Kevin Garnett buried a wide open corner jumper with six seconds remaining to lead the Boston Celtics past the Golden State Warriors, 105-103, in the final game before the trade deadline on Wednesday night at Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA.
Garnett led all scorers with 24 points on 11-of-15 shooting and had seven rebounds and five assists. Boston improved to 2-1 on its eight-game West coast road trip, which continues on Friday night against the Sacramento Kings.
The Celtics and Warriors were deadlocked for most of the game before Boston gave itself some breathing room in the fourth, only to surrender the lead courtesy of a 6-0 run in the final minute. from Golden State led by two layups from ex-Celtics guard Nate Robinson, who had 20 points, 11 assists and four steals. With the clock winding down, Paul Pierce (15 points) drove to the basket and passed out to Garnett for the game-winner.
Brandon Bass scored 22 and grabbed nine rebounds (three offensive boards) and Mickael Pietrus scored 15 off the bench on 5-of-6 shooting from three-point range. Rajon Rondo scored eight but had 14 assists and Greg Stiemsma had eight points and eight boards. Boston shot 51.3 percent, but was actually out-shot by Golden State (52.6 percent).
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