The Boston Celtics returned to the court after the All Star break Thursday night, to face the eighth placed Golden State Warriors. Boston won their first game of a four-game West Coast road trip as they survived a late scare but dominated the Warriors through three quarters, 121-110. Brown had a triple double after just three quarters, Pritchard and Hauser combined for 42 points for Boston.
The Warriors came into the game without Steph Curry, Seth Curry and Jimmy Butler and started with a lineup of Pat Spencer, De’Anthony Melton, Myles Moody, Gui Santos and Draymond Green. Former C’s front court pairing of Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford started on the opposing bench after departing the C’s last summer. Boston rolled with the post deadline lineup of White, Brown, Hauser, Scheierman and Queta once again.
Moses Moody hit the game’s first bucket on a triple, Boston in the road green uniforms went inside on the first play to Queta as he rolled to bucket and drew a foul. With Ron Harper Jr. and Jaylen Brown the only Celtics active during All Star festivities, the rest of the squad had several days off. Brown knifed past three Warrior defenders to hit on his first layup with the left hand.
Hauser hit his first triple for Boston from the top of the key, Scheierman nailed a three of his own as Boston went up 11-10 early. Derrick White hit a mid range jumper then cut to the basket for a layup as the pace was high early. Boston up 17-15 shooting 54% percent at the first timeout in San Francisco.
Al Horford and Nikola Vucevic were the first big men off the bench for both teams. Ron Harper Jr. hit a corner triple from the bench, fresh off his All Star weekend appearance. Baylor Scheierman stole the ball at halfcourt and went all the way to the cup for his fifth point of the game.
Payton Pritchard once again came off the bench to spark the C’s, he had a killer crossover straight out of Tim Hardaway’s playbook for his first score of the night as he went all the way for a layup. Jordan Walsh had back-to-back baskets with 5 quick points, Boston with the early 33-23 lead.
Boston young legs of Harper, Walsh gave the C’s a big spark late in the first quarter, the pair combined for 11 first quarter points. The Warriors were gunning all quarter, going 8-17 from three, but it was Boston with a well rounded team performance, to lead 36-32 at the first break.
Vooch hit his first shot from a corner three to start the second quarter. Gonazalez splashed home his corner triple attempt in front of the C’s bench as Boston once again had a ten-point lead. Hugo batted away a pass attempt as Boston reclaimed possession. Pritchard and Gonzalez spearheading a quick 13-2 run to start the second quarter.
Sam Hauser threaded the needle to Vooch who was rewarded for running the court for the jam as Boston had a 19-point lead in a dominant second quarter performance. Godlen State had just 2 points in the second quarter until the seven minute mark. Al Horford got whistled for throwing a stray elbow toward rookie Hugo Gonzalez. The play was reviewed first then challenged, Boston winning the challenge and regaining possession.
Brown drove with a sweet crossover and had Santos draped all over his arm to score his twelfth point of the night and get an extra from the stripe with three minutes to go in the half. Pritchard hit a long bomb from deep as Boston regained an eighteen point lead.
KP hit his first three-pointer for the Warriors, but Hauser matched him with a three-pointer of his own as the Celtics were proving too much for the home team to handle behind 19 first half assists. Boston ended the half with back-to-back triples by Hauser and Pritchard as the C’s took a 23-point lead into halftime, 74-51.
Queta hit a rolling layup to start the third, the Portuguese bigman caught a pass off a bobbled ball that hit a Warrior defender’s head. Hauser drained his fourth three and Brown hit a reverse layup as they were rolling to start the second half. The C’s raced out to a 31-point lead before half the San Fran fans had even returned to their seats after halftime. JB was on triple dub alert with a 20 minutes to go in the game
Joe Mazzulla went to his bench depth with a thirty point lead at the five minute mark of the third. Pritchard, Vucevic and Harper Jr off the bench for Boston. Vuc immediately impacted game, blocking a shot and hitting a bank shot form the low block down the other end. Gonzalez entered the game and had a great drive and left hand finish with a pretty ISO dribble on a close out.
Pritchard’s splashed home his fourth triple of the night came off a JB assist as he logged a triple double with 17, 11 and 10 with two minutes to go in the third. Moody drained a pair of triples late in the quarter, yet the Celtics held onto a massive lead a quarter to go in the game, Boston up by 29 points 102-73.
Golden State cut the Boston lead back to 20 points as Joe rested the starters at the start the fourth quarter. Scheierman stopped the bleeding for Boston as the points had dried up for the visitors. Joe Mazzulla got Jaylen Brown back into the game with six minutes to go in the contest holding a 17-point lead.
Santos drained a triple to cut the lead to 14 points. Pritchard was stripped at mid court and then turned it over a second time as the Golden State crowd found their voice. It was Pritchard who made a pair fo tough contested triples as Boston hit 117 points with four minutes remaining in the game. The points dried up for Boston in the fourth as Golden State ratcheted up the pressure.
Jaylen Brown’s turnaround jumper on the bass line was his 23rd point of the night and that was enough for Boston to win the game as Golden State ran out of time to make a further run. Detroit knocked off the Knicks earlier in the evening meaning Boston moved back into second place in the East win a game cushion on New York.
Boston’s next game is on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday at 6:30pm, BEAT LA!!
