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Curry, Warriors roll over Celtics

Dec 30, 2012 - 7:02 AM Oakland, CA (Sports Network) - Stephen Curry poured in a game-high 22 points to go with nine assists on Saturday, as the Golden State Warriors handled the Boston Celtics, 101-83, at Oracle Arena.

David Lee followed with 20 points and Harrison Barnes added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Warriors, who have won three straight to finish December with a 12-4 record.

"We just keep it moving," Golden State coach Mark Jackson said of his team's impressive mark in December. "For great history or bad history, we don't claim it. We respect it, appreciate it, but it's not our history."

The Celtics were without starting point guard Rajon Rondo, who missed the contest because of a bruised right thigh and hip.

Rondo's replacement, Courtney Lee, finished with a team-high 18 points, while Jason Terry and Paul Pierce chipped in 13 points apiece for Boston, which has lost two straight and six of its last eight.

"It's hard to tell a shooter not to shoot an open shot," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said his team's poor shooting performance. "So as a coach you're kind of stuck; you let them keep taking them and you hope that some go in. And they didn't."

Boston jumped out to an early 7-4 edge, but the Warriors responded with a 15-2 spurt to build a 10-point edge just over five minutes into the contest.

Golden State carried a 29-23 advantage into the second before opening the stanza on another 15-2 sprint, as David Lee's layup capped the surge near the midpoint of the frame to give the home team a 44-25 advantage.

Boston got as close as 13 after two Pierce free throws late in the half, but Golden State scored five of the final six points in the frame to carry a 57-40 edge into the locker room.

The Warriors led by double-digits for much of the third and held a comfortable 73-53 edge with just under five minutes to play in the quarter.

The Celtics, though, closed the quarter on a 14-3 run, capped by Jared Sullinger's hook shot in the lane to send Boston into the final frame facing a 76-67 deficit.

Boston trailed, 83-73, early in the fourth before Curry capped a 9-1 Golden State run with a triple to press the margin to 92-74 just past the midpoint of the final frame.

The Warriors cruised from there, as the Celtics never got closer than 16 the rest of the way.

Game Notes

The Warriors improved to 13-2 against the Eastern Conference this season ... Boston fell to 5-10 on the road this season ... Golden State shot 52.1 percent from the field and held Boston to 36 percent from the field.