Final, Warriors 108-88: The score has been more lopsided in other games, but the Boston Celtics haven’t looked as bad all season as they did in this one.
Kelly Olynyk compiled a game-high 19 points in garbage time of a game the Celtics (20-41) trailed by as many as 31 points. Klay Thompson and David Lee each scored 18 points for the Golden State Warriors (38-24), who also got 15 points off the bench from former Celtics guard Jordan Crawford.
There was really nothing positive to take from this game for the Celtics. They were outscored 58-32 in the paint, and the Warriors took a 25-11 advantage in fast-break points (and that number was probably low). The Celtics committed 22 turnovers and were doused despite holding the Warriors to 5-for-28 shooting on 3-pointers.
Fourth quarter, 2:48, Warriors 101-76: Chris Babb isn’t the worst player on the court right now. Take that however you want.
Babb cans a three to give him his second basket of the game, while Olynyk has taken over the Celtics’ scoring high with 17 points. Jordan Crawford is burying his old team with 13 points off the bench.
Fourth quarter, 5:24, Warriors 97-69: This won’t be recalled as an epic 3-point shooting performance by either team. The Celtics probably hope this game won’t be remembered at all.
These teams have combined to shoot 8-for-47 from deep, including 3-for-21 for Boston alone. Rondo is 0-for-4 beyond the arc, bringing down that career-best 3-point accuracy, and is on the wrong kind of triple-double watch with 10 points, seven assists and seven turnovers.
Fourth quarter, 8:00, Warriors 89-66: Chris Babb got his first NBA basket, off an assist from Rondo. But Rondo is playing far from well. He’s got as many turnovers (seven) as points, and they’re all really ugly turnovers, too. This is the first game since his return where he does look out of rhythm.
End of third quarter, Warriors 84-54: There’s a guy here who looks a lot like Tupac. And the Celtics are getting creamed.
But, hey, Tupac!
[tweet https://twitter.com/CLNS_JaredWeiss/status/441396363771670528 align=’center’]
Third quarter, 2:33, Warriors 82-52: Chris Babb and Chris Johnson are running the wings together. It’s like a 10-day reunion here at the Garden.
I don’t know what you want me to say anymore. If only the Warriors’ points in the paint were counted, they’d still only be down to the Celtics 52-48.
But, um, hey, Olynyk hit a three!
Third quarter, 6:55, Warriors 74-46: You know how sometimes when you’re playing pickup, and an athletic-looking guy shows up to the court, and you stick your best defender on him because you think he could be a problem, but then it turns out he’s not really all that good?
Well, that’s sort of how the Green-Iguodala matchup is right now.
Iggy is owning Green, who has just four points on 2-for-6 shooting. Iguodala has a relatively quiet 11 points, because the Warriors are scoring so often, it’s hard to differentiate any of their baskets from the others.
The one bit of good news is that Jared Sullinger is the first Boston player in double figures. Good for him.
Halftime, Warriors 61-40: There are better teams than the Warriors, but there aren’t many worse matchups for the Celtics.
The Warriors have forced 12 Celtics turnovers, including five by Rajon Rondo alone. They are dominating inside 38-14, with three players already scoring in double figures. David Lee leads the way with 12 and seven rebounds.
Rondo and the Celtics haven’t just been bad. They’ve looked utterly lost. Aside from the turnovers, they are shooting 36 percent from the field and are 1-for-9 from three. They hold a 14-5 advantage in free throw attempts, but that won’t matter much once Golden State starts knocking down its triples.
That’s right — even with a 21-point advantage, the Warriors haven’t found their strokes yet. They are just 3-for-14 from deep, including a brickerrific 1-for-6 by Klay Thompson. Once Thompson and Steph Curry heat up, it’s over.
Second quarter, 2:38, Warriors 49-34: The Celtics can’t hold onto the ball, and the Warriors aren’t letting them get anything easy near the basket in the rare moments they don’t commit a turnover. It’s a recipe for disaster, which is what Boston appears to be on course for now.
O’Neal and Bogut have shut down Boston in the paint, where the Celtics are being outscored 34-10 and have had four shots blocked by those two big men alone. The Celtics have also committed 10 turnovers, with almost three minutes left in the first half to add to the damage.
