Steph Curry burns the Celtics, the Warriors hold on late: 10 takeaways

Celtics

Steve Kerr's return to TD Garden after the Olympics resulted in the Celtics losing their second game of the season.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) drives to the basket in the fourth quarter at TD Garden. Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe

The Celtics lost their second game of the season on Wednesday, falling to a rejuvenated Warriors team 118-112.

Here are the snack bars.

1. Steph Curry killed the Celtics down the stretch.

This isn't exactly groundbreaking analysis, but it's not just about the Steph Curry shooting.

Of course, part of it is the shooting – the three-point shots hurt and make his forays into the lane much more dangerous.

But as has been the case with every good Warriors team since the beginning of Curry's historic run with the franchise, the attention paid to Curry is almost as damaging to a defense. That attention would free up Klay Thompson to shoot 3-pointers for years to come. Now Curry has Buddy Hield doing damage behind the arc in addition to all the punching and cutting wings at his disposal.

Curry impressed the Celtics as a scorer in the fourth quarter, both from behind the 3-point arc and in the paint. With the Celtics breaking their score, with less than a minute left, Curry made a killer pass to Hield in the corner for a 3-pointer that put the Warriors up by seven and put the Celtics on their heels for the rest of the game .

As good as the Celtics can be (and they remain the team to beat in the NBA), the Warriors still boast one of the greatest game-winning talents in league history.

“He’s one of the greatest players the game has ever seen,” Derrick White said. “It takes a whole team to protect him.”

Curry finished the game with 27 points, seven rebounds and nine assists on 4-for-9 shooting from deep.

2. The Warriors' defense is legit.

Golden State was extremely aggressive defensively, forcing turnovers and issuing double teams that seemed to give the Celtics fits in the first half – a surprise for a team that loves double teams.

“I think when we performed well, it kind of looked (right),” White said. “But we didn’t get it done in the first half and it looked crazy. You just have to be stronger with the ball and get the right interpretation.”

Still, the Warriors have built a really good defensive system. Having long, athletic wings like Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga and Andrew Wiggins obviously helps a lot, but Curry is also a little underrated – he's not particularly long or particularly athletic, but he grabbed four steals and ensured the Celtics lost the ball. Covers many issues.

“They are physical and force you to fight for your spot,” Joe Mazzulla said. “They have active hands, so I think they took a lot of deflections in the first half. They were able to achieve a lot there, but I think we managed the physicality better in the second half and I just have to say: we talk about physicality, it's as much about defense as it is about attack.

“So it took us a while to get used to it. When we were able to do that, we did really well and in the end it just came down to a few possessions.”

3. Neemias Queta continually outdoes himself.

Neemias Queta made his first career start in the Celtics' win over the Hawks on Monday. Joe Mazzulla then praised the hyper-athletic big man and his sky-high ceiling.

On Wednesday, Queta outdid himself again by turning in a stellar two-way performance in 28 minutes, scoring 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting with eight rebounds and two blocks, while showing some flashes as a versatile transition defender.

“He does a good job of understanding trends,” Mazzulla said. “I think he does a good job of executing the coverages we have. He pressed it onto his right hand a few times within three.

“He's just getting better and better at understanding the scheme and the tendencies and then just understanding the situational basketball, which is affecting the defense. So he’s definitely growing.”

Queta scored the first basket of the game by slamming in a lob after a pick-and-roll. The Warriors then spent several minutes attacking him in the pick-and-roll, but Queta largely proved up to the task, even holding his own against Curry at times. He also thwarted a layup attempt by Andrew Wiggins.

In the second half, Queta picked up where he left off, throwing several huge slams, beating Curry to the rim and helping the Celtics on offense with great screening and activity.

The Celtics haven't had a vertical threat like Queta since Robert Williams was dealt in the Jrue Holiday deal. With Queta becoming more comfortable on both sides (and more consistent), the Celtics have a dangerous addition to their already loaded arsenal.

