerr shouldn’t win coach of the year because he wasn’t the coach for the first half of the season, and if you’re tired of voting for Pop, who else is there? Sure, you could go for Terry Stotts, but the Blazers’ record is worse than Boston’s in a softer conference (top to bottom) and arguably Stotts is dealing with the same hodge-podge lineup issues that Stevens has.

Finally: Tweets from last night.

April Fools!!!!

— Jared Sullinger (@Jared_Sully0) April 2, 2016

Current mood: pic.twitter.com/O93thdouoi

— Bobby Krivitsky (@Bobby_K91) April 2, 2016

Red just played the best April Fools Day prank ever

— John Karalis (@RedsArmy_John) April 2, 2016

Check out Draymond Green on the final play. Pretty sure he finished Smart off with a Samoan Drop. pic.twitter.com/d1PkLki7PB

— Brian Robb (@CelticsHub) April 2, 2016

Draymond was like Nate Newton opening holes for Emmitt Smith in 1995 with those blocks for Steph on last possession.

— Shawn Fury (@shawnfury) April 2, 2016

.@KDTrey5 nice Celtics win, eh?

— Nicholas W. Goss (@NickGossNESN) April 2, 2016

The Celtics are 1-0 at Oracle Arena this season … that’s better than anyone else pic.twitter.com/vvBdmp5c7x

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 2, 2016