OAKLAND — The Boston Celtics turned a contentious back and forth matchup into a late game blowout Wednesday at Oracle Arena, where the Golden State Warriors found themselves on the short end of the stick in a rare 99-86 home loss.
Boston preyed on six sloppy Warriors turnovers in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter. The Celtics turned the sequence into a thunderous 15-0 run that buried the Warriors. With 2:30 left to go and a nine point lead, Boston secured back-to-back offensive rebounds, essentially running down the clock. After committing 18 turnovers on the night and shooting 20 percent from downtown, Golden State looked like a team running out of gas in the middle of a five game stretch in seven nights.
A year ago, Boston snapped the Warriors’ NBA record 54-game home winning streak. While fatigue has caught up to the defending Western Conference champs, the Celtics have proven to be an irritating matchup for the Warriors the last couple of seasons. It was the team’s first home loss since an overtime defeat Jan. 6 at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies. Golden State is now 2-3 it its last five games. The Spurs are closing in on the No. 1 seed.
The Warriors clutched the momentum, but it was very brief. With the seconds winding down in the third quarter, Steph Curry pump-faked rookie Jaylen Brown off the ground and drilled a leaning buzzer-beater to give the Warriors a 74-72 lead. But Boston would not be worn down on a West Coast road trip. After a Draymond Green dunk, Isaiah Thomas (25 points) or Kelly Olynyk (17 points off the bench) would respond by making clutch baskets and key defensive stops. Celtics fans in attendance chanted “MVP!” when Thomas attempted free throws in garbage time — as Warriors fans streamed for the exits. Always an odd sight at Oracle Arena.
Klay Thompson did much of the heavy lifting on offense, scoring 25 points on 23 shots. Curry was extra wizardly with his dribbling and trick shots, hitting multiple one-handed leaning layups in the lane. Curry finished with 23 points but went just 2-of-9 from distance.
Andre Iguodala and Green were defensive catalysts. The Warriors finished with 13 blocks and 8 steals. They made the Celtics work for nearly every bucket. This was a very low scoring affair for Golden State’s standards, and while part of that can be attributed to sloppy play, the defensive intensity was real on the court for the regular season.
The Celtics plainly wanted this one more. Golden State will fly to Minnesota for a contest Friday before a much anticipated matchup Saturday in San Antonio.
