The Golden State Warriors, reigning NBA champions, sent a strong signal on Saturday, posting arguably their best performance this season, with a victory (123-107) against the league leaders Boston Celtics, in a repeat of the last final. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 34 and 32 points respectively. Jordan Poole added 20 units for the San Francisco franchise.
But it was especially the evening of Curry, who made six three-point shots from 11 attempted, including one blind, at the buzzer, to conclude the first quarter, nearly 10 m from the basket. “From the start we tried to defend without making mistakes and to make it difficult for them,” reacted Curry. Beyond the victory, the Warriors showed great collective play and above all a lot of confidence, they who climb to eighth place in the Western Conference. “We just played against these guys in the NBA Finals. We had to send a message,” commented inside Draymond Green again.
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“Offensively we got the ball around, Klay got going really early but our defense connected with our offense which is great”added Curry, who however played down the idea that this victory had a special meaning. “It allowed us to go above 0.5”, he said, this game indeed bringing the Warriors’ record to 14 wins and 13 losses. A road trip of six away games now awaits the Warriors, whose record outside the Chase Center is more than disappointing this season: 11 losses for only 2 wins.
On the side of the Celtics, Jaylen Brown scored 31 points and took nine rebounds, while Jayson Tatum was contained to 18 points. The Celtics, who remain first in the Eastern Conference (21-6), had not lost any game against a team from the Western Conference before this Saturday evening (7 wins). “Tonight was more important to you (the media) than to us. It was just a game… It’s not going to dictate our season”reacted Tatum.
“They moved us… It’s a good thing for us to have to go through that”commented Celtics coach Joe Mazulla, while Boston will have the opportunity to revive Monday night in Los Angeles against the Clippers.
Triple-double pour Jokic
In the other meetings of the evening, the double MVP in title Nikola Jokic signed a triple-double (31 pts, 14 assists, 12 rebounds) to carry Denver to victory against Utah Jazz (115-110). The Nuggets were also able to count on Jamal Murray and his 30 points to take tied third place in the West, with the same record as the Phoenix Suns (16-10).
Damian Lillard’s Portland Trail Blazers (36 pts) beat the Minnesota Timberwolves (124-118), despite Anthony Edwards’ 26 points and Rudy Gobert’s 24 points and nine rebounds. Carried by Paul George (36 pts), the LA Clippers have beaten the Washington Wizards (107-114), who have a sixth consecutive defeat.
Nets revamped but winners
It was Frenchman Nicolas Batum who gave the Clippers the advantage 23 seconds from the end, on a three-point shot, 8 meters from the basket. John Wall, who scored 13 points for Los Angeles, received a standing ovation before the game, having played nine seasons with the Wizards. San Antonio celebrated the 26th anniversary of Gregg Popovich’s first game as Spurs coach with a 115-111 victory over the Heat in Miami.
Finally, deprived of eight players, including their stars Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons and Seth Curry, the Nets still beat the Indiana Pacers 133-136, thanks in particular to 33 points from young fullback Cam Thomas off the bench .
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