The Warriors threatened a comeback from 10 points down with less than three-and-a-half minutes in the game, but ultimately ran out of time in Tuesday’s 111-107 loss to the Celtics at Chase Center.
That the Warriors were even in the game had everything to do with Stephen Curry. The two-time NBA MVP did a bit of everything in this game, including scoring eight straight points during the late Dubs’ run. But Boston, buoyed by a 15-2 run earlier in the period, made enough free throws down the stretch to keep the Dubs at bay.
TEAM LEADERS
Curry got the Dubs off to a blistering start, running off a Draymond Green screen and hitting a 3-pointer on the first possession of the game. Curry would make his first three shot attempts and knock down four treys in the opening period, scoring 17 of his game-high 38 points in the quarter. Curry did it all in the game, shooting 12-for-21 from the floor and 7-for-14 from distance while also pulling down 11 rebounds and handing out eight assists. His fifth double-double of the season, and third of the points-rebounds variety, came on a night where he became the second Warriors player ever to cross the 17,000 career points threshold (Wilt Chamberlain 17,783).
As good as Curry was, it wasn’t enough to get past a Celtics team that got 64 combined points from Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown.
And the Warriors dealt another blow when Kevon Looney sprained his left ankle in the second quarter and didn’t return to game action in the second half. The Dubs, who entered the game with James Wiseman and Marquese Chriss sidelined with injuries, were short on size, and that really showed in the rebounding discrepancy, as the Dubs were out-rebounded 51-36 and yielded 12 offensive rebounds to the Celtics.
Needing a spark, the Warriors turned to Juan Toscano-Anderson. Playing in his first game in 10 days, he was up to the challenge. With the team struggling to score in the third period, the Oakland native, playing with his hometown spelled out across his chest, knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and his all-out hustle led to another three-point play in the quarter, during which he accounted for nine of his career-high matching 16 points.
Draymond Green added seven assists and 11 rebounds, Andrew Wiggins tallied 15 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. added 12 points, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Dubs from falling to 11-10 in the season.
Up Next: The Warriors head to Texas for a pair of two-game series, taking on the Mavericks on Thursday and Saturday before wrapping up the trip with two games in San Antonio on Monday and Tuesday.