Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
By Andrew Montanye (@iDREWiT_uP)
The Golden State Warriors get a well-deserved four-day break after winning at home tonight against the Boston Celtics with a score of 99-97. The win was in thanks to a Stephen Curry (19 points, seven rebounds, four assists,) who hit a game-winning basket with 2.1 seconds left on the clock.
The shot came after an inbounds pass was cleanly made to Curry who held onto the ball for the game winner. With the victory tonight, the Warriors have now won 11 of their last 12, and improve their record to 25-14, which is the second best in the Pacific Division, and fifth best in the Western Conference.
In a night where watching basketball was sometimes painstaking, there was a diamond in the rough for the Warriors who shot porously from deep, and overall as a team. Andre Iguodala scored 22 points on 9 of 14 shooting, posted five rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. Iguodala had many plays on both ends of the court tonight which helped shift the momentum into the Warriors favor, or to hold the Celtics from going on runs that could have taken the Warriors out of the picture.
Curry, who again played 40 minutes, looked tired yet again tonight after a long trip back to the Bay from Brooklyn. Mark Jackson rode his starters, and appeared to want to get the win at any cost. Jackson also played Klay Thompson 40 minutes, David Lee 34 minutes, and Iggy 38.
Draymond Greene, one of four bench players to play any minutes tonight, took an elbow to the mouth in the third quarter, which required nine stiches to stop bleeding.
Boston, who came into the game on a six-game losing streak increased that streak to seven, and has now lost 13 straight to Western Conference opponents.
After the win tonight, the Warriors have a four-day break and do not play until Wednesday when they host the Denver Nuggets, opponents in last years first-round playoff match-up. The first time these two teams met this year, the Warriors won 89-81 in a game that was played in Denver. Coming off of a nice rest, we can expect the Warriors to come out of the gate ready to play on Wednesday night.