CNN
—
THE Boston Celtics won their 11th consecutive match Sunday, leading to a stunning 52-point, 140-88 defeat of Warriors of the Golden State.
In a rematch between the two teams that contested the 2022 NBA In the final, the Celtics ran away from the start. All-Star winger Jaylen Brown scored 19 points in the first quarter alone to propel Boston to a 44-22 lead after the first quarter.
The Celtics’ advantage had grown to 44 points by the end of the first half, according to Boston. largest halftime lead in franchise history.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was understandably unimpressed with what he saw and pulled the plug in the second half, giving no minutes to the “Big Three” of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green after the break.
It was a nightmare night for Curry — the two-time MVP scored just four points, shooting 2 of 13 from the field and uncharacteristically missing all nine of his three-point attempts as Golden State’s offense completely stagnated.
The Celtics pushed the lead past the 50-point mark in the third quarter before Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla also turned to his bench for the rest of the game.
The margin of victory of 52 points was third greatest in Celtics history. Boston also became the first NBA team to win three games by at least 50 points in a single season, by StatMuseafter demolishing the Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets earlier in the season.
“It feels good, but at the same time, it’s always humble” said Brown.who finished with 29 points, three rebounds and three assists.
“At any time it could be our case and we don’t take the game for granted. We didn’t come out to joke and this is how we show our respect for the game.
We manage business and take care of it, but we don’t do it arrogantly. We do it with humility. And that’s a lot of respect to the Golden State Warriors, but we think it’s our time now.
MVP candidate Jayson Tatum scored 27 points for the Celtics on his 26th birthdaywith Payton Pritchard adding 19 off the bench.
Sunday’s win was Boston’s 11th in a row — the C’s have outscored their opponents by an average of 22.1 points per game during that winning streak, according to the organization.
The Warriors, for their part, were subject to a season low 88 points and fell to its worst defeat of the current campaign and third largest in franchise history.
Despite the lopsided score, Kerr wasn’t worried about the loss and wanted his team to move on.
“It’s about ‘flushing the toilet’” Kerr said after the match. “We had a great road trip, 3-1, we played a million games. Boston was incredible, we didn’t beat them today. We will go home and get ready for Wednesday.
Lester Quiñones, who had his two-way deal converted to standard NBA contract last month, led the Warriors in scoring with 17 points coming off the bench.
Boston’s dominant offensive performance recalled four-time champion Curry after the game.
“They made 10 threes in the first quarter, that’s what we did as a team,” Curry told the media.
“They’re the best team in the league right now, and they played like that… it was tough to watch from the other side.”
The Dubs fall to 32-28 on the season and will face another Eastern power, the Milwaukee Bucks, on Wednesday. The Celtics, holders of the best record in the NBA with 48-12, visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.
