David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Here's What Stood Out in the Celtics' Win vs. the Warriors: Boston Rallies for What May Prove Its Most Meaningful Victory this Season
Not all wins are created equal.
The Celtics can't change what happened in last year's Finals, and a regular-season victory doesn't offset that, but what happened Thursday night at TD Garden is an important step on a road that Boston's hoping ends with banner 18 and a championship parade this summer.
From a shooting standpoint, the Celtics struggled to find their rhythm for much of the game. They finished below 40 percent from the field, including 13/41 (31.7 percent) from beyond the arc.
But Boston consistently manufactured points in the paint. It did so almost entirely while operating within a halfcourt setting. Between generating 22 second-chance points and feeding Al Horford the ball in the low post, the hosts produced 52 points in the paint.
It reflects the Celtics diversifying their offense on Thursday, not living and dying with how they fared from the three-point line. That production's also a testament to the supporting cast stepping up, keeping Boston within striking distance, buying the necessary time for its stars to rise to the occasion.
Horford led that charge, delivering a 20-point, ten-rebound, three-block performance. Marcus Smart registered 18 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a block. And Robert Williams finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass.
And on a night where the hosts trimmed the rotation, mostly relying on eight players, the Celtics got 14 points from Malcolm Brogdon, including a critical stretch to close out the third quarter and a key three in the fourth.
And when it came time for the stars to make their presence felt, they did just that, as Jayson Tatum, who logged 48 minutes, his most ever in the regular season, went from 21 points on 5/18 shooting entering the final frame to leading all participants in scoring (34) and rebounding (19). He also dished out six assists and swiped three steals.
As for Jaylen Brown, through three quarters, he looked like he wasn't ready to return from his groin injury. But he was at his best in the final two periods. He finished with 16 points, 12 of which came in the fourth and fifth frames. He also grabbed nine rebounds and distributed three assists.
Now, a deep dive into the Celtics pushing through the chaos and an off-shooting night, earning a needed win against the Warriors.
Celtics Do Their Damage from In Close, Warriors Outscore Them Thanks to Sharp Shooting in the First Quarter
Golden State consistently operated at an up-tempo pace in the opening frame, including pushing off made field goals. That approach proved productive, giving the Warriors more of the shot clock to work with and often yielding quality looks.
Prime examples came when Andrew Wiggins quickly drilled a three after a floater from Marcus Smart. That came on the heels of a terrific effort by Wiggins on the offensive glass, grabbing two rebounds, leading to a Jordan Poole three.
Poole also got a layup immediately after one by Al Horford.
Speaking of Horford, the veteran center was Boston's best player in the first quarter. With the hosts not wanting to overly rely on threes and looking to challenge the defense, three times, he attacked the basket off the dribble, including a drive that ended with a two-handed jam to put the home team ahead 19-16.
Horford registered ten points in the first 12 minutes, leading all scorers. He also grabbed five rebounds and sent the TD Garden faithful into a frenzy, catching up to Poole to block his transition layup attempt.
Interestingly enough, the Celtics chose not to short shift Robert Williams. He and Jayson Tatum subbed out at the 4:53 mark. Luke Kornet then checked in to spell Horford with 3:14 left. Neither Tatum nor Williams returned until the second quarter.
The low-scoring first period ended with Golden State ahead 26-25.
The Warriors shot 34.5 percent from the field, but knocked down 6/15 (40 percent) of their attempts from beyond the arc. The Celtics made 40.7 percent of their shots, producing 20 points in the paint, but went 1/7 from beyond the arc.
Robert Williams Provides Celtics with a Needed Jolt of Energy, but Stephen Curry Sends the Warriors to the Locker Room with the Lead
Boston came out of the gates quickly to start the second frame, staging an 8-2 run featuring two threes from Malcolm Brogdon and a finger roll layup by Tatum. That burst gave the hosts a 33-28 advantage.
Later in the period, a Marcus Smart turnover led to a three-shot possession for the Warriors, ending with Wiggins burying a pull-up jumper over Horford, narrowing the gap to 42-37.
And while the visitors generated only 19 points in the quarter, Golden State was excellent at the other end, consistently taking away the Celtics' first and second options.
That resulted in a scoring drought lasting over two minutes as the Warriors utilized those stops to find a rhythm offensively, going on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 42 with 3:42 left in the first half.
That's when Boston received a needed infusion of energy, courtesy of Robert Williams. The Timelord crashed the offensive glass, tipping the ball out to extend a possession producing two free throws for Tatum, ending the Celtics' scoring slump.
Then, off a Marcus Smart steal, Tatum lofted a lob to Williams for an alley-oop.
Williams also cleaned up a missed layup when Tatum forced his way to the basket. Shortly after that, he did the same after a missed three by the former.
Williams generated nine of his 11 first-half points in the second quarter. Four of his five rebounds came from crashing the offensive glass.
But the second frame ended with Stephen Curry pulling up and cashing in a three from beyond halfcourt to beat the buzzer. That gave Golden State a 55-54 edge entering the break.
Curry went into the locker room with 15 points, drilling 4/8 threes. His fellow splash brother, Thompson, matched his long-range output, registering 20 points, leading all scorers after 24 minutes.
Tatum paced with Boston with 13 points. He was 3/11 from the floor at halftime, including 1/5 from beyond the arc, but he went 6/6 at the free-throw line, and led the Celtics in rebounds (8) and assists (4), and he swiped two steals.
In a first half where both teams were better defensively than at the offensive end, Boston worked around shooting 41.7 percent from the field, including 4/17 (23.5 percent) on threes, by producing 30 points in the paint and ten at the free-throw line.
