The Boston Celtics defeated the Golden State Warriors 125-85 on MLK Memorial Day in San Francisco, handing GSW their biggest home defeat in 40 years.
After some recent problems (3-4 over the past seven games), the Celtics came into the game with plenty of energy and quickly took a double-digit lead. After the first quarter, it was already 29-18 in favor of the Celtics, with Jayson Tatum the outstanding man with 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. At one point, the Warriors went 7:32 minutes without scoring from the field, resulting in a 15:0 run for the Celtics.
Boston would not relinquish this lead over the course of the game, as the Warriors put up little resistance. Stephen Curry was the top scorer for his team with 18 points, with only Moses Moody scoring in double figures (13). Otherwise, Golden State disappointed across the board. Andrew Wiggins only made one of his 11 shots, Dennis Schröder three of his eight. With a plus-minus of -29, Wiggins and Schröder were also statistically the worst players on their team.
The Warriors found it particularly difficult to score in the paint against Kristaps Porzingis (18) and Co., who scored at will there (52-26). Boston produced the decisive run after half-time, when they took a whopping 19 points off the home side in what used to be the Warriors’ quarter, and then sent the starting five off to enjoy a well-deserved evening off.
Golden State Warriors with historically poor three-point field goal percentage
In the end, no Celtic player made it past the 30-minute mark and as a team they made a good 53.3 percent from the field and over 40 percent from downtown. The picture was quite different for the Warriors, who scored almost nothing (34.8 percent from the field and 26.4 from outside). In the first half, Curry and Co. only hit three of their 24 attempts from beyond the arc, which was the second-lowest rate with at least 20 attempts in a half in their franchise history since 1996/97.
Schröder only played 17 minutes and also remained noticeably pale as a playmaker (1 assist). In addition, the Warriors’ lack of personnel was clearly noticeable, with the injured Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga and Brandon Podziemski missing at every turn.
Golden State, who last lost at home by at least 40 points on January 15, 1985 against Dallas and only six times since their move to California in 1962, face another tough task on Thursday night at the red-hot Kings (9-1 over the past ten games), while the Celtics visit the Clippers in L.A.