The Golden State Warriors have been dominant during the regular season over the past two years. They finished 67-15 in 2014-15 and had a record-breaking 73-9 record during their 2015-16 campaign.But theres one team that has given them trouble over that stretch, and seems to have the formula for how to give the Warriors fits -- the Boston Celtics.All four meetings between the Celtics and Warriors over the past two seasons have been decided by five points or fewer. Their first matchup last season went to double overtime, where the then-unbeaten Warriors squeaked out a 124-119 victory. The second time around, the Celtics defeated the Warriors 109-106, handing?Stephen Curry and company one of their nine losses and snapping Golden States 54-game home winning streak.Friday nights first matchup between the teams this season (8 p.m. ET, on ESPN) will be played at the TD Garden in Boston, where both Curry and his new teammate, Kevin Durant, have excelled in recent years. Curry is averaging 37.5 points in his past two games there, while Durant has averaged 30.5 points in his past four games in Boston.The Warriors are starting to find a comfort level with their newly constructed team. Theyre on a five-game winning streak and have scored at least 115 points and dished out at least 30 assists in each contest. The last team to have six straight games of 30 or more assists was the Portland Trail Blazers in November of 1990.Golden State is averaging 33.2 assists since Nov. 7, which is eight more than any other team over that span. They could become the first team since the Showtime Lakers in 1984-85 to average 30 assists in a season.Not only has the team shared the ball well, but Curry and Durant are starting to gain chemistry playing alongside one another. Theyre both averaging 27 points per game while shooting over 50 percent from the field. They were the only two players in the NBA to reach both of those thresholds last year and are hoping to become the first teammates in NBA history to accomplish that during the same season.Boston, meanwhile, has stepped up its defense since the first seven games of the season, allowing just 93.8 points per game in the last four contests. Teams are shooting just 40.4 percent from the field during that stretch. In their past three home games, the Celtics have held opponents to just 90 points per game.And Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas, whos averaging 27.2 points per game, is on pace to become one of the the most prolific scorers among players under 6-feet tall in NBA history.Thomas has scored 30 or more in his past two games. He never has scored 30 in three straight contests, but has a chance to do so Friday night against Golden State. Thomas is also the first Celtics player since the great Kevin McHale in 1986-87 to score 20 or more points in each of the teams first 11 games of a season.His backcourt mate, Avery Bradley, also has played well this season. Bradleys averaging a career-best 18.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game -- which is second among guards behind the?Oklahoma City Thunders Russell Westbrook. Cheap Nike Shoes Authentic . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. Clearance Nike Shoes . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months. http://www.cheapnikeshoeschina.us/ . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season. Discount Nike Shoes Online .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. Wholesale Nike Shoes .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Despite racing down the stretch of the 400-meter final with a substantial lead Sunday night, South Africas Wayde van Niekerk still thought someone was going to catch him. He was wrong about that, very wrong. Niekerk had such a large lead, not only did no one come close to catching him, not even world-record holder Michael Johnson could have done so while running in his prime.Er, make that former world record holder Michael Johnson. Van Niekerk broke Johnsons 17-year-old record by .15 seconds, winning Sundays race with a time of 43.03. The gold-medal time was nearly half a second faster than van Niekerks previous best, which he set when he won the 2015 world championships last summer in Beijing.And he did so despite running in Lane 8, becoming the first Olympian to win gold in that lane in the 400.I felt very alone at the end. I was thinking, Whats going on? Whats going on? said van Niekerk, 24. It kind of gave me motivation to keep on pushing and keep on pushing to the finish line. I dove for the finish line. And right after that, I went down on my knees and thanked God and my family and everyone for tonight.Van Niekerks time was .73 seconds faster than silver medalist Kirami James of Grenada. American LaShawn Merritt, who won gold at the 2008 Olympics, took bronze with a time of 43.85.I didnt handle the last part of the race as well as I would like but I got a medal, Merritt said. Ill take it and get a day rest and get ready for the 200.Merritt said that he knew the race would be fast but he didnt realize it was going to be world-record fast. But the man can run fast, and at many distances. In addition to a sub-44 second 400, he has run a sub-220 second 200 and sub-10 second 100.ddddddddddddAs amazing as Van Niekerks run was Sunday, heres something just as incredible. His coach? A 74-year-old great grandmother Ans Botha.She has played a huge role in who I am today and kept me very disciplined and very focused on the role and who I need to be, he told reporters. Im very grateful my coach has pushed me to the limit.Van Niekerk also trained for a while in Jamaica, where he met Usain Bolt, who won his seventh gold medal just minutes after the South African won his first.Im really proud of him, Bolt said. When he came to Jamaica, I said to him, Youre the only person who can break the 400 meter world record. Because hes very fast and he keeps on going. I wasnt really surprised he broke it tonight because hes really good and he looked in good shape.Van Niekerk said that Bolt inspired him, along with Michael Johnson. These are amazing guys. I learned from them, he said. Even the guys I ran against today -- James, LaShawn Merritt -- these are guys that inspired me.Asked what his race strategy was, van Niekerk said he didnt know and laughed. Then he said that he was just determined to run the best he possibly could. He said he was able to do so partly because he had God -- and the people of South Africa -- on his side.I believed in myself as an athlete and my abilities, but tonight God showed how important hes been in my life, he said. And Im really grateful for the blessing hes continued to give me in my life. I can say tonight that God is great.Van Niekerk was pretty great as well. ' ' '