Celtics Lose For the 10th Time in Their Last 11 Games, A Heartbreaker to the Warriors

When the highlight video is put together from the lottery-bound 2013-14 season, I hope the Celtics include some clips from tonight's 99-97 loss to the Warriors at ORACLE (all caps?) Arena. This was a game that Boston (13-24 overall, 5-14 away) had no business being in, let alone almost winning. Thankfully, Golden State (25-14 overall, 12-4 home) came to their senses long enough for Stephen Curry (19 points, 7 rebounds) to hit the go-ahead 3-pointer w/2.1 seconds left. Gerald Wallace is no Curry so obviously his 3-pointer at the buzzer had no chance.

Boston was a 12-point underdog and Golden State is seen a darkhorse contender in the Western Conference. This fell into the classic NBA trap game category since the Warriors were coming off a long road trip on the East Coast and who can take the Celtics seriously? Now Boston has lost 10 of their last 11 games to achieve the fifth worst record in the NBA. Don't stop until you get to the bottom fellas!

Jeff Green had a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds. Jared Sullinger had a double-double off the bench with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Kris Humphries (16 points, 14 points, 3 blocks, 2 steals) put together maybe his best game in Green and White (trade him immediately!) while Jordan Crawford added 10 points and seven assists.

Golden State is one of the few teams in the NBA that I always watch if they are on TV. Curry and Klay Thompson (17 points) aka the Splash Brothers are awesome, probably the two best shooters in the league, and they have some other nice pieces like Andre Iguodala (22 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals), David Lee (16 points, 7 rebounds) and Andrew Bogut (13 rebounds). Celtics killer/journeyman Marreese Speights had 13 points in 13 minutes. Maybe the C's can acquire him like they did with Jerryd Bayless earlier this week.

I kept waiting for the Warriors to pull away/the Celtics to fall apart like they usually do but it never materialized. Golden State led 24-21 after the first quarter but trailed 49-47 at halftime. The Warriors put together a nice third quarter (25-18) but needed Curry's usual heroics to get it done in a shaky fourth (outscored 30-27).

Here's a bizarre stat: Boston had eight blocks while Golden State had none. The C's go for the rare 0-5 road trip tomorrow night (10, CSN) in Portland (27-9, 1st in Northwest Division). After hanging with the Warriors, there is no chance in a back-to-back (and final game of a week-long trip) that the Celts can do that again versus one of the best teams in the NBA.

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Pierce reaches elite company in Celtics history

In overtime last night, Paul Pierce joined John Havlicek and Larry Bird as the only Celtics players to reach 20,000 points in their career with just Boston.

It's been a remarkable turnaround for Pierce personally and professionally and save for the occasional wheelchair drama, he's a steady leader that truly loves to play here and appreciates being with one storied franchise for his whole career.

The Celtics (4-1) beat the Bucks (1-4) 105-102 at the TD Garden. It marks the first time this season that Boston has won on back to back nights, something that will be talked about often until they prove it is real or not.

Pierce had a game-high 28 points, Ray Allen scored 23, Rajon Rondo nearly had another triple double (17 points, 15 assists, 8 rebounds) and Kevin Garnett had 13 points and eight rebounds. Glen Davis continued to be the guy off the bench, scoring 14 points and coming up with several great hustle plays.

Despite its poor start, the Bucks are a team to watch this season, particularly if Andrew Bogut (21 points, 13 rebounds) stays healthy. They have a bunch of players not really known around the NBA but they can play.

Carlos Delfino had 15 points, Ersan Ilyasova scored 15 off the bench, Brandon Jennings added 13 points while Corey Maggette (11) and Keyon Dooling (10) were in double figures.

Like almost every NBA game, this one was back and forth. The Celts led 25-16 after one quarter but their old legs showed up in the second quarter (31-22 Milwaukee). It was a gross third quarter (16-15) but Boston seemed to take control in crunch time. They were up six with under two minutes left but the Bucks kept hitting shots and making free throws, hence overtime.

Former Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau returns to Boston tomorrow night with his new team, the Chicago Bulls. This rivalry developed two seasons ago with the epic first round playoff series and it will continue as long as Rondo and Derrick Rose are on these respective teams. Should be a good one and I'm happy to say, I'll be in the building.