Celtics Wrap: Jayson Tatum, Stephen Curry Shine As Boston Extends Win Streak
Now that was an incredible basketball game.
Jayson Tatum was amazing all night, Kemba Walker stepped up with his best performance in recent memory and Marcus Smart hit arguably the biggest shot after an otherwise cold night. All told, the Celtics earned a 119-114 win over the Golden State Warriors at TD Garden on Saturday.
And it came despite the Stephen Curry’s 47 points on 11-for-17 from 3-point range.
Tatum finished with 44 points on 16-for-25 from the field while adding 10 rebounds. Walker added 26 points on 9-for-20 from the floor while Smart scored 16 points on 15 shots.
Jabari Parker, who joined the Celtics on a two-year deal Friday, played 16 minutes in his debut. He provided the Celtics a clear boost on the offensive end so much so that head coach Brad Stevens put him back in the final two minutes. Parker finished with 11 points on 5-for-6 from the floor.
Boston improved to 31-26 on the campaign while Golden State fell to 28-29.
Here’s how it went down:
STARTING FIVE
PG: Kemba Walker
SG: Marcus Smart
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Semi Ojeleye
C: Tristan Thompson
FALLING BEHIND
The Celtics couldn’t cash in on a few early looks from long range and turned the ball five times in the quarter, all while Stephen Curry did Stephen Curry things on the other end. It helped the Warriors take a 27-13 lead nine minutes into the quarter.
Tatum and Parker, however, helped bring the Celtics back a bit. Tatum benefitted from some clean looks and scored nine of his 13 first-quarter points in the final two minutes.
Parker checked in off the bench to play the final five minutes and he scored four points on 2-for-2 from the floor.
Besides Tatum, the other four Celtics starters scored just seven points between them.
Golden State shot 13-for-22 (59%) with 14 points from Curry en route to a 33-24 lead after the first quarter.
Boston shot 10-for-22 (46%) from the field in the first including 2-for-9 (22%) from beyond the arc.
ENDING ON A RUN
The Warriors started the quarter on a mini 13-5 run to take a 15-point lead less than four minutes into the period.
Golden State’s lead remained at 15 points with 1:53 left in the half. Curry, on consecutive possessions, hit three free throws as he was fouled on a chance from deep and then finished on an absolutely ridiculous four-point play.
The Celtics responded in a major way to make sure the game didn’t get out of hand. Boston put together a 10-0 run over the final 1:29 to cut its halftime deficit to merely six points.
During the run, Walker finished on a traditional three-point play, Tatum scored on a basket in the paint before hitting a shot from the corner at the buzzer.
Tatum led all scorers with 23 first-half point on 9-for-12 from the field.
Walker added nine points himself on 4-for-8 from the field, too.
Curry led Golden State with 22 first-half points.
Boston shot 24-for-48 (50%) from the field while Golden State finished the first half shooting 23-for-39 (59%).
THIS ONE IS ENTERTAINING
Walker scored nine points on three 3-pointers during the opening 2:22 of the second half and it helped the take a 71-68 lead. He was 7-for-11 from the field at the time.
Boston, though, wasn’t done there as its run continued with a 3-pointer by Smart and a pair of baskets by Tatum. The C’s took a 78-71 lead after out-scoring Golden State 28-5 in a matter of 4:45 of game time.
That stretch carried from the end of the second and start of the third quarter.
Boston went on to miss its next seven shots as the Warriors regained their 82-78 left with three minutes left in the quarter.
The back-and-forth third quarter, which heavily featured Curry (38 points) and Tatum (32), was tied up 89-all heading into the fourth.
DOWN TO THE WIRE
Boston started cold from the field (1-for-4) with one turnover as Golden State took a 86-91 lead 2:32 into the fourth.
Parker converted on a pair of buckets including hustling for an offensive rebound and put back. Smart hit a 3-pointer on the next possession to give Boston a 100-98 lead with 7:12 left.
Curry’s ninth 3-pointer of the game gave the Warriors a 103-101 lead with six minutes left and his 10th of the contest extended Golden State’s lead to 109-103 with four minutes left.
Tatum cut that back to a one-point game, 109-108, with a corner three of his own.
Smart then connected on a 3-pointer of his own to give the Celtics a 111-109 lead. Tatum then finished in the paint on the next possession to make it 113-113 with 49 seconds left.
Draymond Green missed a layup which would have tied it and Walker came back on the other end and hit a massive 3-pointer to give Boston a 116-111 lead with 25 seconds left.
Boston was able to put the finishing touches from there.
UP NEXT
The Celtics return to TD Garden on Monday to host the Chicago Bulls. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET
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