J-Speaks: Statement Making 10th Straight Win By Back-to-Back Defending Champion Warriors

For much of this season the back-to-back defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors have been mainly coasting, looking vulnerable at times. Well they have hit that proverbial switch and have gotten back on track recently and with the return from injury of an All-NBA center to their lineup they look every bit like a team that sees the finish line for this season. They continued their hot streak and made some history against another team with championship aspirations in front of a national audience over the weekend. 

On Saturday night, the Warriors (35-14) extended their winning streak to 10 games, the longest of this NBA season taking down the Boston Celtics (30-19) in a closely contested affair 115-111 on ABC, putting an end to not just the home team’s five-game overall winning streak but ending their 10-game winning streak at TD Garden and extending their road winning streak to nine.  

Kevin Durant, who was named to his 10^th All-Star team in a row as a starter for the Western Conference two days prior led the Warriors with 33 points with nine rebounds and two block shots. Two-time Kia MVP Stephen Curry, who was also named an All-Star starter, earning his sixth straight selection to the unofficial mid-season classic had 24 points, with 17 of them in the second quarter going 6 for 12 from three-point range. Fellow All-Star Klay Thompson scored 21 and All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins in his fifth game back from an Achilles injury that occurred this time last season when he was with the New Orleans Pelicans had 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals in just 24 minutes. 

The Celtics were led by the 32 points and 10 assists of All-Star lead guard Kyrie Irving, who was named as a starter for the Eastern Conference, earning his 6^th All-Star selection. Starting center Al Horford had a double-double of 22 points and 13 rebounds with two block shots and starting forward Jayson Tatum had 20 points. 

In perhaps their biggest test against a team that they may see in The NBA Finals this spring, the Warriors hung tough and made the plays they needed to in a game that featured 21 lead changes and did not see either team claim a double-digit lead. 

Throughout the contest, the Warriors starters made plays that kept the game close early on and eventually got them on the lead and they held on to win.

“We’ve been in so many close games throughout out our careers that this feels normal and it’s a great road win, man,” Thompson said to NBC Sports Boston after the win. “These are hard to come by, especially against a team like that, and to continue the streak to 10 we’re feeling good.” 

Durant got things started with 14 first quarter points, while Curry kept things on track in the second quarter scoring 17 hitting five triples after just his second scoreless first period all season, to which he said after the win about that, “Honestly I could care less. Next question.” 

The Warriors in the fourth period made nearly every key play necessary, especially down the stretch. 

They went 29 for 34 from the free throw line in the game, including 14 for 16 in the fourth period with Durant going 12 for 13.

Those two misses came in the closing moments of the game where All-Star forward Draymond Green, who had five points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and three steals on the night missed two foul shots with 08.6 seconds left but got the offensive rebound when he was not boxed out and got the ball to Curry who sealed the game at the foul line as he knocked in both his attempts from the charity stripe. 

“In this building is tough,” Curry, who hit five of his six triples on the night in the second quarter said after the win. “They can go on runs and tonight we knew that was going to happen but we was able to withstand them. Go right back at them. Get a bunch of stops in the fourth quarter to keep a little bit of distance.”

The Warriors as they have been known for during their championship run had 25 assists and committed just 14 turnovers.

“They started the fourth quarter on a nice little run to cut the lead. I think we stayed poised throughout it all. I made a bone-headed play throwing the ball all the way out of bounds, and I’m just grateful my teammates was there to have my back on that end to get us the possession back but for the most part coming in on the road in Boston and get a W is pretty solid for us,” Durant who went 10 for 23 from the field and 12 for 13 from the free throw line said to ESPN’s Israel Gutierrez after the win. 

While the Warriors made the plays necessary to pull out the victory, the Celtics did not especially their lead guard in Irving who took down the Warriors in their own house in the 2016 Finals with the game-winning three in Game 7 to clinch the Cleveland Cavaliers first ever NBA title and the Northeast Ohio’s first pro sports title in 52 years. 

With the game tied at 108-108, Irving at the 2:18 mark of the fourth turned it over which led to a Thompson three that gave the Warriors a 111-108 lead. 

After Celtics’ guard Marcus Smart tied the game at 111-111 with his own three moments later, Thompson came back and drew a foul going to the basket, making both free throws that put the Warriors on top 113-111. 

With three other chances to tie things up in the closing seconds, Smart’s triple try rimmed out, Irving shot an airball on a fadeaway jumper from the left side and Marcus Morris, Sr.’s three in the final seconds fell short. 

“It’s always tough to lose, but we had our chances at the end and we just couldn’t capitalize on them,” Irving said to reporters in the locker room after the loss. “So, it’s a game where we take the lessons and move on.” 

It is in games like this that can tell you a lot about the direction of each team. For the Warriors as mentioned they have been on cruise control for much of this season. They have had some adversity from injuries to some small friction between Durant and Green that stems from a game back in December where they lost at the Los Angeles Clippers in overtime. 

They have regained their focus and the addition of Cousins to the lineup has made them even more dangerous, especially offensively. 

To bring this into clearer context, the Warriors in the first 39 games of this season were an okay 25-14 averaging 116.3 points with a point per game differential of +4.4. In their 10-game winning streak, the back-to-back champions are averaging 128.6 points with a point differential of +16.0. Both of those averages are No. 1 in “The Association” during this span and so is their 51 percent average from the field and their 2.7 assists-to-turnover ratio. On top of that, that 128.6 scoring average is the most during a 10-game winning streak since the 1984-85 champion Los Angeles Lakers did it. 