4. Steve Kerr was booed (but the drama was minimal).

The early-season showdown between the Warriors and Celtics was billed as Steve Kerr vs. Jayson Tatum after Kerr gave Tatum a pair of DNP CDs during Team USA's gold medal run.

And as expected, Kerr was loudly booed when PA announcer Eddie Paladino cleverly paused to give fans an opportunity as the starting lineups were announced.

However, early on in Wednesday's game, it became clear that the duel would not necessarily be an opportunity for revenge, but rather an intense battle between two really good teams. The Warriors stifled the Celtics in the first half and extended their lead to 11 just before halftime. The Celtics began to figure out how to break through the Warriors' hyper-aggressive defense in the third quarter and closed the gap. Celtics fans barely had time to worry about Kerr as they groaned over Curry's shot and exploded over the heroics of Tatum, White and Queta.

Which of course probably should be the case.

“I don’t think anyone cared enough about me to boo me,” Kerr said before the game when asked how many times he had been booed. “But we’ll see how it goes tonight.”

5. Tatum's take on the situation.

Tatum was deeply (and profanely) unfazed by the situation.

“People always told me to be louder and meaner,” he said. “One thing about Jayson is I’ll always do whatever the hell I want to do. (…)

“It wasn’t on my mind. Just another Wednesday. Another game, another opportunity to come in and try to be the best player I can be.”

How did he learn to deal with outside noise?

“Excuse my language,” he said. “You just learn not to give in.”

6. Tatum found himself in the second half.

After a slow start in the first quarter, which included four of the Celtics' 10 first-half turnovers against an aggressive trapping defense, Tatum woke up in the third quarter and scored 17 points, helping the Celtics overcome a deficit of as many as 30 points 14.

Tatum finished with 32 points on 10-for-20 shooting and 5-for-10 from three in what was considered his revenge.

In other words, Tatum did what he has done for much of the past two years. He led the team in scoring and played a solid, consistent game without compromising the situation.

“I thought he did great,” Mazzulla said. “I thought he just gave the game what it needed, whether it was passing, shielding, finishing.”

7. Draymond Green's new trolling move

Late in the game, Payton Pritchard was fouled by Curry while making a 3-pointer. After Pritchard knocked down the first free throw, the Warriors' Draymond Green extended a high-five. Pritchard was somewhat wrong-footed and obeyed. He proceeded to knock down the second one. Green held out his hand again. This time Pritchard half-heartedly extended his arm but didn't bother to touch it. He also missed the third free throw.

Give Green this: He's a pretty creative troll, even if it doesn't always work.

8. White caught fire (again).

In the absence of Jaylen Brown (who would have helped the Celtics quite a bit in this matchup and almost every other matchup), White became a volume shooter, which was a pretty good outcome for him. White finished 7 of 16 from 3-point range, the most 3-pointers he had attempted in a single game since last December, when the Celtics played…the Warriors.

Golden State won that game too, so maybe they're on the right track. Still, White had a nice game offensively.

9. White took exception to a big call down the stretch.

With 5:28 left in the fourth quarter, Curry rolled around a screen and fired a three-pointer. He missed, but the referees called White for a foul. White took exception and the Celtics challenged.

White and the Celtics claimed that Kevon Looney stuck his foot (and hip) out on the screen, tripping White and causing him to stumble as he shot against Curry. The repetitions seemed to support this logic.

However, officials disagreed. The call was confirmed to the dismay of White and Mazzulla, and Curry made all three.

The play came at an important time: The Celtics had a lead of five and appeared poised for a mini-run that would have put the Warriors in a tough spot. Instead, Curry went to the line and cut the deficit to two before completely erasing the deficit with a three-pointer on the next possession.

“I thought maybe Looney kind of threw me off balance,” White said. “So that’s what I said. But apparently they said it was legal. So it’s a foul.”

10. Home and Away

The Celtics host the Nets on Friday at 7:30 a.m. before traveling to Milwaukee for a 3:30 game against the Bucks on Sunday.

Boston.com today

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