By limiting Golden State to 32 points in the first half, Boston was up to 24 points ahead. They controlled their opponent’s surge in the third quarter with strong outside address. The Warriors, who remained on four straight wins, are now awaiting the verdict on Stephen Curry’s left foot injury.
The two best defenses in the league set the tone from the outset. A 13-0 Celtics, however, allows them to take the lead while the Warriors must be content to take shots from distance forced (3/15). Opposite, the address of Marcus Smart and Al Horford dissipates but Boston keeps the controls (23-17).
The two teams then compete in clumsiness and it is finally a flagrant fault by Marcus Smart that tips the scales in favor of … Boston! Marcus Smart injures Stephen Curry, fouls Klay Thompson and like a technical foul whistled at Draymond Green, the Warriors take on water. They cash a 15-5 before halftime and the Celtics take an 18-point lead (48-30).
Despite Jordan Poole’s thunderous awakening in the third quarter, Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart limited the damage, keeping the Warriors at bay (79-69). It was Jaylen Brown who took over in the last quarter to destroy Golden State’s hopes of a hold-up. After a 4/19 3-pointer in the first half, the Celtics netted 11 of their 21 attempts from distance following the break.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– Boston’s defensive display. The Celtics arrived at Chase Center with the best NBA defense, just ahead of Golden State, and Warriors fans quickly realized why. Their team scored 10 points in the first four minutes of the game, before being limited to 22 points in the last twenty minutes of the first half! The Celtics have shown impressive rigor. They held on to one-on-one situations, they sent help from players who were defending on “non-shooters” (Kuminga, Moody, Looney, etc.), they stayed in the shorts of ” Splash Brothers”, and Robert Williams was still prowling in the second curtain to come and erase their rare mistakes from his teammates. Faced with this Iron Curtain, the Warriors’ game lost its movement and passing game. They were rarely able to reach the racket, having to content themselves with abusing the 3-point shot without the slightest rhythm. At the break, they had only scored 32 points on 29% on shots, with 60% of their attempts coming from far where they were only 4/24!
– The dive and the flagrant foul that rocked the game. With just over four minutes left before the break, strong defense from Klay Thompson on Jayson Tatum sends the Warriors into transition. An attack stopped by a kick from Marcus Smart in the face of Thompson, which the referees will transform into a flagrant foul following using the video. Before the counter-attack, Marcus Smart had dived onto the floor to try to recover possession, throwing all his weight on Stephen Curry’s ankle and foot in the process. Limping low, the double MVP will leave his partners for good. In the process, Klay Thompson misses one of his two free throws and the Warriors fail to take advantage of the next possession to return to -5. With a golden opportunity to get back in the game, the Warriors let their frustration with Marcus Smart get the better of them and the Celtics took the opportunity to take an 18-point lead.
– Stephen Curry with an injured left foot. A game following the return of Draymond Green and while Steve Kerr hoped to find a full workforce, the Warriors must now do without Stephen Curry. Injured in the left foot on the dive of Marcus Smart in the second quarter, the Golden State star tried to continue before trotting towards the locker room. There he joined Moses Moody, injured earlier in the game in the right shoulder. Both players will no longer see the floor. The Warriors who were already evolving without Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II, Nemanja Bjelica and Andre Iguodala, however wanted to be reassuring regarding the injury of their MVP but were impatiently awaiting the results of the MRI taken following the match.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Marcus Smart. Adroit from a distance (4/7), aggressive in defense, and distributor of caviar, he delivered a remarkable performance. He finished with 20 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds. The only downside is the dangerous dive that injured Stephen Curry.
✅ Jayson Tatum / Jaylen Brown. The Celtics winger duo were not skilful but were nevertheless decisive at the end of the first half and in repelling the Warriors’ comeback in the last quarter. They scored 26 points each.
✅ Jordan Poole. In full swing, he scored 19 of his 29 points in the third quarter to reduce the Warriors’ deficit from -24 to -10 late in the third quarter. This is his eighth straight game with over 20 points.
⛔ Klay Thompson. Without rhythm, the Splash Brother forced a lot without success. He needed 24 shots to score 18 points, including a meager 1 of 11 from long range.
⛔ Stephen Curry. If the Golden State leader only played 14 minutes, he also had difficulty finding the solution once morest the Boston defense, finishing with more lost balls (4) than points scored (3).
THE FOLLOWING
Golden State (47-23) : the Warriors continue at Chase Center once morest Spurs on Sunday, with the potential return of James Wiseman.
Boston (42-28) : the Celtics will make the short trip to Sacramento to play the Kings on Friday.
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