Warriors Beat Celtics In Double Overtime

It took double overtime for the Golden State Warriors to keep their winning streak alive, beating the Boston Celtics 124-119.

The Warriors were without starters Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson, but held on to go to 24-0 on the year. The win broke a tie with the 2012-2013 Miami Heat for second longest winning streak in the NBA, and now only trail the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, who went 33-0.

Despite finishing with 37 points, Steph Curry had a rough night. There were multiple times he stepped out of bounds after missing layups, and he never looked truly comfortable until overtime.

So center Draymond Green stepped up. Playing 50 minutes, he recorded 24 points, 111 rebounds, eight assists, five steals and five blocks. He’s the third player since blocks were first recorded to have 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, five steals and five blocks. Hakeem Olajuwon did it five times, and Derrick Coleman did it once.

And when the Warriors were down three with 2:27 left in regulation, it was Green who acted as the calming factor. “I just told everyone to relax, we’ve been here before. Act like we’ve been here before and take care of what we need to take care of.”

For the Celtics, Kelly Olynyk scored 28 points off the bench, including all seven Celtics points in the first overtime. Isaiah Thomas scored 18 points and dealt out 10 assists, but failed to capitalize at the end of regulation and the first overtime, when he had what would be nearly the final shot.

Still, the Celtics can say they played the top team in the NBA tough. And for the Warriors, they can say they continued their win streak without two starters, on the road, against a tough young team, in double overtime.

The Warriors play the Milwaukee Bucks tonight, and it’ll be interesting to see how much they have left after the tough win last night.