With NBA games on hold until July, we periodically take a look back at the Celtics past with the feature Classic Box Score here at BSJ. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a fun look back at epic games or performances in Celtics history.
The Setup
Regular season game No. 76
Boston Celtics (43-32) vs. Golden State Warriors (68-7)
April 1, 2016
Oracle Arena
The Celtics were in the midst of a tight battle for playoff seeding in the Eastern Conference (3-6 spots) with a roster full of overachievers from Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley to Jonas Jerebko and Kelly Olynyk. Meanwhile, the Warriors were in the midst of a 54-game home winning streak at Oracle Arena during the regular season, while also chasing the all-time record of 73 wins.
The C’s had given the Warriors a heck of a fight back in December during the teams’ first meeting, nearly ending Golden State’s 23-game winning streak to begin the season in a double OT thriller. All-Star Klay Thompson was not active for that matchup but Boston’s backcourt managed to limit Curry to 9-of-27 shooting from the field as well as eight turnovers while Olynyk erupted for 28 points off the bench in a thrilling matchup. That battle set the stage for a much-anticipated rematch at Oracle three months later.
The Game
The Celtics were without starting wing Jae Crowder but still managed to corral the Splash Brothers in the first half, limiting them to just 11 points on a combined 4-of-13 shooting. That was a season-low for them combined in a half all season and a tribute to Avery Bradley’s stellar on-ball defense.
The All-Stars began to get hot in the third quarter of the back-and-forth affair as Isaiah Thomas erupted for 18 points in the frame while Curry hit all of his six shots from the field.
Curry’s cooled off again in the fourth quarter while the C’s got terrific efforts from their entire supporting cast. Not only did Thomas score all 22 of his points in the second half but Evan Turner (21 points, 5 assists) and Jared Sullinger (20 points, 13 rebounds) delivered monster efforts to help Boston keep pace with the Warriors firepower.
The Celtics pushed a one-point lead entering the fourth quarter to as many as 10 points before the Warriors rallied to trim the deficit to two in the final minutes. That’s as close as they would get however as Turner (six straight points in final three minutes) had an answer for every Golden State score to keep them from tying things up. A Harrison Barnes 3 with 10 seconds left brought Golden State within one but Thomas got free on an inbounds play to push the lead up back to three before the C’s got one final stop.
Box Score
Leftover Thoughts
—It’s kind of crazy to me looking at this roster to figure out how this group ended up winning 48 games this season. Thomas was at the peak of his powers (or close to it) but looking at what these guys turned into after leaving Boston (Turner, Bradley, Olynyk, Crowder) this was a team full of role players. Contrasting that with the talent Boston had last season (who only won 49 games) is striking and emphasizing how much buy-in/playing a role matters for teams, at least during the regular season grind.
—Was this Sullinger’s best game as a Celtic against a top-tier opponent? He was a walking double-double most of his career in Boston but a couple of 3s and six trips to the line along with 20 points in just 26 minutes was as efficient as you were going to get with him. It’s too bad his fitness/injuries kept him from sticking as his career really entered a tailspin heading into the 2016 postseason.
—No Andre Iguodala for this game and that was a big help for the C’s. Golden State’s wing depth dropped off very quickly after him.
—Nine turnovers for Curry is a credit to Bradley. To this day, the C’s usually do a great job of forcing this Warriors team into mistakes (the one fatal flaw of this core).
—A game like this earned Turner his $70 million overpay with the Blazers this offseason. It will be interesting to see if some team ends up signing Turner (a free agent) for the rest of this season after he was waived by the Wolves.
—Just four years later, only four Celtics that played that night are still in the NBA, including just one starter (Bradley).
—Still can’t figure out how this Warriors team won 73 games when you look at this bench. Not a lot of impressive firepower in there.
—Leandro Barbosa was always an underrated role player though. It’s a shame he torn his ACL during his one year in Boston as he would have been a big help towards the end of 2012-13 season as C’s were turning things around once Rondo tore his ACL.
Highlights