4. Hayward’s 30 off the bench in rout of Golden State Warriors
Perhaps the only thing better than beating the Golden State Warriors at home in today’s NBA is beating them by an exceptional margin, and that’s exactly what the Celtics made sure of on March 5. After dropping one at home against the Houston Rockets, Boston started a four-game west coast road trip with a 33-point blowout of the defending champs.
The highlight of the win was another 30-point performance for Gordon Hayward off the bench, where he shot 12-for-16 from the field and 4-of-6 from 3-point range. He and Jaylen Brown (18 points) outscored the entire Dubs’ bench by 16 points by themselves.
👏 @gordonhayward sparks the @celtics win in Oakland with 30 PTS off the bench! #CUsRise pic.twitter.com/SErrGlj4ES
— NBA (@NBA) March 6, 2019
It was another humbling loss for the Warriors, who were without Klay Thompson and Shaun Livingston, but saw forgettable nights from Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins, who were a combined 0-for-10 from beyond the arc.
For the Celtics, it was a spark plug that led to another three-game win streak as they teetered back and forth with the Indiana Pacers for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.