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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Avery Bradley's Return Can't Help The Celtics Avoid Their Fourth Straight Loss

Remember when we were all excited about the Celtics when this season started in October? It seems like a long time ago when it actually was only a few months back. Boston (14-17, 9-6 home) lost their fourth straight game, 93-83 to Memphis (20-9, 7-6 away) tonight at TD Garden.

All four losses by the Celts have been by double-digits. Avery Bradley (4 points, 1 steal in 20 minutes) played his first game of 2012-13 but it'll take time for the defensive stopper to get acclimated to this currently lifeless squad. The loss dropped Boston a season-low three games under .500.

You don't hear much about them because they are in the Western Conference and a small market but the Grizzlies are a very solid team. They are deep, tough, they play defense and each guy seems to know his role (a rarity in today's NBA). Mike Conley led Memphis with a season-high 23 points and nine assists, UConn's Rudy Gay had 19 points, six rebounds and five assists while former Celtic Tony Allen had 15 points and five rebounds in his return.

Things were going so good for Memphis that Darrell Arthur (10 points) hit the first two 3-pointers of his NBA career (5 years) and Marreese Speights added 10 points and six rebounds off the bench as well.

Paul Pierce had a quiet 17 points and seven rebounds, Kevin Garnett put up 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists while Rajon Rondo notched 11 points and 10 assists. Boston's bench actually outscored Memphis' 37-25 so for once you couldn't blame them. Jeff Green had 10 points to led the Celtics' reserves.

The Celts face the Pacers (19-13, 1st place in Central Division) on Friday (8 p.m., CSN) at the Garden. After a slow start, Indiana has figured things out and they will be a tough matchup for the suddenly reeling Celtics.

UPDATE 1/4: Kris Joseph was sent back to Maine.

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