Celtics dealing with Warriors, hoopla; updates on Hunter, Smart

Wong said it was surreal to attend the game at Brooklyn and see a pro-Warriors crowd cheering an worldwide superstar in Curry.

So how exactly can the Celtics stop them – or at least slow them down?

R.J. Hunter (hip flexor) is still out for the Celtics, and Marcus Smart (left leg) is looking like he’ll spend an even longer time on the shelf.

It may be business as usual from a mental standpoint, but the Celtics will have to step up their game and play near-perfect basketball for 48 minutes Friday night if they hope to come out on top. From Salt Lake City to Boston and all stops in-between on their current seven-city trip, the Warriors are drawing huge crowds clad in blue and yellow.

Even if Klay is out, I don’t see who Isaiah Thomas guards when the Celtics are on defense.

The Golden State Warriors have won their first 23 games of the 2015-16 season, and will go for a 24th straight win when they face the Boston Celtics Friday night. Harrison Barnes have been out for the past few weeks, and he will continue to sit out tonight’s game.

All joking aside, prayer is a theme that comes up often when discussing the Golden State Warriors.

“A lot is going to depend on how the game’s going”.

“We don’t really look at records or streaks or whatever that is”, Draymond Green said. They finished the season on 39-2 at home, which included a loss at United Center in the last regular-season game.

The Warriors steered clear of lengthy injuries last season and a quarter of the way through this one.

That’s right, the Warriors didn’t blow a couple of teams out.

Lee was then traded to the Celtics for this season, and he has not been a major contributor for the Celtics so far, but he is starting to find a groove. Thomas has been great for the Celtics as he is averaging 21 points per game and 6.3 assists per game. Defending MVP Steph Curry is at a whole different level at the moment, with seven different 40+ point games under his belt. The Warriors have only two players, Curry and Green, who are playing more than 34 minutes per game. “We are in the same league and we feel like we have a chance to keep our streak going”. He has been a starter 11 times this season, but has put forth almost the same production whether he is in the first five (8.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 55.6 percent shooting) or coming off the bench (8.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, 57.7 percent shooting). Green also averages 7.0 APG, which leads the team. It’s innate now. We’ve learned how to win games in all sorts of ways.

Bryant announced his retirement late last month with a moving tribute to basketball published on The Players’ Tribune. They have to go into this game with the same defensive poise and offensive efficiency that they have had in their recent games.

The Warriors have made every court in the league part of their victory tour since rallying past the Cavaliers in last year’s NBA Finals.