SAN FRANCISCO — The Celtics kicked off their four-game west coast trip in dominant fashion on Monday, crushing the undermanned Warriors 125-85 at Chase Center.
Boston took control of the game early with their defense, using a 18-3 run midway through the first half to build a 15-point lead at halftime. From there, the offense came alive in the third quarter, with the visitors erupting for 43 points including eight 3-point makes to turn the game into a blowout. The Celtics pushed their lead to as many as 39 points in the fourth quarter as they were able to cruise to the easy win with no starters playing more than 30 minutes.
Jayson Tatum (22 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists) led a balanced scoring effort from the Celtics as six different players scored in double figures. Kristaps Porzingis added 18 points and seven rebounds while Jaylen Brown chipped in with 17 points in an efficient performance. Stephen Curry had a team-high 18 points for the undermanned hosts who were without four rotation players including Draymond Green due to injury.
Boston also limited Golden State to a season-low 34.8 percent shooting from the field in the victory.
The Celtics improve to 30-13 on the season with the victory and split the season series with the Warriors.
Boston now heads to Los Angeles where they will take on the Clippers at the Intuit Dome time for the first time on Wednesday night.
Here are four takeaways from the Celtics’ win on Monday night:
Celtics shut down Warriors with Stephen Curry on the bench: The Warriors were down four rotation players in this contest and that was too much to overcome with Stephen Curry off the floor. The Celtics outscored Golden State by 17 points in the first half with Curry resting, including a 18-3 run midway through the half to push Boston’s lead into double digits. Most of those struggles came from the 3-point range where Golden State shot just 3-of-24 from beyond the arc in the first half. The Celtics defense proved to be stout around the basket and Joe Mazzulla made sure that the secondary scorers like Dennis Schroder and Andrew Wiggins got nothing going to the rim consistently. Once Boston’s offense got going in the second half, the Warriors had no chance to keep pace with no starters even hitting double figures beside Curry.
Celtics pound the paint efficiently with their size advantage: The Warriors like to create a lot of havoc with their deflections and athleticism but the Celtics handled that well as the game wore on. Despite another poor shooting night from 3-point range, the Celtics found efficient offense thanks to their work down low. Boston was 14-of-18 from the field for 28 points in the first half, punishing switches and mismatches against smaller wings with Porzingis, Tatum and Brown all taking advantage. The trend continued in the third quarter with the Celtics adding 16 more points in the paint while a barrage of 3-point makes helped Boston turn the game into a laugher in a hurry.
Jayson Tatum with bench unit remains rock solid: Boston had their best minutes of the game with this grouping on the floor, particularly from a defensive standpoint. Tatum continues to work well as the initiator with this grouping while Pritchard and Kornet provide good secondary scoring and offensive rebound opportunities respectively. Boston’s game-changing 18-3 run midway through the first half came with that grouping feasting against a undermanned Warriors second unit. The Celtics second unit has been a bright spot for this season all year long and that trend continued in a tough road matchup Monday.
Celtics starting five is making some in roads together: This group had a -11 net rating on the season as recently as last week together in 143 minutes played together. However, Boston put together several positive stints together in the blowout win over the Magic Friday night and that trend continued Monday. The starting unit outscored the Warriors starters by 15 points at the beginning of the second half to effectively put the game away after solid start to the game together (plus-2 in first quarter). Porzingis is getting more comfortable now in the offensive flow and it’s evident that when the 3-point shot is falling, this group could be impossible to stop yet again offensively.
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