HEADING into this marquee matchup, the Boston Celtics have lost to the Golden State Warriors four straight going all the way back to game four of the 2022 NBA finals.
The Celtics finally overcame their finals nemesis by beating the Warriors 121-118 in overtime for their 8th straight league win in Boston, Friday morning (Manila time).
Another Curry highlight reel shot
It did not come easy for the home team as the Warriors battled the Celtics shot for shot, highlighted by a crazy Stephen Curry 50-foot half court buzzer-beater at halftime to lead by one, 55-54.
The Celtics led by as many as 10 points after two free throws from Jayson Tatum in the second quarter before the Warriors came roaring back, capping it with Curry’s highlight reel shot.
Curry might have carried the momentum over to the second half as the Warriors outscored the Celtics 34-28 heading to the fourth and final quarter with a seven point lead, 89-82. Their biggest lead was 11 after Curry’s two free throws with two minutes left in the quarter.
Celtics hang tough
The Celtics’ defense once again came through in the fourth quarter. Trailing by four after Thompson made a cutting layup, Al Horford made a crucial three-pointer to cut the lead by one with a minute left.
Celtics’ star player Jason Tatum lost the ball twice in the next couple of plays which ended up with Curry driving to the hoop and scoring to extend the Warriors’ lead by three, with 28 seconds left in regulation time.
Jaylen Brown then came to the rescue by making a long distance shot to tie it at 106 all and take the game to overtime.
Brown and Tatum took over in the last five minutes of extra time, making clutch shots while keeping the Warriors at bay in the final two minutes of the game.
MVP candidate Jayson Tatum led all scorers with 34 points, with six Celtics’ players scoring in double figures.
Golden State had four players scoring 20 or more points in the losing cause with Stephen Curry overcoming a bad shooting night with 29 points.
The Celtics will take their winning streak to Toronto while the Warriors travel to Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers next.