“A lot of greatness on that team,” Irving, who posted his 11^th points and assists double-double this season, tying Hall of Famer Larry Bird’s mark in the 1986-87 season said of the Warriors. “So, you got to match greatness with greatness.” 

“That’s what you want on the biggest stage going against them. Playing them in The Finals, you just got to go blow-for-blow with them. Just got a lot of shooting. Make a lot of shots. I mean, those guys are great in that locker room like I said. I can speak all day about how great they are individually, but as a team you got to guard everybody.”

The other advantage that the Warriors had in this game is the fact that this moment is not foreign territory for them. They see games against a potential championship challenger like the Celtics as a good measuring stick to see where they are. 

This night showed that the defending champs are not ready to give up their crown and that they can go into another team’s building or take on any challenger whether they be in the rugged Western Conference or in the Eastern Conference and beat them.

“It’ll be interesting to see with LeBron (James) out of the East who comes out of the East and we got a lot of work to do also to get out of the West,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who became the fastest coach in NBA history to 300 wins said after the win about his team’s chances they see the Celtics in June. 

“A lot of good teams this year. I think the league is better this year than it’s ever been in a long time. A lot of great teams this year but Boston is clearly a great two-way team and that’s what it takes in the playoffs.”

That is how the Warriors for the third time in the last five seasons have ended a 10-game home winning streak of their opposition, which they did at the Celtics on Saturday night, and ended the 48-game home winning streak of the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs two seasons back and the 13-game home winning streak of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018. 

It also shows how head coach Steve Kerr has his team prepared night in and night out and that preparation has paid dividends not just for the team with three titles in the last four seasons but made him the fastest coach to 300 victories in just 377 career games as head coach. That is not only the fastest in NBA history beating out Hall of Famer and now executive with the Miami Heat Pat Riley, who reached 300 in 416 career games as head coach coach but the fastest in the four major pro sports teams in the USA. 

It took former MLB skipper Frank Chance 426 games to reach 300; Hall of Famer Don Shula needed 442 to reach 300 wins and Bruce Boudreau of the NHL needed 496 to reach 300 wins. 

“We needed this game,” Kerr said. “We needed to be challenged and we were challenged big-time and it could have gone either way.” 

For the Celtics, this game showed how they can hang with the defending champions but that they still have a lot of work to do if they want to be holding up their 18^th Larry O’Brien trophy in the late spring. 

After a 10-10 start to this season, the Celtics came into the game playing much better with a 20-9 mark and they too have to make adjustment like the return of Irving and fellow All-Star Gordon Hayward who were not a part of the C’s playoff run a season ago that had them one game from reaching The Finals last spring.  

A lot of it stems from a couple of weekends back where Irving basically chastised his young teammates like Tatum and Brown for their inability to raise their level of play in not just big games but throughout this season as they are trying to build championship habits. 

That each game is a test to see if the things you talk about from game plans to building trust amongst the squad as a whole are taking shape. 

After three straight losses all on the road from Jan. 10-14, the Celtics as mentioned won five straight games, which included a signature victory versus the No. 2 team in East the Toronto Raptors (37-15) 117-108 on Jan. 16 on ESPN. 

While this game was a loss, the Celtics did a lot of great things collectively but their unity still needs some fine tuning to have a better chance of beating a team like the Warriors. 

“I think we came in and we expected to win. So, we need to get better so we can have a better chance of winning that game,” Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said in his postgame presser after the loss. 

“We made errors on offense. They made us pay when we made errors on defense and made us pay. So yeah, I thought our guys played really hard. You got to lock down all of your controllables to have a chance to beat this team.” 

On Saturday night on ABC, a major tilt took place in Boston, MA where the back-to-back defending champion Golden State Warriors showed against a serious opponent from the opposite conference that keeping them from their third straight title and fourth in the last five seasons will not be an easy task. That it will take a herculean effort by a team in the West in the first three rounds of the 2019 Playoffs once they arrive and in the NBA Finals if they get there. 

The Warriors led by their All-Star starting quintet of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and DeMarcus Cousins are primed and focused for a championship run, especially after the All-Star break in the middle of next month and whoever stands in their way like the Boston Celtics, they are ready. 

The C’s definitely got the attention of the back-to-back champs and if this game was special, the second tilt in the Bay Area on Mar. 5 on TNT should be just as special. 

“They’re definitely in the upper echelon and they’re not to be taken lightly come postseason,” Thompson said about the Celtics postseason chances this spring. They got too much talent.”

“Like I said, they got too much experience with what they went through last year.” 

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 1/24/19 7 p.m. edition of NBA on TNT’s “NBA Tip-Off,” presented by Autotrader “NBA All-Star Starters Reveal,” with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal;  www.nba.com/games/20190126/GSWBOS#/matchup/recap; 1/27/19 3;30 a.m. edition of ESPN’s “Sportscenter” on ESPNEWS with Steve Levy and John Anderson; 1/27/19 7:30 a.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” presented by State Farm with Kristen Ledlow, Richard “Rip” Hamilton, and Brendan Haywood; and www.espn.com/nba/standings.