It was no surprise that the Celtics cruised to a win over a Warriors team on Thursday night that was playing without All-Star Stephen Curry. Boston put on a show for the first three quarters, leading by as many as 34 points before a late rally by the hosts made the final score a bit more respectable, a 121-110 win over Golden State.
The victory was Boston’s seventh win in their last eight games and improved the team to 36-19 on the season. Warriors coach Steve Kerr dwelled far more on Boston’s stellar performances rather than his own team’s struggles after the loss.
“I thought Boston was incredible,” Kerr said. “They are having an amazing season and they are a machine right now. They’ve done such a good job. Their staff has done a hell of a job with Joe and the group. They’ve got the continuity but given the departures and the injuries, it’s remarkable what they’ve done. They just put on a clinic those first three quarters.”
The Warriors used some full court pressing in the fourth quarter to help trim Boston’s lead to 11 points at the final buzzer, which left Kerr somewhat encouraged by his team.
“I felt like we’re slow to get moving,” Kerr said. “I never like the first game out of the break, it never feels great to have all that time off. I felt like we were kind of slow to get moving. It was good to see the fight and rhythm we found late to at least make it respectable.
“That’s a hell of a team and they played an amazing game. We didn’t find our grit and our competitiveness until the second half, until it was too late.”
Golden State will be without Curry for at least 10 more days as he continues to deal with knee soreness. The Warriors currently sit in the No. 8 seed with a 29-27 record but will be in danger of dropping further down the West standings without him. The team should get a boost from former Celtic Kristaps Porzingis after he made his debut on Thursday night, scoring 12 points off the bench. The big man also shared in Kerr’s assessment of his former team.
“These guys are elite players,” Porzingis said. “I knew they were going to be good. Maybe not first, second seed. But yeah. Joe and that crew is top.”
The Celtics will look to maintain their momentum on Sunday night when they continue their four-game road trip against the Lakers in Los Angeles.
