Red Hot Celtics Roll Warriors 110-88; Curry out for rest of game with foot injury

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, left, can’t quite get the loose ball as Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart makes the recovery at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Wed Mar 16, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Wednesday night the Golden State Warriors (47-23) took on the Boston Celtics (42-28) in their quest for a fifth win in a row. This will be another tough match-up for the Warriors especially since the Celtics are one of the hottest team in the NBA right now. The Celtics lost a close game to the Mavericks Sunday night 95-92 while the Warriors took care of the Washinton Wizards Monday night 126-112.

The Celtics are an elite defensive team led by Jason Tatum and will challenge the Warriors winning streak. The Warriors will need to take care of the ball in this game and limit the empty possessions.

The first quarter was a disappointing start for the Warriors. They looked out of sorts and continued to force those three’s that were not dropping. Instead of driving the basket they kept on attempting three’s and it was not working. At one point in the quarter Golden State trailed by eleven points but was able to pull to within four points.

The second quarter was a replay of the first with missed three’s and as the quarter began to wind down points in the paint were 18 to 6 in favor of Boston. The Celtics had their largest lead of the game 44-30 with 1:48 left before the half.

The Warriors would have a lot of work to do in the second half. Another concern for the Warriors was Stephen Curry who had left the game and headed into the locker room with left foot soreness.

Boston led at the half 48-32. This was the lowest scoring half for the Warriors all season which was testament to the Celtics amazing defense. Golden State was 4 of 24 from beyond the arc and with little success in the paint the Warriors were in trouble.

The way that Golden State was playing in the first half, they probably couldn’t throw the ball in the bay. They were terribly off but the Celtics were thankfully missing some of their own. So no Andrew Wiggins. Nemanja Bjelica, Andre Iguodala and now Curry and Moses Moody were out for the remainder of the game.

The third quarter was a wild one and it belonged to Jordan Poole. Six minutes into the quarter the Warriors trailed by 24 points. Than along came Jordan Poole with five shots from downtown plus a couple of two point jumpers. It was an electric quarter for Poole and pushed the Warriors to within ten points of the Celtics after three quarters 79-69.

When it looked as if the Warriors just might make a run the Celtics came roaring back. They finished off the Warriors 110-88 and Golden State’s winning streak came to an end.

The Warriors are lacking the big man in the middle, and tonight Golden State saw what a great defense looks like. The Celtics showed why they are so hot offensively and defensively right now.

A lot of credit to the effort in the third quarter by Golden State. The bright spot in this game was a resounding Poole with 19 points in the third quarter but the loss of Curry and Moses Moody was a blow. Poole finished with 29 points and Klay Thompson with 18. They were the only two players on the floor tonight in double digits. Looney and Draymond Green had eight rebounds each.

The Celtics Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown each had 26 points.

The Warriors will have some much needed time off not playing again until Sunday. They will be taking on the San Antonio Spurs at Chase Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 PM.