Second quarter, 5:55, Warriors 42-31: Jerryd Bayless isn’t quite Steez-esque, but he’s also capable of scoring in bunches. Bayless has registered six points on his patented pull-up jumpers to whittle a couple of baskets off the Warriors’ 15-point advantage.
Second quarter, 7:30, Warriors 42-29: Jordan Crawford appreciated the Celtics making him feel at home when he played for them. They’re making him feel right at home again.
Crawford has scored six points, including four straight in the whirling manner only he can pull off, to help Golden State burst ahead. He flipped in a spinning, up-and-under layup while falling to the ground on the break, giving Stevens’ crew a taste of the old Steez.
End of first quarter, Warriors 30-22: Celtics fans will be happy to see that Jermaine O’Neal is rejuvenated and productive as a Warrior. Or not.
O’Neal, who was the opposite of good in Boston two years ago, has five points in just two minutes of action. That’s more than he provided in most of his 49 games as a Celtic over the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.
Known for their long-range bombing, the Dubs are actually doing the most damage on the inside. They are outscoring the Celtics 24-8 in the paint, helping them build a comfortable early lead despite missing all five 3-pointers they have taken.
First quarter, 2:20, Warriors 23-12: As thrilling as Curry and Thompson are to watch, David Lee is quietly a pretty studly power forward. He has eight points and three assists so far, which means he has accounted for more points than the Celtics have scored as a team.
First quarter, 6:47, Warriors 12-2: Jerryd Bayless hit a midrange jumper to assure the Celtics won’t be shut out. How many more buckets they’ll get, though, is uncertain.
The Celts have committed four turnovers in the early going, as Golden State has spent the first five-plus minutes just running out and getting easy baskets. A dunk by Steph Curry — yeah, really — punctuated the action. Not even a chasedown block by Kris Humphries could undo the damage done in the opening minutes.
The Celtics compounded their turnovers by shooting 1-for-8 from the field. Jeff Green is 0-for-3 himself. So, there’s that.
6:38 p.m.:Â Jordan Crawford appeared to be a little emotional talking to reporters before his first game back in Boston since he was traded away in January. Crawford, who rebuilt his reputation as the Celtics’ point guard before Rajon Rondo’s return, admitted he misses wearing green.
“It was home for a minute,” Crawford said. “I played, first time I got to play a lot of minutes, got to have ups, had downs and (learned) how to adjust, and when you’re playing bad, how to get back. It was just a lot of positives.”
Brad Stevens still sends text messages to Crawford to let him know he’s watching. The Celtics coach had only good things to say about Crawford before the game, as did Warriors coach Mark Jackson. Whatever negative rep Crawford had with the Wizards, he seems to have left it behind in the district.
The projected starters are below.
Warriors
Andrew Bogut
David Lee
Andre Iguodala
Klay Thompson
Stephen Curry
Celtics
Kris Humphries
Brandon Bass
Jeff Green
Jerryd Bayless
Rajon Rondo
5:30 p.m.: In a perfect world for the Celtics, the Warriors would come into TD Garden tonight run down and just eager to get home. Golden State concludes a six-game road trip with its stop in Boston, fresh off a tough, two-point victory over the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday.
Only, it’s not quite that easy.
“You never know on a given night what’s an advantage and what’s not,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said at practice Tuesday. “Sometimes, you’re riding the adrenaline of the trip. Sometimes, you’ve had games where you didn’t play as well early in the trip and you’re hitting it later. I don’t know that that stuff’s predictable.”
The Warriors bolstered themselves with trades leading up to the deadline last month. In addition to the deal with the Celtics to land Jordan Crawford, they snatched up Steve Blake from the Los Angeles Lakers on trade deadline eve. Now opponents can’t count on an easy respite when Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson check out.
8 a.m. ET: The Boston Celtics have lost six of their last seven games and given up at least 100 points in all seven of those contests. If any team could give them tons of trouble right now, it’s a squad with the potential to put up points in bunches.
Oh, look, it’s the Golden State Warriors. This should be fun.
Although the Warriors (36-24) don’t possess the most efficient offensive attack, they push the pace and are capable of going off on any given night. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson lead the long-range aspect of an offense that is fifth in the league in possessions per 48 minutes and 10th in points per game. Whatever shots those two don’t drain against the Celtics (20-40), David Lee hopes to pick up the slack in the pick and roll.
Join us for updates and analysis from TD Garden during the game, which tips off at 7:30 p.m.
