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Warriors topple Celtics, extend win streak to double digits

By

Jacob Hutchinson

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© Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Tonight was billed as a full-strength matchup between two teams with a high potential to match up in the Finals. Sometimes that sort of hype is overblown, or unmatched by the on-court play. This was not one of those nights. The hype was accurate thanks to incisive play and incendiary shooting.

While the lead changed hands in every quarter, the Warriors eventually took hold late in the fourth to win 115-111 and secure their 10th-straight win. Here are three thoughts from tonight’s game:

“One of us, Won’t last the night”

Let’s be clear, we’re not talking about life-or-death situations – just win streaks. The Warriors came into tonight with a nine-game win streak (and nine-game road win streak), the longest in the NBA this season. The Celtics, meanwhile, boasted a 10-game home win streak. One side would have to fold, and to no one’s surprise, both teams were reticent about relinquishing their streaks.

There was both fantastic and abysmal offense on display tonight. The third quarter, featured the latter. Wing-heavy lineups on both sides brought defensive switchability against inconsistent offensive lineups. The Warriors threw out the wing-heavy lineup of Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Alfonzo McKinnie and Kevon Looney – all players 6’7″ to 6’11” – and the result of that defensive flexibility was evident:

Aside from Draymond Green, all of the Warriors’ starter finished with at least 15 points:

Kevin Durant: 33 points (10-of-23, 1-of-4 from 3-pt, 12-of-13 from FT), 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers

Stephen Curry: 24 points (7-of-15, 6-of-12 from 3-pt), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover

Klay Thompson: 21 points (8-of-16, 3-of-8 from 3-pt), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers

DeMarcus Cousins: 15 points (4-of-9, 1-of-2 from 3-pt, 6-of-7 from FT), 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers

Draymond Green: 5 points (1-of-3, 1-of-2 from 3-pt), 11 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers

Meanwhile, the Celtics had three 20-point scorers, with Kyrie Irving going unconscious:

Kyrie Irving: 32 points (12-of-25, 4-of-10 from 3-pt), 6 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers

Jayson Tatum: 20 points (7-of-15, 3-of-5 from 3-pt), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover

Al Horford: 22 points (10-of-15, 2-of-5 from 3-pt), 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 5 turnovers

Marcus Smart: 12 points (4-of-11, 2-of-7 from 3-pt), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers

Marcus Morris: 9 points (3-of-12, 2-of-6 from 3-pt), 9 rebounds, 2 assists

But for as fantastic as Irving was, he made some costly turnovers, with three of them coming in the final five minutes of the game. Those mistakes gave the Warriors a 113-111 lead with 48 seconds left in the game. But the same sloppiness plagued the Warriors. After the Warriors picked up a rebound with about 30 seconds left, Kevin Durant threw a pass away. Following another missed Celtics shot, the Warriors lost the ball out of bounds.

Finally, they secured the rebound and Draymond Green was fouled for two free throws. Of course, Green missed both, but the ball bounced directly to him. Green shuffled the ball to Curry, and as you would expect, Curry drained both free throws to give the Warriors a 115-111 lead with 6 seconds remaining.

As the Boston-based alternative rock group Guster sang on, “Center of Attention,” off their third album “Lost and Gone Forever,” it’s inevitable one side breaks. Adam Gardner and Ryan Miller sang, “One of us, Won’t last the night, Between you and me, it’s no surprise, There’s two of us, Both can’t be right.”

Boogie’s foul trouble isn’t troubling

DeMarcus Cousins’ first few games with the Warriors have been encouraging. He’s scored the ball and rebounded effectively, been quicker in transition than expected, and provided the physical defensive presence the team has missed desperately on the interior. That last part though, comes with a caveat: Cousins has fouled at a concerningly-high rate.

He fouled out (notoriously) in 15 minutes in his first game back, picked up four fouls in his second game back versus the Lakers, then a pair two nights ago against the Washington Wizards. In each game, his minutes increased: from 15 to 21 to 24.

The decline in fouls and increase in minutes have been encouraging, but tonight, Cousins reverted. He picked up five fouls and played 21 minutes. Maybe that’s a concern for some, but it hasn’t come at the cost of output on the floor. Cousins had 15 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, a block and 3 turnvoers. It’s entirely natural for Cousins to be unaccustomed to the speed of the game or the rule changes in how fouls are being called this season (if you’ll recall, there was a massive learning curve and foul-committing glut by the Warriors early in the season).

As I’ve mentioned previously, the Warriors don’t need Cousins at his best. They don’t need a full 30-plus minutes a game with peak offensive efficiency from him. He’s been fantastic so far, and even if he continues to struggle with foul issues, whatever the Warriors get out of him is already a bonus.

Quinn pays homage to Oladipo with the kicks

Quinn Cook didn’t take the floor tonight, but if you did, you would see that he’d be wearing a pair of Golden State colorway shoes, with nothing seemingly too special about them.

But on the bottom of those shoes, Cook scribbled an homage to longtime friend Victor Oladipo, who he’d known since high school. Oladipo recently suffered a season-ending injury, and Cook wrote “VO4” on the front to honor Oladipo.

BONUS THOUGHT:

Steve Kerr became the fastest coach in any major sport to reach 300 wins, doing it in an almost incomprehensible 377 games. He shattered Pat Riley’s record.

In honor of Kerr’s achievement, here’s the iconic video of Kerr and the rest of the Warriors celebrating Curry’s 30th birthday:

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