Warriors 95, Celtics 109

Game Highlights

Photo of the Game

Rasheed Wallace sacrifices his body by diving on the floor to steal a loose ball from Golden State's Anthony Morrow.
Brian Babineau/NBAE/Getty

By Marc D'Amico
Celtics.com

Key Moment

With a slim one-point lead at halftime, Paul Pierce pulled his teammates aside during halftime, looked them in the eyes and held everyone accountable for the underwhelming performance they had given in the first half. That speech from the Captain did wonders for the Celtics and sparked them to a third-quarter run that helped them to a 109-95 win over the Warriors in the TD Garden.

Corey Maggette tied the score at 55-55 with a free throw at the 8:49 mark, and that's about when The Truth's teammates woke up from their temporary slump. Boston's mantra is defense, and that's exactly what sparked their run from that point on. In a stretch that began 1:16 before Maggette's free throw, the Warriors were held without a field goal for more than six minutes of the third period. Maggette's free throw was also Golden State's only point until he got to the line and hit a pair of free throws at the 4:18 mark. Even with those two free throws, the Celtics held a 10-point advantage and all of the momentum was on their side.

While the defense was dominating one end, Rajon Rondo was doing work at the other, scoring seven points and assisting on four more during the Celtics' 14-3 run.

At halftime, there was no clear favorite to win this game. Thanks to a speech from Pierce and outstanding play by Rondo, less than eight minutes into the third period there was no doubt which team was going to stash this one in the win column.

Key Box Score Line

Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Doc Rivers praised Rajon Rondo in their postgame press conferences, and rightfully so. The Celtics' point guard tied a season-high with 18 points, dished out 12 assists and grabbed seven boards. His aggressiveness on offense put pressure on Golden State's defense, and there was no stopping the C's from that point on. Rondo played fantastic basketball in the second half, and this win is certainly a testament to that.

Box Score Nuggets

• There were eight lead changes in the game, but Golden State's largest lead was only one point.
• Eddie House snapped out of his shooting funk and made four of his 10 shots for 11 points, including 3-of-5 from downtown.
• All five Celtics starters scored in double figures.
• Golden State dished out a solid 22 assists, but also finished with 21 turnovers while committing 21 personal fouls.
• Both teams took exactly 80 field goal attempts.
• The Warriors entered the game averaging a league-best 111.2 PPG but were held to only 95 tonight, including a 19-point third quarter.
• Golden State had only eight available players for the game, and one of those players was Raja Bell, who is scheduled to have surgery tomorrow.
• The Celtics found their stroke from 3-point range and made eight of their 19 attempts from beyond the arc.
• Boston shot 52.5 percent on the night.
• Golden State thrives on fast break opportunities, but Boston's transition defense limited them to only 12 points off the break tonight.
• Kebin Garnett swished a one-handed shot from three-quarters court at the final buzzer of the first half, but the referees concluded that he did not get the shot off in time.

Quote of the Night

Doc Rivers on playing with a lead against the Warriors' vaunted offense: "That team scares the hell out of you. You want to sub your guys out with five minutes left and you're worried about them making a 20-0 run in two seconds. I mean, they're a hell of an offensive team, I'll tell you that."