In the highly anticipated NBA Finals rematch, the Golden State Warriors ran away from the Boston Celtics with a 123-107 win at Chase Center on Saturday night.
With the loss, the Celtics fall to 21-6 while the Warriors creep over the .500 mark with a 14-13 record.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
It felt like the Finals again, and that’s not a good thing for the Celtics.
Facing the Warriors for the first time since Golden State closed things out on the parquet in June, the Celtics seemed out of sorts, especially on the offensive end.
It could have been that the Celtics were a little tight taking on the team that snatched an NBA title away from them, or just the fact the Warriors know how to play Boston by taking away shooting space and making things difficult on drives to the hoop.
Either way, the Celtics didn’t resemble the team they were over the first 26 games on Saturday night. They came in as the best 3-point shooting team in the league, but proceeded to hit just 30% (12-for-40) from deep. Jayson Tatum didn’t look like a superstar, laboring through a 6-for-21 shooting performance for 18 points. And Derrick White, who has been a key contributor either as a starter or in a reserve role, turned into a pumpkin.
The Celtics can brush this off as an off-showing, but they should be thankful this was a regular-season contest in December and not another game in the Finals.
STARS OF THE GAME
— Klay Thompson looked like a much different player than the one in the Finals against the Celtics. Thompson powered the Warriors by pouring in 24 of his game-high 34 points in the first half. He finished shooting 14-for-26 from the field.
— Jaylen Brown carried the Celtics for a majority of the night as he netted a team-high 31 points on 13-for-23 shooting to go along with nine rebounds and three assists.
— Steph Curry was his usual self as he teamed up with his Splash Brother and served as the Warriors’ closer. Curry knocked down six three-pointers en route to 32 points while dishing out seven assists.
WAGER WATCH
DraftKings Sportsbook set Malcolm Brogdon’s over/under for points at 14.5 and the guard had a terrific all-around effort to eclipse that mark. While Brogdon notched four assists and five rebounds to provide a spark off the bench, bettors were more concerned in this case with his point total and he scored 16 points to hit the Over. With -105 odds, a $100 bet would have netted a total of $195.24.
UP NEXT
The next stop on Boston’s West Coast road trip is in Los Angeles as the Celtics take on the Clippers on Monday. Tipoff from Crypto.com Arena is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET.
