
If there were any doubt the Warriors have placed a priority on maintaining their various win streaks, most of it was erased Friday night in Boston.
In the first game of a back-to-back set, interim coach Luke Walton leaned on forward Draymond Green for 50 minutes, guard Stephen Curry for 47 and wing Andre Iguodala for 44 – all season-high totals.
Reserve guard Shaun Livingston, who had not played more than 30 minutes in any of the previous 23 games, spent 35 minutes on the TD Garden floor.
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The payoff for such strenuous labor was a double-overtime 124-119 outlasting of the plucky Celtics that was achieved mostly with a ceaseless grit and gumption best personified by Green.
[RECAP: Instant Replay: Warriors survive in Boston, streak still alive]
“Our guys compete,” Walton told reporters in Boston, “and on a night where we missed some shots I feel like we normally would make and we’re short-handed, they just find a way to win.”
No one went harder after this one than Green, who was on the court longer than anybody on either team. His efforts resulted in 24 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, five steals and five blocked shots – the seventh 20-10-5-5-5 game over the past 40 years. Five of them were submitted by Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon.
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Rather than bask in his own glory, Green sprinkled praise upon his teammates. Curry had a game-high 38 points, adding 11 rebounds and eight assists (and eight turnovers). Iguodala had 13 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals. Livingston had 12 points, three assists and two blocked shots, including a huge block of Isaiah Thomas with 2.9 seconds left in regulation.
Everybody scrapped, including Brandon Rush and Ian Clark, who were starting in place of Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson, both of whom have sprained ankles.
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“We fought,” Green said. “We were short-handed, missing Klay and missing Harrison. LB (Leandro Barbosa) is still sick, but he came in and gave us big minutes. We didn’t even think LB was playing. He said ‘Klay is out, so I’ve got to give y’all what I can give y’all.’ Ian Clark was huge. Brandon Rush was huge.
“Everybody stepped up. Shaun played a lot more minutes than usual, and Dre as well. Everybody stepped up to the challenge and made plays. Bogut with big blocks down the stretch, Festus was huge all game. This was a complete team win.”
Which allowed the Warriors to escape with their 24th consecutive victory to start the season, an ongoing record, and their 28th win in a row, giving them the second-longest streak in NBA history. They need six more to supplant the 1971-72 Lakers, who won 33 in a row, for the longest streak ever.
As a bonus, the Warriors are the first team to win their first 14 road games.
The Warriors won despite shooting a season-low 39.1 percent. They shot 27.3 percent in the fourth quarter and 20 percent in the first OT yet somehow regrouped through fatigue to shoot 57.1 percent in the decisive second OT.
“Exhausting, but it was fun,” was the way Curry described it. “Obviously it was nice to get the win but we had to claw our way to it. Everybody had a huge impact, had to dig deep and made the plays we needed to. It’s a fun game obviously, the kind of atmosphere that you like.
“You hope you don’t have to play an extra 10 minutes to get it done, but we found a way.”
Walton’s intentions were clear when he reinserted Curry and Green with 8:53 left in the fourth quarter – a minute or two earlier than usual – and the Warriors trailing by three. Curry and Green then played every minute of both overtimes.
That Thompson was ruled out two hours before tipoff suggests the Warriors didn’t want to risk their long-term goal. But watching Curry and Green fight and defeat fatigue down the stretch was enough to affirm their short-team goal of keeping alive their winning streaks.