Curry spoils Tatum revenge game, Celtics lose to Warriors 118-112

Coming off of a dominant 123-93 win over the Atlanta Hawks , the Celtics return home to play one of the most anticipated games of the season, a matchup between the Golden State Warriors . Theres a lot of animosity the Celtics could harbor with the Warriors but tonight is personal. Steve Kerr benched Jayson Tatum in the Paris Olympics this summer, barely using him at all on their way to the gold medal for Team USA. This was seen as a slap in the face to Celtics fans and caused an uproar throughout the summer. However, tonight we get to see if Jayson Tatum gets to get his revenge on Kerr for not playing him in Paris.

The Celtics would have to look for revenge without Jaylen Brown tonight as he is missing his third straight game with a left hip flexor strain. This means for the second game in a row, Neemias Queta will be in the starting lineup with Holiday, White, Tatum and Horford. For the Warriors Brandon Podziemski, who is 3rd in the NBA in +/-, is out with an illness as well as De'Anthony Melton who is out with a spine injury. The Warriors do have Steph Curry coming back in his second game since his ankle injury as well as Andrew Wiggins, Moses Moody, Draymond Green, and Trayce Jackson-Davis rounding out the lineup.

The pregame started as expected, Steve Kerr got boo'd and Kerr just waived to the Celtics crowd in acknowledgment. The game started with a bang as Holiday threw an alley-oop to Queta for a slam as there was a playoff atmosphere inside TD Garden. The Warriors defense was focused on Tatum early as they were trapping him on every possession down floor. The Warriors started slow before Curry scored their first points on an and-1 layup at the 9:15 mark.

Derrick White was hot early, splashing 3 threes and getting fouled on another to score 12 straight points for the Celtics on a 14-3 run to start the game. The Warriors had an abysmal start shooting, going 1-11 from the field and 0-5 from three but the Celtics were not able to really capitalize on it.

The Celtics looked discombobulated on offense, turning the ball over 5 times in the quarter, going more than four minutes without scoring, and allowing Golden State to go on an 8-0 run to cut into their lead. Jayson Tatum did not start off hot, scoring 5 points on 1-5 shooting in the first quarter. He wasn't necessarily forcing shots, but the Warriors did a good job not letting him get to his spots.

The Celtics ended the quarter up 24-19 even though they shot 6-19 (31.6%) from the field and 4-12 (33%) from three as a team. Derrick White was the leading scorer for Boston with 12 points and Buddy Hield led the Warriors with 8 points.

The Warriors defense continued to be relentless, trapping everyone who touched the ball and it really bothering the Celtics. before Kyle Anderson, who was a 19% three point shooter coming into the game, torched the Celtics on the perimeter with 3 straight threes as a part of a 16-3 Warriors run. Payton Pritchard was trying his best to keep the Celtics in the game, scoring the only points for the Celtics while Tatum was on the bench.

Steph Curry was quiet in the first quarter but hit an a 28 ft fadeaway three over the out stretched arm of Queta that really only he could ever make. Both teams continued to scratch and claw for any semblance of offense as both of these top 5 defenses in the NBA were stifling. Golden State started to find something offensively finishing the half on a 14-4 run highlighted by a buzzer beating put back by Moses Moody to lead 51-40 over the Celtics.

Tatum's slow night continued, finishing the half with only 8 points on 2-7 shooting and turning the ball over 4 times. Turnovers were a real problem for the Celtics overall, turning the ball over 10 times leading to 14 fast break points for the Warriors. Boston shot 13-37 (35.1%) from the field and 6-20 (30%) from three in their lowest scoring first half of the season and triggering some really bad PTSD from the 2022 Finals. The Warriors bench was a huge reason as to why they had the lead, outscoring the Celtics bench 28-12. White's 12 points continued to be the leading scorer for the Celtics and Kyle Anderson lead the Warriors with 9 points.

Steph Curry only took three shots in the first half but immediately started the half making his first two shots. Al Horford ignited the Celtics offense with 7 points to begin the quarter but the Warriors had an answer for them every time down the floor. The Celtics ball movement was really on display as Boston missed two threes, grabbing the offensive rebound each time, and making six passes around the court leading to a Tatum three and a Warriors timeout.

Jayson Tatum started to come alive in this quarter as after Payton Pritchard dropped Gary Payton, he found Tatum for a three, then hit another three in transition, and made a driving layup in the lane, scoring the Celtics last 11 points in a row. Both teams continued to trade baskets and Tatum hit another three with Lindy Waters right in his air space. With 7 seconds left in the quarter, Payton Pritchard hit another clutch three to cut the Warriors lead to 1, going into the 4th Quarter down 82-81. The Celtics found their three point shot in this quarter, hitting 10 threes lead Jayson Tatum's takeover as he finished with 25 points.

The Celtics tied the game on a Queta free throw and took the lead on a Derrick White three, Boston's first lead since it was 26-24 in the 2nd quarter. Neemias Queta continued to be a force on the glass, grabbing offensive rebounds and overall just overpowering the Warriors defense under the rim. The exclamation point for Queta was a huge put back dunk at the 8:13 mark of the quarter, making the crowd go into a frenzy and forcing a Warriors timeout.

Queta's dominance continued out of the timeout as he posterized Kevon Looney on a vicious dunk and blocked Steph Curry on a layup attempt. With 5:37 to go, an Andrew Wiggins layup and three free throws by Steph Curry cut the Celtics lead to 95-93. Jrue Holiday blew by Draymond Green for a layup but Curry hit a no look three to cut the Celtics lead to 1.

After a timeout, Andrew Wiggins hit an elbow jumper over Tatum to take the lead but Tatum came right back with a fadeaway two of his own. Draymond found Steph on a back door cut, Hield hit a layup and Curry got to the rim again for a layup, pushing the Warriors lead to 5. Tatum hit another fadeaway two, this time an and-1 and set Queta up for an alley-oop dunk. Curry missed two shots but the Celtics couldn't get the rebound, letting Lonney get a putback layup and off a Tatum miss, Buddy Hield hit a dagger corner three with 46 seconds to go and pushing the Warriors lead to 111-104.

Out of the Celtics timeout, Al Horford hit a huge three to cut it to a 4 point deficit, but Draymond hit two free throws. The Celtics needed a three but Tatum drove to the rim for a layup leading Boston to foul Wiggins who hit two more free throws. The Celtics pushed the tempo and Payton Pritchard got fouled on a three point attempt, hitting all three free throws, leading the Warriors to call their final timeout up 1115-112 with 16.1 seconds to go.

Out of the timeout the Celtics tried to get the steal but had to foul Draymond Green who missed the first free throw and made the second. Tatum had a chance to cut it to a 1 point deficit but just missed the three. Kyle Anderson hit two more free throws and that was your ballgame as the Warriors beat the Celtics 118-112.

This was an incredible game but the Celtics fell just short as Steve Kerr is able to leave Boston the victor. Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 32 points on 10-20 from the field and 5-10 from three and Steph Curry led the Warriors with 27 points.