Warriors’ Home Streak Ends at the Hands of Celtics

The Golden State Warriors’ 54 game home winning streak ended with a loss to the Boston Celtics.

Well, all good things have got to come to an end, right?

There have been two Super Bowls in between regular season home losses for the Golden State Warriors. The defending champs last left Oracle Arena defeated in the regular season January 27th, 2015, falling to the Chicago Bulls in overtime. This time, the hungry Boston Celtics came into town and came away with a huge upset win, defeating the Warriors 109-106.

At times, it felt like the Warriors were never going to lose in Oakland until Stephen Curry retired. Even when they played poorly against a good opponent, there was something that put them over the top. But without Andre Iguodala and Festus Ezeli and losing Andrew Bogut was too much for the Warriors to overcome against an energetic Celtics squad.

The Warriors had a chance to send the game into overtime, after clawing their way back into the game in the second half. After Isaiah Thomas converted a layup following a near-steal by Curry, the Warriors got a good look. Down three, the Warriors ran their inbounds play which saw bodies fly everywhere. Evan Turner took out Draymond Green‘s legs who then stood up and took out another Celtic following Klay Thompson. Green received the pass and found Curry whose three-point attempt didn’t stay down. Harrison Barnes grabbed the offensive rebound, stepped back, and threw up a prayer that never really had a shot.

Golden State looked like two different teams out there. One possession they’d move the ball around and get a wide open three-point attempt that would fall through the net, looking like the best team in NBA history. The next possession they’d lose the handle or throw the ball away to someone in green, making silly turnovers that a lottery team makes. The Warriors shot an incredible 20-43 from beyond the arc, as Curry knocked down 8-14 and Barnes hit 4-9 in tonight’s contest. When the Warriors weren’t hitting threes, they were giving the Celtics free possessions, turning the ball over 22 times (Curry with 9 giveaways).

The Warriors never really settled in as a team in the way that we’ve grown accustomed to. When the Celtics started to pull away, Curry would bring them back. He scored 20 points in the third quarter, draining one spectacular shot after another. The Warriors weren’t the only team with an All-Star point guard as the Celtics’ Thomas added 18 of his own in the third period.

Steve Kerr mentioned that he didn’t care for his team’s energy until the last five minutes or so of the third quarter and that didn’t come back until about halfway through the fourth. The Warriors turned up their defensive intensity, getting some stops and forcing turnovers, but their carelessness was too much to overcome.

Bogut left the game after he suffered a rib injury. The good news for Golden State is that the X-rays came up negative, but there’s no other news to report yet. He didn’t return to the game and he could miss some time which could have an impact on the Warriors’ record and title hopes.

The Warriors now face their toughest test of the season. They have to go 5-1 in their last six games to break the Chicago Bull’s record. They play the San Antonio Spurs twice and the Portland Trail Blazers once. The Warriors will look to start their new 54+ home winning streak Sunday against Damian Lillard and the Blazers.