Warriors ride defense, Curry to biggest win of the season over Celtics

Golden State shut down the defending champs in the first half and held on to hand Boston its first home defeat of the season, 118-112

The last time the Golden State Warriors played in the TD Garden, the Boston Celtics beat them by 52 points. Wednesday night in Boston, it was more like when the Steph Curry and the Warriors beat them 2 out of 3 in the 2022 NBA Finals.

Curry put on a master class in the Warriors 118-112 win, running their record to 7-1 and dealing the Celtics their first home loss of the season. It was a thorough performance from Curry, who had 27 points on 17 shot attempts, seven rebounds, and nine assists (Curry’s teammates shot 9-for-14 off his passes), but also got four steals and blocked a shot. 10 of those points came in the last 5:28, where Curry also delivered two assists.

But as good as Curry was, it was a (wait for it) Strength In Numbers win for the Dubs! There was Buddy Hield, continuing his scorching bench scoring with 16 points and four threes, including a dagger three to give the Warriors a seven-point lead with 47 seconds to go.

He also had an impressive finish late over the NBA’s best shot-blocking guard, Derrick White, on his way to a game-best +20 plus/minus.

Draymond Green led a defensive effort in the first half that held the NBA’s highest-scoring team to just 40 points, and went 3 for 4 from the foul line to help ice the game in the final minute. Kevon Looney recaptured his 2022 Finals glory with 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes, scoring off offensive rebounds on consecutive possessions at the end of the 4th quarter.

After the Warriors fell behind by seven early in the second quarter, they retook the lead after an unlikely hot streak from Kyle Anderson, who turned into Michael Jordan in the 1992 NBA Finals. When the Celtics sagged off “Slow Mo,” he drilled three straight triples off the dribble. The only thing missing was a shoulder strug, but he did anger Payton Pritchard enough that he fired the ball off the basket support.

For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum made a compelling case that Steve Kerr should have played him more minutes during the Olympics. He had 32 points and made five threes, along with a steal and a block. It wasn’t a shock to hear the loud boos for Kerr from the TD Garden crowd, nor the loud boos for Draymond, but Curry still got cheers, even after all he’s done to the people of that city.

Their other Olympic teammate, Derrick White, scored 26 and made seven three-pointers of his own. The other Olympian in the building, Jrue Holiday, only shot 3-for-11, but still contributed nine rebounds and eight assists. The Celtics managed to stay in the game while getting out-shot and outrebounded by putting up a staggering volume of three-point shots, finishing 19-for-54 from deep. The Warriors were 14-for-34, a better percentage, but relative to the Celtics’ three-point barrage, the Dubs seemed like they were shooting set shots at a peach basket.

Overall, Wednesday night was a referendum on whether the Warriors’ hot start was legitimate. Their 6-1 record was achieved primarily against an injured New Orleans Pelicans team and some bottom-dwellers in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes, though they didn’t have Curry for half of those games. But beating the defending champions on the road shows that the Warriors’ defense and depth — Kerr used an 11-man rotation again — aren’t an illusion.

Of course, they’ll have their talent tested again when they faced the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers Friday. Or the undefeated-at-press-time Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. Or the defending Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks Tuesday. So far,