Celtics hand Warriors 8th loss, end record home streak at 54
The Golden State Warriors entered Friday night’s game with the Boston Celtics not having lost at Oracle Arena in 54 regular season games over a period covering a little more than 14 months. It had been so long that it was becoming increasingly difficult to imagine what would have to happen for the streak to end. What would a team have to do to beat the Warriors on their home floor?
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It turns out it only takes these problems for the Warriors to lose — 22 turnovers, a minus-17 free-throw margin, some very uncharacteristic mistakes in crunch time, and a couple missed chances to tie on the last possession of the game. The Celtics put together one of their most impressive defensive performances of the season to leave Oakland with a 109-106 win, ending the Warriors’ NBA-record home winning streak at 54 and lowering their record to 68-8. Golden State can now afford only one more loss in their final six games to break the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ single-season record of 72 wins.
The last play of the game provides a glimpse into how things went wrong for the Warriors vs. the Celtics. Down three points without a timeout, Draymond Green busted through two defenders without drawing a foul on either himself or a Celtic to catch the inbound and quickly get the ball to Curry. The presumptive back-to-back MVP faked Amir Johnson to get an open look and seemed on his way to sending the game to overtime. It did not go his way.Harrison Barnes got an offensive rebound to create another attempt, but his fadeaway was always very unlikely to go.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
