BSJ Game Report: Celtics 140, Warriors 88 - Jaylen Brown kickstarts thrashing of Golden State

Everything you need to know about the Celtics blowout of the Warriors, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

Jaylen Brown helped fuel a nearly perfect first quarter where Boston doubled up the Warriors and went up 22 after shooting 10-16 from deep. They continued to pour it on in the second quarter, ultimately finishing the half on a 61-17 run to open up a 42-point halftime lead. The starters left the game with about seven minutes to go in the third, giving us extended garbage time the rest of the way as Boston rolled to their 11th straight win.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Wow. Just, wow: The Warriors hung around for a bit even though Steph Curry was struggling. It felt like it could be a game where if he could just get going, but the Celtics defense clamped down and it fueled a monster run. I’ve never seen this kind of offensive performance in my life. Everything they did worked. It was impressive to watch. 

- Jaylen Brown’s hot start: The Warriors decided to play off of him early and he destroyed them for it with 19 first-quarter points, including three straight 3-pointers as the Celtics were breaking the game open. I don’t know why the Warriors chose to defend Brown the way they did (and I use the term “defend” loosely there), but man, was that a big mistake.  

- Three-point barrage: They shot 15-24 from 3 in the first half while the Warriors were just 3-18. You really can look no further for the difference in the game than the 45-9 advantage Boston held from beyond the arc. 

TURNING POINT 

Boston broke a 21-all tie with a 23-1 run to close the first quarter, giving them a 44-22 lead. It was a bloodbath from there. 

THINGS I LIKED

- The defense: Let’s give Boston’s defense the love it deserves instead of just celebrating the hot shooting. It’s one thing to get going from deep, but it’s another to keep a potent offense in check while doing so. The Celtics didn’t just rest on their offense while putting that run together. They got stops and piled up a 21-4 fastbreak point advantage on top of burying the Warriors under a pile of 3-pointers. 

- The shooting: Okay now we can celebrate the hellfire rained upon the Warriors from above. Nothing was forced, and everyone had it going. The only starter to shoot less than 50% was Jrue Holiday, who was 1-3. 

- The ball movement: They had 20 assists at halftime, which is a function of them making a bunch of shots, but it was also Boston getting into the paint and going 11-12 at the rim. As impressive as the shooting was, I’m just as impressed at them not just jacking up shots every time down. They hit body shots as well as head shots. 

- Jaylen Brown: 29 points on 11-19 shooting against “disrespectful” defense. I’m impressed by the level of defense he played, which was fueled in part by his offensive explosion. 

- Jayson Tatum: Shout out to the birthday boy, who dropped a very easy 27 on 9-13 shooting. The Jays had one turnover between them. 

- Payton Pritchard: His game might get lost in this blowout but he came in and gave a nice burst of energy. He was perfect in the first half as the Celtics were running away with things and he had four assists off the bench. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

 - That this game had to end: Hey, who doesn’t like a good thumping of the Warriors. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Things have a way of evening out

Remember how things fell apart against the Milwaukee Bucks a couple of months ago? This was the opposite of that. 

And that really serves as a great reminder of how things tend to even out in the NBA. For every bad loss, there's a good win. For every embarrassment, there's a chance to embarrass someone else. 

When a team is as good as Boston is, it’s not that they are impervious to bad things happening. No team makes out of a season without some scar tissue. It’s that they have answers to those things happening. 

The loss to the Lakers was the cause of so much hand-wringing here, and now here we are a month later with the Celtics having not lost a game since, and the catharsis of a thrashing of the Warriors washing over everyone in the building. 

They haven't lost two games in a row since November 8. Their 11-game winning streak is the longest in the league this year. They are the first team in NBA history to win three games in a season by 50 or more points. 

The NBA season is a very long journey. I know that it’s fun to revel in the wins and fume after losses, and I’m going to tell fans that they shouldn’t. But the big picture is always something that should be in the back of everyone’s mind. This team is different. 

Next Up: The Celtics begin a five-game road trip in Cleveland Tuesday night