Warriors falter on the road again, lose to Celtics in overtime

This is getting preposterous!

The Golden State Warriors let a very winnable game slip away down the stretch of the fourth quarter, falling in overtime to the Boston Celtics 121-118.

The Dubs were outscored 24-17 in the final period, with a Jaylen Brown three with under 20 seconds to go sending the game into OT.

Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

JAYLEN BROWN FORCES OT.

If the Dubs had held on to this game, they would have sealed a season sweep and a fifth straight victory over Boston dating back to the NBA Finals. Instead GSW walks away from a hostile environment with an L despite this contest checking hella statistical boxes for what should have been a big road win for the Dubs.

C.J. Holmes 🚀 @CjHolmes22

Kerr: “I loved the level of competition, the way our guys played together. We looked like what we are, which is a championship team. But we didn’t close the game. And better now than in the playoffs.”

The Dubs had a slightly higher FG% at 40% compared to Boston’s 39.8%, making five more triples than the men in green while shooting a better percentage from beyond the arc (34% to 31%). The made free throw disparity was only +2 in Boston’s favor, while the Dubs had more assists (28 to Boston’s 21), more blocks (7 to 5), and even one less turnover than the Celtics. It was looking for the Dubs, who once led by as much as 11 points.

Warriors on NBCS @NBCSWarriors

STEPH IS NOT FROM THIS WORLD 👽

Unfortunately, the Warriors got destroyed on the boards, losing the rebounding battle 63-47, giving up 18 offensive rebounds to Boston. The Celtics ended up winning the points in the paint battle 52-30 as well.

As Boston narrowly avoided defeat towards the end of the game, I thought about how the Dubs could have reaaaally used Jonathan Kuminga’s impact. JK scored 14 points in 21 minutes the last time the Dubs played Boston, and his hulking athleticism on the wing was a clear problem for Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

This time in Kuminga’s absence, Tatum fought through a rough shooting night to snag a career high 19 rebounds. Now I know Tatum is an elite hooper with MVP numbers on the team with the best record in the NBA, but I did not imagine him grabbing 19 damn rebounds on the defending champions.

NBA @NBA

Jayson Tatum in the @celtics W: ☘️ 34 points ☘️ 19 rebounds ☘️ 6 assists ☘️ 4 threes ☘️ 3 steals

So much is there to take from this loss? On the positive end, it’s great to see Andrew Wiggins finding his groove defensively (4 blocks!). Draymond Green had 11 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 assists, looking All-Star level. The Splash Bros + Jordan Poole combined for 8 steals while all scoring at least 24 points. Kevon Looney came off the bench to snag 12 rebounds in 20 minutes.

Warriors on NBCS @NBCSWarriors

Steve Kerr details the thought process behind the change to the starting lineup

On the negative side, Wiggins struggled mightily shooting from the field, going 6-of-18 and still looking a little rusty in his ongoing return from injury. And this loss drops the Dubs to 5-18 on the road, a horrendous record. If you had told me before the season that THIS team would only win five of their first 23 road games, I’d have called you insane. And yet here we are!

This team needs the athleticism of Kuminga (and maybe James Wiseman?) to truly be the powerhouse they want to be. In the meantime, they’ll have to rely on their intelligence, grit, and defense to win games. It almost worked last night, but instead they drop to 22-23 on the season.

How annoyed by this loss are you Dub Nation? Let’s talk about it!