Late lead gives way to 6th straight loss
Boston quickly bounces back, wins 10th in row
In the wake of the most immense barrage of injuries he has witnessed in his threeplus decades in and around the NBA, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr changed how he judged his team: effort level, not wins or losses, would serve as his barometer.
By that standard, Golden State made progress in its 105100 loss to the Celtics on Friday night at Chase Center. After leading scorer D’Angelo Russell left the game for good midway through the third quarter with a sprained right thumb, the Warriors appeared emboldened, using a mishmashed crew to retake the lead against an Eastern Conference contender.
Golden State’s defense, which has been historically bad this season, channeled the stinginess that helped pave the way for the franchise’s recent fiveyear dynasty. With little more than three minutes left, Warriors twowaycontract player Ky Bowman corralled an offensive rebound and banked in a 6foot jumper to put Golden State up 9392.
As a sellout crowd stood and roared, the Warriors strung together stops, hit big free throws and got an alleyoop layup from Willie
CauleyStein with little more than two minutes left to push their lead to five. Then, in the span of 2 minutes, 27 seconds, Golden State fell on the wrong end of an 110 run.
Warriors forward Glenn Robinson III hit a 3pointer with 4.6 seconds left to add a measure of suspense, only for Celtics guard Kemba Walker to ice the game at the foul line. For all their effort and grit, Golden State was left to grapple with a familiar result, falling to an NBAworst 211.
But this was the type of defeat that reminds the Warriors that, even with the longest injury report in the NBA, they can still steal wins with the proper mix of focus and hustle. In nearly stunning the Celtics on Friday, Golden State mined contributions from throughout its roster, held a vaunted offense to just 40.7% shooting and won the rebounding battle 5547.
The Warriors overcame 19 turnovers, including nine from Russell, for what would have been their second win since Oct. 28. Guard Alec Burks was an aggressor, hitting 11 of 12 free throws on his way to 20 points off the bench. Rookie forward Eric Paschall, who was on the bench with a heat pad early in the fourth quarter, continued to look like a secondround gem with 16 points and eight rebounds.
After underwhelming much of the season’s first three weeks, forward Draymond Green (11 points, 11 rebounds, four assists) ratcheted up the tenacity, powering the Warriors through emotional lulls. Even CauleyStein — an afterthought lately despite being the team’s only true center — chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds.
This was quite the show of depth from a team that had depended on Russell’s oneonone brilliance just to hang close in games. Russell entered Friday averaging 33.2 points over his past five games, all of which were losses. Thanks to matador defense and minimal offensive support, Russell was just another bigtime scorer on an atrocious team, padding stats as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson watched from afar.
The Warriors had no immediate update on the timetable for Russell’s injury, but they recognize that winning in his absence will require nearperfection. This is a team leaning heavily on the No. 41 pick in June’s draft (Paschall) and a guard (Bowman) living in a teamprovided hotel room.
But at this point, Golden State is tired of talking about moral victories or its injury report. A win, however it comes, would be a muchappreciated reprieve in a season defined by adversity.