The Warriors went into Sunday’s matinee against the Boston Celtics riding a hot streak and of a mind to prove they can be a team to be reckoned with in the postseason.
But things went horribly wrong from the outset, and the result was a 140-88 loss at TD Garden as Boston played one the best halves in the history of the franchise to send the Warriors back home to pick up the pieces.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr didn’t seem overly concerned after a road trip during which the Warriors won three of four games and return home to host another formidable opponent in Milwaukee Wednesday night.
“Flush it down the toilet,” Kerr told reporters. “We had a great road trip. We’ve had a million games. Boston was amazing. We weren’t beating them today. So we head home and get ready for Wednesday.”
The Celtics held a staggering 82-38 lead at the half, assisting on 20 baskets while making just one turnover. ESPN/ABC commentator Stephen A. Smith was apologizing to the nation for the game being part of the network’s “Sunday Showcase” and for once it didn’t seem like an exaggeration.
It was that bad.
Boston, which hasn’t won an NBA title since the 2007-08 season, looked the part of the team to beat in winning its 11th straight game to improve to 48-12 and 29-3 at home.
Jaylen Brown finished with 29 points in a little over 22 minutes for Boston, with Jayson Tatum adding 27 in 25 minutes on his 26th birthday before taking much of the second half off.
Lester Quinones led the Warriors with 17 points, with Moses Moody adding 11 and Jerome Robinson 10.
The Warriors (32-28), who came in having won eight straight on the road and 13 out of 16, were outclassed for the second time in a week by a legit contender, losing the previous Sunday 119-103 at Chase Center to the defending champion Denver Nuggets.
Transition defense was an issue against Denver and once again against the Celtics.
“They got 42 points in transition,” Kerr said. “You’re not going to win a game with that kind of lack of defensive awareness.”
The 44-point halftime lead was the largest in team history for a franchise that has won 17 NBA titles. The deficit was the most under Kerr. When the game was 24 minutes old, Klay Thompson was on the bench with hamstring tightness and Stephen Curry was done for the day having scored four points after coming in questionable to play with bursitis in his right knee.
Draymond Green also took a seat and did not return with Kerr using the deficit as a load management opportunity for his veteran players.
Asked about when he decided to keep Curry and Green on the bench, Kerr, tongue firmly planted in his cheek, said, “It was either when they went up 42 late in the first quarter or 56 early in the second quarter. Somewhere in that range.”
Brown had 25 points at halftime, with Tatum adding 22. Against a non-existent Warriors defense, Boston was 60 percent from the floor (30-for-50) and 62.5 on 3-point attempts (15-for-24).
Former Warriors general manager Bob Myers, part of the network halftime analysis crew, warned not to put to much stock in how the first half went.
“Steph is not himself right now,” Myers said. “It’s one game. It happens. I’m not making some big proclamation.”
The Warriors were 3-for-18 on 3-point attempts in the first half and 7-for-41 overall, with Curry going 0-for-9.
Boston ran away and hid from the Warriors in the first quarter, going on a 23-1 run over the last six-plus minutes for a 44-22 lead in a game that was actually tied 21-21 with 6:05 left in the quarter after a Curry bank shot.
The Celtics were 10 of 16 shooting 3-pointers in the quarter, with Brown hitting 5 of 9 and scoring 19 points.
The Warriors, on the other hand, were 3-for-11 on threes and 8-for-24 overall. Curry scored just two points on 1-of-6 shots and missed all four of his 3-point attempts — two of them air balls.
Curry was coming off a 25-point game against Toronto that included eight 3-point baskets and he had seven in a road win over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Those games came after a three-game shooting slump in which he hit 31.6 percent of his 3-point attempts. He has hit seven or more 3-pointers nine times in his last 17 games and his 281 threes coming in led the NBA. With 19 more 3-pointers, Curry would set an NBA record for getting 300 in a season for the fifth time in his career.
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Talking with reporters before the game, Kerr said that although he expected his star guard to play, the grind of late has been considerable.
“He was banged up after the (Toronto) game,” Kerr said. “We’ve had a ton of games lately. The last few weeks have been kind of nuts for Steph. He didn’t really get a break at the All-Star game and all the games he’s played. He was a little banged up so we put him on the injury report, but I expect him to play today.”
For the Celtics, 7-foot-2 center Kristaps Porzingis (quad contusion) was ruled out. Porzingis is averaging 20.3 points and 7.8 rebounds in 44 games this season and Boston hasn’t been shy about sitting him out to keep him healthy.