Celtics Display Teamwork, Dominate Warriors in San Francisco Blowout

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Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors is guarded by Jrue Holiday and Derrick White of the Boston Celtics during the second half

The Boston Celtics delivered an impressive performance on Monday, defeating the Golden State Warriors by 40 points in San Francisco. This victory marked Boston’s second-largest win of the season and was a much-needed bounce-back after one of their worst losses of the year.

Celtics’ Struggles with Consistency

In recent weeks, consistency has been an issue for the Celtics, as they haven’t won consecutive games since their last West Coast road trip in early January 2025. After each of their past four wins, they followed up with tough losses, including a heartbreaking 119-115 overtime defeat to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday, where they blew a late lead.

Although many have attributed the Celtics’ struggles to a post-championship hangover, there were a few concerning trends in their losses. They struggled with three-point shooting and their passing wasn’t as sharp. Additionally, some mental lapses led to a 7-7 record over their last 14 games leading up to Monday’s match.

Celtics Bounce Back Against Warriors

On Monday, the Celtics came out strong and dominated the Warriors on their home court. Six Celtics players scored in double digits, with Jayson Tatum leading the way with 22 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. Kristaps Porzingis added 18 points, while Payton Pritchard (14 points) and Sam Hauser (11 points) made valuable contributions off the bench.

Jaylen Brown had an efficient 8-of-14 shooting night, improving after struggling in his previous seven games.

Derrick White, though not reaching double digits, also showed improvement, shooting 3-of-5 overall and 2-of-4 from three for eight points. He added five rebounds, five assists, and three blocks. Jrue Holiday also bounced back after a tough performance against the Hawks, scoring 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.

Strong Three-Point Shooting and Ball Movement

The Celtics shot 20-of-48 from three-point range, marking only their fourth game hitting over 40% from beyond the arc in their last 11 games. The key to their success wasn’t just hitting shots, but how they created them.

The Celtics assisted on six of their seven first-half three-pointers and all eight of their threes in the third quarter, finishing with 33 assists, well above their 25.3 assists per game average.

Jayson Tatum and Stephen Curry fight for the ball in the game

Defensively, they held the Warriors to a season-low 85 points on 34.8% shooting, a well-rounded performance that impressed head coach Joe Mazzulla.

“I just thought the game was connected,” Mazzulla said after the win. “I thought we were really focused on our game plan and execution. I thought that led to great shots, and I think the connectivity of that kind of kept that energy going.”

Celtics Take Control in the Third Quarter

Boston led by 15 points at halftime, but the third quarter saw them take complete control of the game. They outscored the Warriors 25-10 in the first six minutes after the break, with Tatum and Brown combining for 21 points in the period. Meanwhile, the Warriors managed only 24 points in the third quarter.

Kristaps Porzingis Shines

Kristaps Porzingis continued his strong play, scoring 18 points and grabbing seven rebounds in just 22 minutes. He had eight points in the first quarter, helping the Celtics build an early lead. Porzingis has been in great form in January, averaging 19.4 points on 48% shooting and 46.7% from three. He’s been scoring at least 18 points in his last seven games.

Warriors’ Confidence in Celtics

Despite the Celtics’ up-and-down month, two Warriors stars, Steve Kerr and Steph Curry, aren’t concerned about Boston’s championship chances. Both Kerr and Curry, who have experience with repeating as NBA champions, believe that Boston will be ready for the playoffs.

“The NBA season is such a long haul…if you go to the Finals and come back the next year, you’re right back at base camp, and that’s intimidating,” Kerr said before the game. “It’s perfectly natural for them to have a little bit of an emotional hangover and maybe not be at their best game after game. But, what I would expect is, come playoff time, they’ll be ready to roll.”

Curry added, “It’s a marathon of a season; you do have a championship kind of aura about you… There are gonna be lulls throughout the season. But you try to get to the playoffs with a good identity, good momentum, good confidence, good health, and then you just roll the dice trying to run it back.”

Celtics’ Current Position

Despite recent struggles, Boston is 30-13 and second in the Eastern Conference, 6.5 games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers. They have the third-best record in the NBA behind the Cavaliers and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

By Christopher Kamila

I am an experienced content writer with a specialization in WordPress. I have written engaging articles for various websites that have achieved a total of 5,500 monthly views. In addition, I have played a key role in boosting their organic traffic by 30% and achieving top Google rankings through SEO. My passion lies in creating user-friendly content.

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