As much as people will highlight Golden State’s impressive march towards history, credit needs to be given to a young Celtics team that gave substance to the claims of how great the future for Boston can be with its young core and stout defense.
After being shut-out in the first half, Isiah Thomas put on a show in Golden state that is usually reserved for the reigning MVP Steph Curry, and the Boston Celtics were able to hand Golden State their first loss at home this season 109-106.
The Celtics hand the Warriors their first home loss at Oracle this season, beating Golden State 109-106. pic.twitter.com/CwvzhSeGF8
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 2, 2016
Steph Curry tried his best to throw his team on his back — which usually proves to be effective — but Thomas and the Celtics’ perimeter defenders were able to muscle their way to a well-deserved victory, and a rare one, over the defending NBA champs.
The Celtics were plus twelve in turnovers, forcing 22 for the game and scoring 27 points off those turnovers, illuminating why they are considered one of the top defenses in the league, specifically in the first half where the Celtics were able to hold Splash Brothers Steph and Klay to a combined 11 first-half points on 4-of-13 shooting.
Curry and Thompson weren’t the only all-stars to struggle though, Isiah Thomas was 0-for-7 from the field with zero points in the first half before things picked up for both squads in the third quarter.
Evan Turner and Jared Sullinger each scored 11 points for Boston, while Avery Bradley added 10 more — including a late first-half 3-pointer that sent Boston into the intermission on top. Boston shot 37.8 percent in first half; the Warriors turned the ball over 13 times leading to 16 points for the Celtics, who took advantage of every opportunity given to them Friday night.
Golden State was riding a six game winning streak going into Friday night’s matchup, and a 54 game winning streak at home that went back all the way to last season, January 26, 2015, to be exact. The rare loss drops them to 68-8 with six games left in the regular season to try and surpass the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls for the best regular season record in NBA history at 72-10.
For the first time in 54 games, the Golden State Warriors were defeated at home. https://t.co/DcWBkLonOd #PostUp pic.twitter.com/hMuE4AttCh
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) April 2, 2016
Golden State must now win 5 of its remaining six games to accomplish that feat, which will prove rather difficult seeing that they will play two teams that have already gotten the best of them this season, San Antonio and Portland.
It’s worth mentioning that the Warriors face the Spurs twice during these last five games.
The Warriors were led by Curry who scored 21 points in the third quarter alone, but shot only 3-for-11 in the other three quarters. He finished with eight 3-pointers and 29 points for the game–the only Warrior to score over 20 points.
Isiah Thomas came alive in the third quarter after being held scoreless in the first half, and was the catalyst behind the Celtics tireless effort to be the only team to slay the NBA’s top team at home.
The 5 ft 9 guard from Washington proved to be the difference in the second half for the Celtics and provided the nail-in-the-coffin with a clutch basket in the final 30 seconds of regulation over defensive specialist Draymond Green.
Thomas ended the game with 22 points, all in the second half, and became the team’s leading scorer for the 15th straight game of the season, surpassing Larry Bird’s record of 13 set in 1987-88.
The Celtics, sitting 6th in the Eastern Conference at 43-32, were coming off a loss at Portland and had played the Warriors close the last time the two teams met.
They continue their West coast road trip in L.A. on Sunday, while the Warriors look to get back on track at home against Portland the same day.
[Image by Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo]