Monta Ellis exploded for 37 points on 17-of-26 shooting, playing all 48 minutes with all the energy in the world, and the Warriors ran and gunned their way back from an 18-point deficit to beat the Celtics. Boston falls to 0-2 on its grueling West Coast road trip, and it doesn't get any easier now with the Phoenix Suns next on the docket.
Rajon Rondo had 30 points and 15 assists to lead the Celtics, while Ray Allen added 24 points and Kevin Garnett had 16. Ellis was one of five in double figures for the Warriors, who scored 35 points in the second quarter and charged back from a first-half deficit.
The Celtics have lost consecutive games for just the second time this season. They have Tuesday off while they travel to Phoenix — the Suns are fresh off an impressive 118-103 win over the defending champion Lakers.
Final: Warriors 103, Celtics 99.
Watson fouls Ray Allen with 4.4 seconds to play, putting him at the line for two free throws rather than give him a shot at the game-tying three. Allen, pretty much the best in the business, makes the first shot with ease, but he hits no rim on his attempt to intentionally miss the second, and he's called for a violation. The Warriors get the ball back, and Vladimir Radmanovic makes a beautiful pass backcourt to Monta Ellis, who dodges Rondo's foul attempt for two seconds. He eventually gets to the line with 2.3 seconds left, and two free throws from there ice the Golden State win. The Celtics have lost back-to-back games here in California.
Fourth quarter, 6.9 seconds, 101-98 Warriors: Ray Allen misses a crucial three with 34 seconds to play, but after letting a good 22 seconds tick away, Corey Maggette misses a three of his own on the other end. Rajon Rondo corrals the rebound and eventually calls for a timeout, and the Celtics will have one last shot at this thing.
Fourth quarter, 43.0 seconds left, 101-98 Warriors: Morrow tips the jump-ball out of bounds. Huge turn of events for Boston. Timeout called now by Doc Rivers, whose Celtics are not dead yet.
Fourth quarter, 44.4 seconds to play, 101-98 Warriors: Clutch play from Eddie House, who reaches in and grabs the ball away from the clutches of Brandon Morrow, forcing a jump ball. Huge swing in momentum for the Celtics, who now have a chance to reclaim the basketball and pry their way back into this game. Don Nelson needs a timeout here for the Warriors.
Fourth quarter, 1:05, 101-98 Warriors: For the first time tonight, Monta Ellis is slowing things down. Ellis lets the time ticks away before kicking it to C.J. Watson for a long jumper; Watson misses, and back on the other end, Kevin Garnett hits a nice shot to put the Celtics back within three.
Fourth quarter, 2:15, 99-96 Warriors: Another jumper from Rondo, another three-point deficit for the Celtics. The young point guard now has eight consecutive points for the C's; no one else in green has scored a point since the 5:41 mark.
Fourth quarter, 2:47, 97-94 Warriors: At this point, it looks like it'll be up to Rajon Rondo to singlehandedly keep the Celtics in this thing offensively. The Warriors have turned it into an up-tempo, run-and-gun basketball game, and Rondo is the one Celtic that still has the energy to do any running or gunning. A Rondo bucket with 3:03 left brings the Celtics back to within a three-spot; Rondo now has 28 to lead the Celtics, and after Perk grabs a rebound on the other end and draws a foul from Anthony Randolph, Doc Rivers calls for a full timeout.
Fourth quarter, 3:45, 95-90 Warriors: Monta Ellis just keeps on dazzling us. Randolph makes a beautiful entry pass to a meet Ellis cutting into the paint, and Ellis cuts right past Kevin Garnett for a beautiful bucket that widens the Warriors' lead to five points once again. Ellis has 33 points to lead all scorers, and even more impressively, he hasn't sat for a second in 44 minutes of play.
Fourth quarter, 5:07, 93-90 Warriors: After last night's debacle, Rajon Rondo has bounced back nicely with his free-throw shooting — he's now 7-for-9 from the line tonight after hitting two shots here to bring the Celtics to within three. Rondo now has 24 points to lead the Celtics, and this is a one-possession basketball game.
Fourth quarter, 6:15, 91-86 Warriors: With Glen Davis on the bench and questionable to return with a tweaked ankle, Brian Scalabrine is on the floor for the first time this half. Scal is showing some impressive fortitude inside defensively, preventing the Warriors from getting into the paint for any easy looks. The Celtics, on the other hand, get a nice look under the basket — Rondo makes a great pass into the paint to Kendrick Perkins, who drops one in to tighten the lead to four. But the over-intense Perk is called for a technical foul after the play, and Anthony Morrow's free throw makes it a five-point game again.
Fourth quarter, 8:15, 90-84 Warriors: It's raining threes. First Rasheed Wallace hits a crazy 26-footer to make it a tie game, but that tie doesn't last long. Anthony Morrow and C.J. Watson hit back-to-back threes for Golden State, opening a lead again, and Eddie House gets a nice look from the corner but rims out, keeping the Celtics down 90-84 with just over eight minutes to play. Time to get a few stops, or this one's bound to get away from the tiring Celtics.
Fourth quarter, 9:52, 84-81 Warriors: The Celtics are looking to shoot their way back into this thing — Eddie House hits a long three and a 23-foot two to bring the C's back to within a point, but Sheed and Ray each miss threes of their own, and the Celtics' comeback is stunted. The Warriors remain a step ahead in this one.
End of third quarter, 80-76 Warriors: The Celtics are trying to claw their way back, but Monta Ellis just isn't having any of it. After Allen and Rondo bring the Celtics to within two, Ellis rattles off five quick points, giving himself 29 points and the Warriors a seven-point lead. It takes a buzzer-beating three from Rajon Rondo to bring the Celtics to within four, 80-76 — nice hustle play by Glen Davis to grab a loose ball and keep the C's possession alive, and good thinking by Eddie House to defer to an open Rondo for the last shot. The Celtics are looking worn down, but they're still in this thing.
Third quarter, 2:31, 73-68 Warriors: The Celtics look drained defensively, not showing the energy required to slow these Warriors down, and Monta Ellis is taking advantage. Twice he embarrasses Ray Allen by driving right past him for easy layups — the first he makes, but on the second, Glen Davis is there with the help. The Warriors still lead by five, and Ellis has a game-high 24.
Third quarter, 4:05, 71-66 Warriors: It takes seven full minutes before the Celtics see their first point of the second half scored by anyone but Kevin Garnett. With Garnett on the bench midway through the third quarter, Rajon Rondo rises from the dead and hits a mid-range jumper, putting the Celtics in front by a point. But with three straight buckets in rapid-fire succession from Anthony Randolph, the Warriors come back — they now have their biggest lead of the night.
Third quarter, 7:11, 62-61 C's: An encouraging development for Boston here in the second half: Kevin Garnett is starting to turn it on offensively. First he makes a pretty 17-foot jumper off an assist from Ray Allen, and then he gets inside for an easy bucket underneath. He makes a nice pass on the following possession to set Tony Allen up for a corner jumper, but it doesn't fall. Boston has the lead by a single point.
Third quarter, 9:45, 59-58 Warriors: The second half starts out ugly for both teams — and it's not even a matter of particularly good defense, it's just everyone missing open looks from everywhere. After eight straight misses from the Celtics and Warriors combined, Vladimir Radmanovic manages to tip one in and put the Warriors on top, 59-58. The Celtics have to get their offense going now.
Halftime, 58-57 C's: The Warriors claw their way back just before halftime — thanks to, who else, Monta Ellis. Ellis hits a 20-footer with 15 seconds left in the half to make it a two-point game, 58-56, and Ronny Turiaf tacks on a free throw with a split-second left to make it a one-point game. So much for the 18-point lead. Ellis has a game-high 20 points at the break.
Second quarter, 1:28, 58-51 C's: A short jumper from Perkins off another Rondo assist (his 10th) puts the Celtics back ahead, and after Monta Ellis ties it up with a free throw, the C's surge ahead on a three-ball from Sheed and a jumper each from Tony Allen and Rajon Rondo. Talk about a fast 7-0 run.
Second quarter, 3:06, 50-49 Warriors: After leading by as much as 18 early in this game, the Warriors have clawed all the way back. After two free throws sunk by C.J. Watson, they have reclaimed the lead — and other than Allen, the rest of the Celtics just aren't feeling the momentum to get the lead back. We'll see if that changes anytime soon.
