2019.01.26 (#Warriors vs. #Celtics) See Full Video Highlights
2019.01.26 (#Warriors vs. #Celtics) See Full Video Highlights
Warriors’ 10th Straight Win! Dubs hang on to beat Celtics
Kevin Durant (35) of the Golden State Warriors is stopped by Aron Baynes (46) of the Boston Celtics in the final minutes of the game as the rest of the teams look on as Warriors hang on to beat the Celtics at the TD Garden on January 26, 2019 in Boston, MA. (Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
2019.01.26 – The Golden State Warriors picked up their 10th straight win, by hanging on to beat the Boston Celtics 115-111 at the TD Garden. Kevin Durant had 33 points to lead the Warriors and Stephen Curry had 24, including a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to ice the game.
The Golden State clinched the game with a pair of Curry free-throws with 6.2 seconds left. Before and after that, the Celtics (30-19) missed their last four shots.
Draymond Green missed what could’ve been a pair of costly foul shots as the Warriors nursed a 113-111 lead with 8.6 seconds left, but Green grabbed the rebound and tipped the ball to Curry before getting fouled.
“They still have to come down and score the basketball. So thank God I was able to get the rebound,” Green said. “I just saw the ball and went and got it.”
Kyrie Irving scored 32 points with 10 assists and Al Horford had 22 points and 13 rebounds for Boston, which had won five straight and 10 in a row at home.
The Warriors took a 113-111 lead with 47 seconds left on Thompson’s only free throws of the game and held on as Boston had three chances to tie it or take the lead. Marcus Smart rimmed out on a 3-pointer, Irving air-balled a fade-away from the baseline and Marcus Morris was short on a 3.
The match-up of the defending NBA champions and one of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference had a sold-out TD Garden standing for the final two minutes.
With the Warriors and Celtics trading 21 lead changes and 14 ties, Stephen Curry described the setting as “two great teams going at it.”
The sellout crowd of 18,624 fans fans cheered at every Celtics highlight, sighed at every Warriors highlighted and jeered at any call that did not go their way.
And with this game being broadcast nationally in primetime (8:30 pm ET), Coach Steve Kerr predicted accurately, that means an extra hour of beer time for the local Bostonians; it’s probably going to be a little loud in there.”
“This game was intense. It felt like a playoff game,” Kerr said. “That’s when our guys rise to the occasion. They did the whole way through.”
Golden State opened a 56-47 lead in the last five minutes of in the second quarter, but the Celtics scored the next 10 points to erase it. The Warriors hit the first basket of the fourth to open a 92-84 lead, but Boston scored seven in a row and, after a basket by Thompson, another five straight to take a 96-94 lead.
WARRIORS TIP-INS
– Durant dribbled out the clock at the end of the first quarter and then, after the buzzer, sank a half-court shot that didn’t count.
– The last team to have five reigning all-stars on the floor at the same time was the 1975-76 Boston Celtics of Dave Cowens, John Havlicek, Jo Jo White, Paul Silas and Charlie Scott, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
– It’s the third time in five seasons the Warriors have ended an opponent’s 10-game home winning streak. They snapped San Antonio’s 48-game streak in 2016 and a 13-game streak for Cleveland in 2018.
– DeMarcus Cousins picked up his fourth foul early in the third and his fifth about three minutes into the second half. He played just 24 minutes but had 15 points and eight rebounds.
CELTICS TIP-INS
– Irving had his 11th double-double with points and assists.
– The last Celtic with 11 of that kind of double-double was Larry Bird in 1986-87.
HOME-COURT EDGE
The Celtics brought a 10-game home winning streak into the game, and Warriors coach Kerr was prepared for the struggle of playing at the TD Garden on a Saturday night.
UP NEXT
Warriors: Visit Indiana on Monday.
Celtics: Host Brooklyn on Monday.
Read more at: Golden State Warriors Media Services / More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
For more on the Golden State Warriors, see the blog at www.EMIsportsCentral.com
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