Written by Matt Moore at CBS Sports.com
It does not have to make sense. We do not need to piece together the logical threads and evidence, find a line from expected narratives to current reality. It is November, just a month into what has already been a fascinating and bizarre NBA season. The Boston Celtics are the undisputed best team in the NBA at the moment, having secured their biggest victory of the season over the defending champion Golden State Warriors with a 92-88 decision Thursday night.
It was a night where, despite early struggles, everything went Boston’s way, whether by chance, by fate or by sheer force of will. To wit:
- Stephen Curry was 3 of 14, and the NBA’s plus-minus leader was a minus-14.
- The always rock-solid Andre Iguodala was a minus-18.
- Golden State shot just 11 of 32 from 3-point range.
- Boston shot just 32.9 percent from the field, eight percentage points worse than the Warriors … and won.
- The Warriors had more points in the paint, more fast-break points, the same number of turnovers, more assists … and lost.
It was a weird one. It was a wild one.
It was fittingly another Celtics victory, their 14th in a row.
How did Boston accomplish this? How did it topple the Warriors, the latest team that everyone felt sure would end the streak? The Celtics did the hardest thing possible — which is becoming the very core of Boston’s M.O., always going the hard way. Boston took the Warriors out of their style of play, their rhythm and made them into a wholly different team.
- Golden State is the No.1 team in point differential in the third quarter. Boston outscored the Warriors by five, holding them to just 21 points in the third quarter.
- Golden State is fifth in pace this season at 105 possessions a game. They had 101 Thursday night, which would rank 13th.
- The Warriors shot 21 mid-range shots, making just six, when they average only 17.
Boston dictated the pace to the Warriors, forced them into an ugly game, and did what it has done all year — ride second-half momentum that teams have been helpless to stop, even Golden State.
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