The Boston Celtics embarked on a four-game Western Conference road trip on Monday night, and their first game was against the Golden State Warriors. Earlier this season, the Warriors got the best of the Celtics in TD Garden, but it was a very different story on Monday.
Chase Center was home to a complete and utter blowout, as the game was over by the end of the third quarter. The Warriors couldn’t find any rhythm on the offensive end, and the Celtics, after an ugly loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night, were eager to bounce back. They did just that, earning a dominant 125-84 win in San Francisco.
Here are three studs and three duds from the game.
Stud - Kristaps Porzingis
The Celtics haven’t been amazing since Kristaps Porzingis has returned from his injury. But he’s not the problem. The numbers with him in the game are a bit odd, but as an individual, he’s been amazing.
It was more of that fact on Monday evening, as Porzingis was a walking mismatch against a very small Warriors lineup. He and the Celtics relentlessly attacked anyone who ended up on the Latvian center.
On top of that, Porzingis was also his usual three-point shooting self. So, even when Golden State did a good job of keeping him off his spot down low, he just stretched the floor and made them pay.
Add in his stellar defensive presence, and Porzingis gave the Celtics a bit of everything against Golden State.
Dud - Offensive stagnation
Though they generated a solid number of points, the Celtics’ offense looked very weird for long stretches of Monday’s game. Almost as if they were wading through mud.
For the most part, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were great. But they were also at the forefront of the potential issue. Whenever one of them had the ball, it seemed as though they were either looking for their own shot or a one-pass assist.
That’s fine, for the most part, but when it dragged the Celtics’ offense down into a slog, it became less fine.
Stud - Jaylen Brown
All that being said, Brown still had a quality game against the Warriors on Monday. He gave Boston a nice boost with his offensive production.
The three-ball hasn’t been falling for Brown much this season, but that wasn’t an issue against the Warriors. Not because he was hot, but because he picked his spots better.
Brown’s first three-point attempt of the night wasn’t until the third quarter, and he drained it. Before that, Brown made his money by driving to the hoop, and nobody on the Warriors could stand in his way.
Rather than settling for shots, Brown forced the issue. And it worked well.
This was the best Brown has looked in a while (outside of the occasional ball-stop possession that he and Tatum threw into the game).
Dud - Second-chance opportunities
The Celtics did a great job of sending ball pressure at the Warriors and preventing them from getting quality looks on offense. But they gave up way too many second-chance opportunities.
A lot of the second-chance looks the Warriors got were a result of some unlucky bounces and tough positions for the Celtics, but it’s just something Boston could clean up moving forward.
Stud - Derrick White
Amidst a stretch where not much has been going right for Derrick White, Monday night was a glimpse at what he is when he’s at his best. And the Celtics need that version of White back.
It wasn’t the high-volume-scorer version of White that Boston could use at times, but rather, the utility player. The guy who does a little bit of everything on the margins.
White was a block machine, a nice offensive hub, and a constant pest on both ends of the floor. Boston will want to see some more threes fall sometime soon, but this was a perfect step in the right direction.
Dud - The Warriors
For as well as the Celtics played in this game, it still feels like they should have won by more. And while that’s a bit of an indictment on the Celtics, it also speaks to how bad Golden State was on Monday.
When Stephen Curry wasn’t on the court, it was a disaster. The Warriors had no way of generating consistent offense without Curry.
Boston did a good job of putting pressure on their offense, but there were a ton of shots that Golden State should have hit. The Warriors are in a rough spot right now.
BONUS STUD: Sam Hauser seeing some shots down great is great.