Celtics Blow Lead and Fall to Steph Curry and the Warriors

        Isaiah Thomas' 20 points wasn't enough to hold a 26 point lead midway through the second quarter against Steph Curry and a surging Warriors team. After a mediocre second half, the C's defensive breakdown cost them the game last Sunday, March 1st. At the TD Garden in Boston, the Celtics fall 106-101.                                                                                                                                       The Celtics are without scoring and rebounding leader Jared Sullinger for the rest of the season who was arguably their best player. Point guard Isaiah Thomas who was acquired from the Suns at the trade deadline has quickly became the Celtics premier scorer. The Warriors, arguably the best team in the league, with MVP candidate Stephen Curry were more than the Green could handle.             

         "This was a fun challenge for us," Coach Steve Kerr said. "If we lost, it wouldn't have been the end of the world. But we were down and we came back. I was happy we showed good poise."

         This quote is from Warriors' first year head coach Steve Kerr. Although it seemed like Kerr did not care too much about the game, it must be great to see his team fight that hard in a game that might not be all that important. 

        So how did this game even play out? The Celtics had a hot start in the first half of play with a three-point barrage. At one point leading by 26 points. By halftime, the lead had been cut to 16. "Twenty-whatever we were up in the first half felt like three to me," Boston coach Brad Stevens said. "And 16 at halftime feels like two against those guys. They just come back so fast."

        Brad Stevens had no intentions of letting the Warriors come back at all. This game however, was not decided until the final seconds. With 10.5 seconds left to play, with a score of 104-101, the Celtics only chance was a three pointer. Off the Tyler Zeller pick, Isaiah Thomas seemed to have a clear look at the hoop. Thomas is also an excellent three-point shooter so the Celtics were not in such a bad position. Unfortunately, the shot rolled out, Curry grabbed the rebound, and hit the game clinching free throws. 

        Curry led his team with 37 points, which was a game high. Thomas led the Celtics with 20 coming off the bench. He is the first Celtic to get 19 or more points off the bench for four games in a row since the legendary Kevin McHale in 1989-1990. Jae Crowder also had a great game and swiped a career high 17 rebounds. However, the result was the Warriors second best comeback in 15 seasons.