It went down to the final seconds, but the matchup of the teams with the top two records in the league ended in a 92-88 defeat for the Dubs. Playing the first of four straight road games, the Warriors struggled offensively and could not get enough stops down the stretch to keep the red-hot Celtics from winning their 14th straight game.
TEAM LEADERS
GSW
BOS
Points
Points
Durant - 24
Brown - 22
Thompson - 13
Horford - 18
Green - 11
Irving - 16
Rebounds
Rebounds
Green / Casspi - 8
Horford - 11
Thompson - 7
Smart / Brown - 7
Curry / Pachulia - 6
Baynes / Ojeleye / Irving - 5
Assists
Assists
Green / Curry - 5
Irving - 6
Livingston - 4
Smart - 3
Thompson / Durant - 3
Horford / Rozier - 2
While the Celtics kept their streak intact, the Dubs’ seven-game winning streak came to a halt. With both teams struggling to score – Boston shot 33 percent from the floor and the Warriors were at 41 percent – the Warriors lost the game at the free throw line, as Boston outscored the Dubs 33-12 from the charity stripe.
After the Warriors led by as many as 17 points in the game – on two different occasions – Boston rallied in the third period, setting up a nail-biting fourth quarter that featured eight lead changes and five ties. Boston went ahead for good on a pair of Kyrie Irving free throws with 14 seconds to go. Kevin Durant’s shot on the ensuing possession rimmed out and Boston secured the rebound and secured the win moments later on two more free throws from rookie Jayson Tatum.
KD DOING WORK
Despite the loss, Kevin Durant had a standout game with 24 points on 9-for-18 shooting from the floor. He made all four of his foul shots, extending his streak to 36 straight made free throws.
ROLE REVERSAL
During the Warriors’ seven-game winning streak, the Dubs dominated the third quarter. In Monday’s defeat, not so much. After stretching a five-point halftime advantage to 17 in the first seven minutes of the second half, Boston responded with a 19-0 run over the next four and a half minutes, doing much of that advantage on free throws. The Celtics outscored the Dubs 26-21 in the third period and the teams entered the fourth quarter tied at 68-68.
STRONG BENCH PEPRFORMANCE
With the Warriors’ starters uncharacteristically struggling – Splash Brothers Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were a combined 8-for-32 from the floor – the Dubs reserves stepped up. Andre Iguodala helped stretch the Dubs’ lead to 17 with three dunks in the second quarter, Nick Young hit a couple of 3-pointers and David West was solid on both sides of the ball with six points on 3-for-4 shooting in 11 minutes. Had the Dubs found a way to win this game, the unheralded hero would have been Omri Casspi. The veteran forward entered the game for the first time at the end of the Boston’s big third quarter run, and he promptly tied the game and began inhaling seemingly every defensive rebound – he finished with eight boards in eight minutes.
KLAY PASSES A LEGEND
Thompson gave the Dubs their final lead of the game when he drilled a 3-pointer with 1:22 left in the game. The shot put the Dubs up 88-86, but the Dubs would be held scoreless the rest of the way. Thompson finished with three made 3-pointers and in the process passed Reggie Miller for eighth place on the NBA’s all-time list of consecutive games with a 3-pointer (69).
UP NEXT
Now 11-4 on the season, the Dubs will continue their road trip on Saturday when they visit the Philadelphia 76ers. This will be the second Dubs-Sixers matchup in the last week, as Golden State beat Philadelphia 135-114 last Saturday in Oakland.