Recap: Celtics make run late, but not enough to beat Golden State

In a game that many of us thought would be done by halftime, the Celtics never stopped trying the whole way, and made it interesting at the end. Here’s how it went down.

The first quarter was very up and down-the Celtics were outscored 14-6 in the paint by a fast paced Golden State attack. Sullinger and Turner combined for 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists for the Celtics in the quarter. On the other side Draymond Green led the Warriors in the opening frame with 7 pts, 5 rebounds, 2 steals. The Celtics were down 30-23 after one.

The second quarter started off with Stevens trying a weird lineup of Pressey-Thornton-Young-Prince-Zeller. GSW reserves jumped out to a 7-0 run early and went up 37-27. But led by an aggressive Phil Pressey the Celtics were able to come back and tie it at 37 thanks to some Zeller mid-range shooting. As the starters made their way back into the game, the teams went back and forth down the stretch of the half. At the end of the quarter with GSW up 53-49, the Celtics turned the ball over and the refs made a questionable call as Steph Curry threw up a half court prayer. The C’s went into the half down 56-49 after Curry made all three of his free throws.

In the third quarter, the Warriors jumped out to a double-digit lead, and maintained it for the whole quarter. Stevens tried mixing up some lineups, going with Turner-Crowder-Prince-Sullinger & Zeller, but a quick 5-0 run by the Warriors put it to rest quickly. The Celtics were paced by Avery Bradley and Jared Sullinger who had 11 and 10 respectively. The Warriors were led by a strong quarter from Steph Curry who by the end of the quarter had 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 9 assists for the game.

The beginning of the fourth quarter started weird with Gerald Wallace hitting 3 straight field goals which is more than he had all season. However, the Warriors were able to continue maintaining their double-digit lead. A Turner three late in the game made it 109-102, and after a Thompson three, Turner made another field goal, and after a GSW turnover Bradley knocked down a three to make it 112-107 with 9.3 to play. After another GSW turnover, Sullinger scored on a put back of a Bradley miss and the Celtics made it a 112-109 game with 3.6 left. However, after that Golden State and Boston played the free throw game and Boston fell 114-111.

The Green:

•  Sullinger had a big night going for 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists.
• Celtics had a big 4th quarter outscoring the Golden State Warriors 34-25.
• Evan Turner had another good all-around game scoring 19 points, grabbing 7 rebounds, and throwing 7 assists.

The Gross:

•  Celtics gave up 5 free throws in the final 7 seconds of the first half.
• Celtics were outscored in the paint 52-38
• Warriors outscored Celtics 23-13 in fastbreak points.

The Greenlights:

The Grid: 

• Young played more minutes than Thornton, going 1/4 from the field.
• Rebounds: Celtics 48 Warriors 47
• Bench Points: Celtics 37 Warriors 25

Box Score