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Jaylen Brown throws down a dunk in a dominant Celtics win.
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The Boston Celtics won theirs 11th game in a row on Sunday with a stunning 52-point win (140-88) over the Golden State Warriors.
In a rematch between the two teams competing in the 2022 NBA Finals, the Celtics came away early. All-Star winger Jaylen Brown scored 19 points in the first quarter alone to push Boston to a 44-22 lead after the first quarter.
The Celtics' lead had grown to Boston's 44 points by the end of the first half Largest halftime lead in franchise history.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was naturally unimpressed by what he had seen and pulled the plug in the second half, not giving the Big Three of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green any more minutes after halftime.
It was a nightmare night for Curry – the two-time MVP scored just four points, shot 2 of 13 from the field and, uncharacteristically, missed all nine of his three-point attempts while Golden State's offense was completely stagnant.
The Celtics extended the lead past 50 points in the third quarter before Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla also sat on his bench for the remainder of the game.
The 52-point winning margin was the 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 StatMuseafter demolishing the Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets earlier in the season.
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Boston's Jayson Tatum drives to the bucket during the game.
“It feels great, but at the same time it’s always humble,” said Brown, who finished the game with 29 points, three rebounds and three assists.
“That can be us at any time and we don’t take the game for granted. We didn't come out and mess around and that's just the way we show our respect to the game.
We do business and we take care of it, but we don't do it arrogantly. We do it with humility. And it means a lot of respect to the Golden State Warriors, but we feel like now is the time.”
MVP candidate Jayson Tatum scored 27 points for the Celtics his 26th birthdaywith Payton Pritchard contributing 19 off the bench.
Sunday's win was Boston's 11th straight – according to the organization, the C's have outscored their opponents by an average of 22.1 points per game during that winning streak.
The Warriors, meanwhile, scored a season-low 88 points and recorded their worst loss of the current season and the third-worst loss in franchise history.
Despite the one-sided result, Kerr wasn't worried about the loss and was determined to see his team move on.
“That's a 'flush down the toilet,'” Kerr said after the game. “We had a great road trip, 3-1, we had a million games. Boston was great, we didn't beat them today. We’ll go home and get ready for Wednesday.”
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For Curry and Co. it was a game to forget.
Lester Quiñones, whose two-way contract was converted to a standard NBA contract last month, led the Warriors with 17 points off the bench.
Boston's dominant offensive performance left four-time champion Curry reminiscing after the game.
“They hit 10 three-pointers in the first quarter, which is what we used to do as teams,” Curry told the media.
“They're the best team in the league at the moment and they played like that… that was hard to watch from the other side.”
The Dubs fall to 32-28 on the season and face another Eastern powerhouse in the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday. The Celtics, who have the best record in the NBA at 48-12, visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.