Steph Curry sounded bothered in his response to Boston Celtics revenge narrative after 52-point Warriors loss
Steph Curry sounded perturbed responding to a reporter's suggestion that the Boston Celtics were still seeking revenge for the 2022 Finals following a 52-point Golden State Warriors loss on March 3 at the TD Garden.
“We’ve played them 4 times since, so that narrative’s gotten old," Curry said (h/t The Athletic's Jared Weiss). "But they’re the best team in the league right now and they played like it…They played their ass off and that was hard to watch from the other side.”
The Celtics scored 82 points in the first 24 minutes, holding a 44-point halftime lead. Amazingly, only five of Boston's players (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser) had double-digit points and no one had 30 or more. Of note, though, was Tatum and Brown outscoring the Warriors by themselves (47-38) in the first half.
Jayson Tatum's MVP case may have risen after historic Boston Celtics victory
NBC Sports Boston's Darren Hartwell believes that Tatum's performance boosted his MVP stock; specifically, because he outdueled two players (Curry, Luka Doncic) many have felt possess No. 0's number.
"Tatum's fingerprints were all over this blowout victory; he played a key role in limiting Curry on the defensive end and finished with a team-best plus-40 plus-minus," Hartwell prefaced before saying, "
Tatum is still fifth on the MVP ladder at most sportsbooks, but he's now outdueled Luka Doncic and Curry in back-to-back games as the engine that drives the NBA's best team. If Tatum stays hot this week in matchups against the Cavs and reigning champion Denver Nuggets, expect his MVP stock to rise."
Revenge narrative or not, the emphatic C's victory, their 11th straight and the third-largest blowout win in franchise history, was as perfect as they come. Tatum and Brown looked like 1 and 1A superstars, Tatum got himself closer to an MVP award, and the Warriors were destroyed to a degree that many will now remember this beatdown before recalling the heartbreak of the 2022 Finals.