On January 21st, Beijing time, the NBA's 2024-25 season regular season continued to progress, with the Golden State Warriors hosting the Boston Celtics at home. This was the second meeting between the two teams this season; in their previous encounter, the Warriors narrowly defeated the Celtics by 6 points, thus gaining a certain advantage. However, the Warriors' recent form has been worrying, as they have only managed a record of 21 wins and 20 losses. Despite being on a two-game winning streak, they still rank 11th in the Western Conference and have fallen out of the play-in tournament zone. In the West, apart from three teams intentionally losing games, they are only slightly better than the Spurs led by Wembanyama, which is quite unexpected.
In contrast, the Celtics' performance this season has also been slightly below expectations. The team currently has a total record of 29 wins and 13 losses, ranking only second in the East. For the two stars, their goal this season is undoubtedly to successfully defend their title. However, judging from their current competitive state, they seem somewhat relaxed. Especially Jaylen Brown, who won the Eastern Conference Finals MVP and the Finals FMVP last season, seems to have lost his new goal.
Before the game, American media ESPN timely provided the latest win rate prediction for that day's match. In this prediction, the Warriors' win rate is only 24.9%, while the Celtics' win rate is as high as 75.1%. Obviously, the American media is very optimistic about the Celtics successfully avenging the Warriors in this game. Regarding the starting lineup for this game, the Warriors were missing Green, Li Kaili, Kumminga, and Bojemska, but Curry confirmed his participation before the game. Coach Kerr arranged the starting five as follows: Curry, Schroder, Xiaopei, Wiggins, and Jackson-Davis; the Celtics had all players healthy, with their starting lineup consisting of: Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Porzingis, White, and Holiday.
The first quarter began with Porzingis receiving the ball and immediately shooting a three-pointer, which went in steadily, giving the Celtics the lead. After Tatum successfully counterattacked with a layup, Porzingis hit another three-pointer, putting the Celtics ahead 8-0 at the start. Schroder continuously attacked the basket and scored, followed by Curry finally hitting an ultra-long three-pointer, allowing the Warriors to tie the score. Tatum forced a three-pointer over the defense, and Hausser also smoothly made a three-pointer from the corner, as the Celtics launched a 14-1 offensive run, leading the Warriors by 11 points. At the end of the first quarter, the score was locked at 29-18.
In the second quarter, Tatum broke through the defense and scored with a two-handed gliding dunk, giving the Celtics a 13-point lead, forcing the Warriors to call a timeout. After the timeout, Schroder's pull-up three-pointer finally hit again. At this point, the Warriors' entire team had only made 2 of 18 three-pointers, with only one field goal in the past 8 minutes, which is too stubborn a strategy. Wiggins' layup was blocked by Porzingis, and the Warriors had only made 2 of 19 shots in nearly 10 minutes, with the gap to the Celtics widening to 15 points. Curry scored consecutively with breakthrough layups, which stopped the decline in time; he currently leads the team with 9 points. The half-time score ended with the Warriors trailing the Celtics 39-54 by 15 points.
It should be noted that in the second quarter, the Celtics made only 2 of 13 three-pointers, with a shooting percentage of 15.4%; while the Warriors made 2 of 12 three-pointers in this quarter, with a shooting percentage of 16.7%. Both teams had relatively low three-point shooting percentages in this quarter.
The Warriors' halftime data is as follows: Curry shot 9 times and made 3, including 1 of 7 three-pointers, scoring 9 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals; Wiggins missed all 8 attempts, making 0 of 3 three-pointers, scoring 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, and being blocked 3 times. Looking at the Celtics, Tatum made 4 of 11 shots, including 1 of 6 three-pointers, scoring 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal.
The Warriors' three-point shooting performance in the first half was poor, with only 3 makes out of 24 attempts, a shooting percentage as low as 12.5%, setting a new low for the team's three-point shooting percentage in the first half of the season.
Changing sides for the third quarter, Jaylen Brown scored against two defenders under the basket and then hit a three-pointer, with the Celtics now leading the Warriors by as many as 23 points. White first gave Looney a big block under the basket, then chased after Wiggins from behind for a successful steal. Tatum immediately followed up with a three-pointer, extending the Celtics' lead to 30 points, with team general manager Stevens smiling broadly on the sidelines. Curry used a pick-and-roll to finally make a three-pointer, which was his fourth of the game, bringing his personal score to 18 points, but the team still trailed the Celtics by 32 points. At the end of the third quarter, the Warriors trailed the Celtics 63-97 by 34 points.
Tatum played 11 minutes in the third quarter, making 5 of 9 shots for 12 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal.
In the decisive fourth quarter, Walsh made a three-pointer, with the Celtics now having extended their lead to the maximum value of the game—41 points. The outcome of the game was no longer in doubt. Ultimately, the Celtics defeated the Warriors by a huge margin of 40 points, with a final score of 125-85. This victory ended the Warriors' two-game winning streak and also successfully avenged their earlier loss. The Warriors should also face reality; Kerr's level of lineup arrangement has dropped significantly this season. If he cannot find a reasonable combination as head coach, it will be difficult for the team to even make the playoffs, let alone compete for the championship.
In terms of full game statistics, Curry made 6 of 16 shots, including 4 of 12 three-pointers, scoring 18 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals, with 3 turnovers; Moody scored 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, plus 1 steal; Wiggins, in a slump, made only 1 of 11 shots, scoring 4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block; Schroder made 3 of 8 shots, scoring 7 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist. Looking at the Celtics, Tatum made 9 of 20 shots, including 3 of 10 three-pointers, scoring 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists, plus 2 steals; Jaylen Brown scored 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists, with 2 turnovers; Porzingis contributed 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists, plus 1 block; Holiday scored 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists.