By CNN
—
The Boston Celtics won their 11th game in a row on Sunday, rolling to a stunning 52-point rout, 140-88, of the Golden State Warriors.
In a rematch between the two teams that contested the 2022 NBA Finals, the Celtics ran away with proceedings early on. All-Star wing Jaylen Brown scored 19 points in the first quarter alone to propel Boston to 44-22 lead after the first quarter.
The Celtics’ advantage had ballooned to 44 points by the end of the first half, Boston’s largest halftime lead in franchise history.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was naturally unimpressed with what he had seen and pulled the plug in the second half, not giving any minutes to the ‘Big Three’ of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green after the break.
It was a nightmare evening for Curry – the two-time MVP scored only four points, shooting 2-of-13 from the field and uncharacteristically missing all nine of his three-point attempts as Golden State’s offense completely stagnated.
The Celtics pushed the lead past the 50-point mark in the third quarter before Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla also turned to his bench for the rest of the game.
The 52-point margin of victory was third-largest in Celtics’ history. Boston also became the first NBA team ever to win three games by at least 50 points in a single season, per StatMuse, after demolishing the Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets earlier in the season.
“It feels great, but at the same time, it’s always within humility,” said Brown, who finished with 29 points, three rebounds and three assists.
“At any given point, that can be us and we don’t take the game for granted. We didn’t come out and mess around and that’s just how we show our respect to the game.
We handle business and take care of it, but we don’t do it arrogantly. We do it with humility. And it’s a lot of respect for the Golden State Warriors, but we feel like it’s our time now.”
MVP candidate Jayson Tatum scored 27 points for the Celtics on his 26th birthday, with Payton Pritchard adding 19 off the bench.
Sunday’s win was Boston’s 11th in a row – the C’s have outscored their opponents by an average of 22.1 points per game during this winning streak, per the organization.
The Warriors, meanwhile, were held to a season-low 88 points and fell to their worst loss of the current campaign and third biggest in franchise history.
Despite the lopsided scoreline, Kerr was not worried by the defeat and was keen for his squad to move on.
“This is a ‘flush it down the toilet,’” Kerr said postgame. “We had a great road trip, 3-1, we’ve had a million games. Boston was amazing, we weren’t beating them today. We’ll head home and get ready for Wednesday.”
Lester Quiñones, who had his two-way deal converted to a standard NBA contract last month, led the Warriors in scoring with 17 points off the bench.
Boston’s dominant offensive performance had four-time champion Curry reminiscing after the game.
“They’re hitting 10 threes in the first quarter, that’s what we used to do teams,” Curry told the media.
“They’re the best team in the league right now, and they played like it … that was hard to watch from the other side.”
The Dubs drop to 32-28 on the season and face another Eastern powerhouse in the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday. The Celtics, owners of the best record in the NBA at 48-12, visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.
