With 3:30 left in the game, after Monta Ellis drained his second
consecutive three-pointer, the Golden State Warriors trailed the
mighty Boston Celtics by just one point. Golden State had a chance
to win. On the road, against arguably the best team in the NBA, the
Warriors played with urgency and resolve to all but erase an
18-point deficit. Certainly, they wound up losing, 107-103, on
Friday night. But the fight mustered, the effort expended, the
potential displayed
— that’s something, right?
BOSTON
With 3:30 left in the game, after Monta Ellis drained his second consecutive three-pointer, the Golden State Warriors trailed the mighty Boston Celtics by just one point.
Golden State had a chance to win. On the road, against arguably the best team in the NBA, the Warriors played with urgency and resolve to all but erase an 18-point deficit.
Certainly, they wound up losing, 107-103, on Friday night. But the fight mustered, the effort expended, the potential displayed — that’s something, right?
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Well, maybe not when a loss puts you seven games under .500 with 21 games to play. And not when you’ve lost twice to bottom-feeders on this very road trip.
“No moral victories,” the Warriors’ David Lee said after totaling 26 points and 12 rebounds. “We need to learn from this and continue to play the way we played. . . . We need to just remember how hard we played (Friday) and try to continue that. If that kind of effort is there, I think the rest can take care of itself.”
Despite the valiant effort at TD Garden, the Warriors are now 1-3 on this road trip and have lost five of their last six overall. They are six games behind Memphis, which currently possesses the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
So, it makes sense, why the Warriors might be encouraged and frustrated at the same time.
“Look at what we did here,” coach Keith Smart said. “Look at the intensity we had. If we can play with that same intensity, that’s what good teams do. The good teams play with an intensity all the time. . . . So that’s what you teach: How can you have that level where you come into another team’s building and keep this game under control with a chance to win?”
It looked as if the Warriors were done after a turnover led to a layup by Celtics forward Paul Pierce, who had 27 points and seven rebounds. The Warriors were down 79-61 with less than seven minutes left in the third quarter.
Moments later, Ellis—who finished with 41 points, six rebounds and four assists—took over. He scored 10 points during a 14-4 Warriors run to close the quarter. Golden State trailed 88-81 entering the fourth. It was a nice run, but the game still figured to be over as Boston went up by 11 with 7:30 left in the game.
Then Ellis did it again. In a span of 3:42, he scored 10 points and assisted on a layup by Stephen Curry. He capped a 12-2 run by nailing his second-consecutive 3-pointer, the latter trimming the Celtics’ lead to 100-99.
“He’s a tough player,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said of Ellis. “He makes difficult shots.”
Nonetheless, two turnovers in the final two minutes put the Warriors’ chances of winning on life support. And what chance they did have—down 105-103, forcing a missed jumper by Garnett with 15 seconds—was ended by Ray Allen’s offensive rebound with 12 seconds left.
No moral victories.
n Ellis became the first player to score 40 points or more against the Celtics since Allen and Kevin Garnett were acquired before the 2007-08 season.
n Forward Al Thornton made his Warriors debut Friday. He played just two minutes, grabbing a rebound a committing a smart, hard foul. Smart said he likes his aggressive style and trusted throwing him in with no practice because he’s a veteran. That’s part of the reason Thornton signed with the Warriors—opportunity.
“This was about the only team that was willing to pick me up,” he said before the game. “I love the way they play, man. They’re trying to get to the playoffs, and I’m here to help the team make a run. . . . I talked to Coach, and he said scoring off the bench was a role that I could fit in. I can post up and I can run the floor, and I’ll try to be a defensive presence out there.”
n Warriors rookie guard Jeremy Lin stopped by Cambridge, Mass., on Thursday. Had some old business to finish—pick up his Harvard diploma. Lin wasn’t able to participate in his graduation ceremony last summer. Predraft workouts got in the way. So, finally, he got what he worked so hard to get.
“I just showed my ID,” he said, matter of factly, “and they gave it to me.”
— Story by Marcus Thompson II, Contra Costa Times
