Celtics 109, Warriors 106
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Isaiah Thomas scored all 22 of his points in the second half, including a driving layup to pad a one-point lead with 8.3 seconds remaining, as the Boston Celtics ended the Golden State Warriors' 54-game home winning streak with a 109-106 stunner Friday night.
The home loss was Golden State's first since Jan. 31, 2015, and first after 36 straight wins this season.
After Harrison Barnes buried a 3-pointer to get Golden State within 107-106 with 10.2 seconds to play, the Celtics called a timeout and got the ball to Thomas, who snuck behind the Warriors' defense for the game-clinching hoop.
Golden State still had two opportunities to tie, but Stephen Curry misfired from 28 feet and, after an offensive rebound, Barnes wasn't close on a desperation 24-footer, allowing Boston to snap a five-game losing streak against the Warriors.
The Warriors (68-8) retained a 4 1/2-game lead over the San Antonio Spurs in the race for top seeding in the Western Conference playoffs. Golden State had won five in a row.
The Celtics (44-32), meanwhile, kept pace with Miami (44-31) and Charlotte (44-31) in a tightly bunched battle for the No. 3 spot in the East.
Boston, which had taken the Warriors to two overtimes before losing at home on Dec. 11, improved to 2-2 on their five-game Western swing. The Celtics were coming off a 116-109 loss at Portland on Thursday night.
Evan Turner had 21 points and Jared Sullinger recorded a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double for the Celtics.
With 22 points, Thomas led Boston in scoring for a franchise-record 15th straight time.
Curry had a game-high 29 points for Golden State, hitting eight 3-pointers along the way.
Draymond Green had 16 points to go with team-highs in rebounds (nine) and assists (seven), and Klay Thompson added 15 points.
The Warriors trailed 103-96 before Thompson hit a 3-pointer, Curry converted a drive and Shaun Livingston dropped in two free throws in a 7-2 run that got Golden State within two with 46.9 seconds to go.
Green then stole the ball from Boston's Amir Johnson, but after a timeout, Green gave it back to Johnson with 23.7 seconds left, giving the Celtics an opportunity to run out the clock.
Turner made it a four-point game, 107-103, with two free throws with 18.1 seconds left, but the Warriors immediately countered with a 3-pointer by Barnes, closing the gap to one with still 10.2 seconds left.
After a timeout, Turner scored off an inbounds play to increase the Boston lead to 109-106 with 8.3 seconds remaining.
The Celtics led just 84-83 in the second minute of the fourth quarter before using a 9-0 burst to open their biggest lead of the game to that point, 93-83. Reserve guard Marcus Smart converted a driving hoop and a 3-pointer to cap the run.
After having scored 36 points in the third quarter, Golden State had only four to show for the first 5 1/2 minutes of the final period and was still down by 10, 95-85, before backup guard Leandro Barbosa buried a 3-pointer.
Green followed with a three-point play on a drive and a 3-pointer, and when he followed in a Brandon Rush miss with 3:53 to go, suddenly the Warriors were within 99-96.
But then a key sequence went in Boston's favor, when a Warriors fast break resulted in a Rush turnover, with Thomas benefitting at the other end with a layup that extended the margin to five with 3:21 left.
NOTES: The Celtics were without starting SF Jae Crowder, who was rested after having played 34 minutes in Thursday's loss at Portland. Before returning Thursday, Crowder had sat out the previous eight games with a sprained ankle. ... Boston's Brad Stevens, a candidate for Coach of the Year, disclosed his personal favorites for the award before the game, insisting: "That's a two-horse race between however they want to divide it between Luke (Walton) and Steve (Kerr) and then Pop (San Antonio's Gregg Popovich), and that's it. I mean, those two teams have had historic runs and nobody else should even be in the mix for that."