The Warriors overcame shooting 38.5 percent from the field by capitalizing on 10/27 shots from beyond the arc and turning nine Celtics turnovers into 15 points.
Warriors Win the Third Quarter, but Boston Finds a Spark at the End
Jaylen Brown looking like he shouldn't have played hurt Boston most in the third quarter, where it truly felt, at times, like the hosts were playing a man short.
Brown played for 7:39 in the frame, registered one point, went 0/3, and had a plus-minus rating of minus-eight. His lack of explosiveness allowed the Warriors to worry less about him and more about taking away other options.
It also didn't help that Tatum couldn't find his rhythm offensively. He went 2/7 in a period he played the entirety of, entering the final 12 minutes with 21 points on 5/18 shooting, including 3/10 from beyond the arc.
For the visitors, Poole (11) and Wiggins (10) combined for 21 of Golden State's 34 third-quarter points.
Tatum scraped together eight for Boston, including a three from the left wing late in the period. Smart matched him and went into the final frame with 15 on 6/13 shooting, including 3/6 from beyond the arc.
Smart shot the ball well through three quarters, but with most of his teammates unable to say the same, he only had one assist with 12 minutes remaining. That figure and the Celtics would've benefited from the hosts pushing the pace more frequently, just as the visitors were doing.
Boston also got a strong close to the quarter from Brogdon, engineering an old-school three-point play off a tip-in of a Grant Williams missed three and converting another offensive board into a layup in the final seconds of the frame.
That trimmed the Celtics' deficit to 89-82 entering the fourth quarter.
Boston at Its Best in Crunch Time, Rallying to Force Overtime
With Thompson picking up his fifth personal with 8:11 left in the final frame and Poole earning his fourth earlier in the period, perhaps the Warriors' foul trouble will help Boston prevail in this game.
With 8:11 left, the Celtics trail 95-89 after Smart went 1/2 at the free-throw line, giving them plenty of time to overcome a small margin.
Brogdon, who's second-chance points kept the game close entering the fourth quarter, drilled a needed three from the left wing, narrowing the gap to 97-92 with 6:10 remaining.
Brogdon has 14 meaningful points in this matchup, giving Boston a chance to protect the parquet.
With just under six minutes left, the Celtics, who had struggled to capitalize on turnovers, got an easy two points when Brown snagged a pass from Draymond Green that Poole couldn't corral, taking it in for a dunk that cut Golden State's lead to 97-94 with 5:50 to go.
With 4:29 left, Green drilled a critical three. The hosts denied everything the Warriors tried to generate, and even with Smart going from playing off Green to crowding him, worried more about a potential handoff or pitch to Curry, the former Michigan State Spartan buried a shot from the right wing, extending the visitors' advantage to 100-96.
A Tatum step-back mid-range jumper trimmed the deficit to 100-98, but at the other end, Horford thwarting a Wiggins layup turned into Poole intercepting a poor pass by Tatum, converting it into a dunk to give Golden State a 102-98 lead with 3:04 remaining.
About a minute later, a missed pull-up three from Curry turned into Smart grabbing the board and throwing an outlet pass to Tatum for a transition dunk, pulling Boston within two, 102-100.
Horford then kept the Celtics within one, burying a three from the right corner off a drive-and-kick from Tatum, bringing the score to 104-103 with 1:30 left.
In a moment that felt like deja vu, Horford followed that up by swatting a Poole layup, only to see Tatum get stripped by Wiggins. The latter couldn't connect on a three, but Tatum committed another turnover as Poole picked off his pass, leading to a Curry layup, giving Golden State a 106-103 advantage with 28 seconds left.
That layup came about because Smart tried to strip Curry from behind, allowing him to go by him, something his teammates expressed frustration with after the play.
But Brown, at his best in the fourth quarter, bailed him out, swishing a three from the right wing off a pass from Smart, tying the game at 106, forcing overtime.
Celtics Prevail in Overtime
The Celtics got off to a terrific start in the fifth frame, producing four-straight points inside the paint, as Smart posted up Curry, and Brown drove into the lane for a two that gave the hosts a 110-106 lead.
They also played terrific defense between those baskets, inducing a miss on a contested corner three from Poole.
But the defending champs, not a group to go down without a fight, generated the following five points, including a three from Curry, to go up by one with 2:42 to play.
That's when the Celtics landed a devastating counterpunch as Brown engineered two more points in the paint, then found Horford and Tatum for back-to-back threes, extending the advantage to 118-111 with 1:26 left.
Those triples came from capitalizing on a turnover and a block, something Boston had struggled to do for much of the night; the rejection came courtesy of Brogdon getting to a Poole layup to deny him of two points at the cup.
And while a Donte DiVincenzo three got Golden State within three, even with a stop on the hosts final possession, the Warriors came up short, as the Celtics held on for a 121-118 victory that carries more weight than most regular season wins.
One would hardly be surprised if it proves Boston's most meaningful before the playoffs begin.
Up Next
The Celtics travel north of the border to face the Raptors on Saturday. The game tips off at 5:00 pm EST. Inside The Celtics will have content related to the game coming out before, during, and afterward. And follow @BobbyKrivitsky on Twitter for updates and analysis from pregame to post.
Further Reading
Celtics Reportedly Looking for Players in Very Specific Range Ahead of NBA Trade Deadline
Western Conference Rival Reportedly has Shown Trade Interest In Celtics Guard Payton Pritchard
What Would it Cost the Celtics to Acquire Jakob Poeltl, and Should they Pay it?