Second quarter, 4:42, 47-46 C's: If it weren't for Ray Allen, the Celtics would have choked away this lead a long time ago. The Celtics are lapsing defensively and giving the Warriors easy buckets in transition, often off of turnovers — but Ray has hit jumper after jumper to keep the Celtics in front. The Celtics' shooting guard now has 18 points on a dazzling 8-of-11 shooting. Now if he could just wake these Celtics up defensively…
Second quarter, 6:56, 42-38 C's: The Celtics' bench is starting to look a little sloppy, especially on the defensive end, allowing the Warriors to sneak back into the game. A front line of Rasheed Wallace, Glen Davis and Brian Scalabrine hasn't exactly been airtight — Doc Rivers is putting KG and Perk back on the floor to curb the Golden State momentum shift.
Second quarter, 8:48, 41-32 C's: After starting out quiet, Monta Ellis has started to break out a little bit, singlehandedly trading baskets with Rondo, Allen and the Celtics. By draining back-to-back mid-range jumpers, he's brought the Warriors back to within single digits — you've got to wonder whether Ray Allen has the quickness to stick with the athletic Ellis defensively. Ellis is now 5-for-7 for 13 points — the C's have to do something to slow him down.
Second quarter, 9:48, 40-28 C's: While the Warriors aren't shooting well from the field, they are using their aggression to get to the free-throw line and put points on the scoreboard that way. Maggette, Randolph and Monta Ellis are a combined 10-for-11 from the stripe tonight, which is pretty much the only thing keeping Golden State in this game.
End of first quarter, 35-22 C's: It's still early, but we appear headed for another statistical "are you kidding me?" night for Rajon Rondo, much like the dazzling 17-13-8 line he put up against Orlando on Christmas. Rondo finishes out the quarter by assisting on a couple of pretty Ray Allen jumpers — he now has an unbelievable 12 points and seven assists after just one quarter. Allen leads all scorers with 13, which just happens to be the size of Boston's lead after one.
First quarter, 2:02, 26-13 C's: The C's are trying to beat the Warriors at their own game — running, driving and scoring. Rajon Rondo gets going in transition and drives straight to the basket in defiance of Stephen Curry, who hacks him and sends him to the line for two free throws. Rondo drains them both — after another layup on the next possession, he now has nine points and the Celtics lead by a whopping 13.
First quarter, 3:20, 19-11 C's: Corey Maggette is the one guy feeling it tonight for these Warriors offensively. While the rest of the team flounders, Maggette has shot 2-of-3 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the line, carrying the Warriors with seven of their 11 points. All five starters have already gotten in on the scoring for Boston.
First quarter, 4:14, 17-9 C's: The Celtics aren't really getting the ball inside much against Biedrins and Anthony Randolph, but their jump-shooting is on, and that makes them tough to beat. Rondo, Allen and Garnett have teamed up to string together a 9-2 run for Boston, and the shots still aren't falling for Golden State. The Warriors are a shaky 3-for-15 from the floor.
First quarter, 7:26, 9-7 C's: Rajon Rondo makes one of two free throws. Just one. Why couldn't this have happened last night?
First quarter, 7:50, 8-5 C's: For the Celtics, the key to staying ahead of Golden State is getting in front of the Warriors on defense and staying in front of them — and so far, Perkins and Kevin Garnett are getting the job done. Perk is doing a great job on Andris Biedrins, who hasn't gotten a good look yet.
First quarter, 8:16, 8-4 C's: The Warriors are throwing up shots, but they're not just going in. Seven consecutive Golden State misses enable Boston to take a four-point lead, with Ray Allen shooting 2-for-3 to lead the way early.
First quarter, 9:45, 4-4: Warriors-Celtics is always a battle between two contrasting styles — the uptempo, playground-style basketball of Golden State and the more methodical, halfcourt Boston approach. Kendrick Perkins lets the shot clock tick all the way down to the buzzer on the opening possession, but the game speeds up from there, with both teams getting running layups early. After Corey Maggette hits two free throws with 9:45 left, we're tied 4-4. Given the Warriors' tempo, that should change quickly.
4:43 p.m.: It's still early in their West Coast road trip, but California has already been unkind to the Celtics. After two crucial Rajon Rondo misses at the free-throw line and a Baron Davis buzzer-beater dashed the C's hopes of a win over the Clippers on Sunday, the Celtics have no time to mope about their failures. It's right back to work for Boston — Monday night brings a visit to the Golden State Warriors, the last-place squad in the Pacific Division.
The Celtics are demoralized after a shocking loss, they're tired from a weekend of travel, and they're still without their captain, Paul Pierce. But by 10:30 p.m. EST, the Celtics will still be ready to take the floor and pick up a win.
