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Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) drives toward the basket past Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Steven Senne, STF / Associated Press
BOSTON — The second NBA Finals rematch of the season between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics Thursday night at TD Garden was there for the visiting team to take.
A fourth-quarter collapse, a Jaylen Brown 3-pointer with 18.1 seconds left in regulation and an overtime surge by Boston ripped those hopes away. And with Thursday’s gut-wrenching 121-118 overtime loss, the Warriors again fell below.500 (22-23) — and to 5-18 away from Chase Center.
Golden State still hasn’t beaten a team at.500 or better on the road this season, and it let an incredible opportunity slip away because of self-inflicted wounds.
“I loved the level of competition, the way our guys played together,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “We looked like what we are, which is a championship team. But we didn’t close the game. And better now than in the playoffs.”
Celtics guard Marcus Smart steals the ball from the Warriors’ Stephen Curry in the second half in Boston. Golden State led by nine early in the fourth quarter but lost in overtime.
Maddie Meyer, Staff / Getty ImagesStephen Curry (29), Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole (24 each) combined for 77 points in the loss. Andrew Wiggins added 20. Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 34 for Boston.
The Warriors were held to 17 points in the fourth quarter after scoring at least 26 in the previous three. Turnovers were the biggest issue, with four in the final frame, Curry being responsible for two. After re-entering the game with 8:11 left, Curry went 1-for-7 from the field down the stretch of regulation and missed a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left that would’ve won the game.
The Celtics outscored Golden State 15-12 in overtime. The Warriors shot just 2-of-6 from the field over the extra five minutes, while the Celtics went 5-of-9. Thompson fouled out with 1:02 left in overtime.
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) and Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole (3) vie for control of the ball in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Steven Senne, STF / Associated PressA Donte DiVincenzo 3-pointer with 30.1 seconds left made things interesting late. Golden State was then able to force an Al Horford miss and secure the rebound with 3.2 seconds left. But Poole’s desperation heave at the buzzer fell short.
“Against a great team like that you can’t give them life and chances and that’s what we did,” Curry said. “It kind of started with those two turnovers that got us a little out of sorts. A possession here. A possession there. That gives them life.”
Despite blowing a 97-89 lead with 7:55 left, consecutive Tatum turnovers — courtesy of Wiggins and Poole’s active hands — and a Curry layup put Golden State up three with 28 seconds left and in great position to win with a stop.
However, the Warriors made their most costly mental lapse on Boston’s second-to-last possession of the game — the one that left Brown wide-open behind the arc with the game on the line.
It started with a miscommunication between Curry and Thompson in a ball screen action involving Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon on the left wing with 22 seconds left. After the game, Draymond Green revealed that the Warriors were instructed to switch.
Boston 121, Golden State 118, OT
GOLDEN STATE (118)
Thompson 8-16 4-4 24, Wiggins 6-18 5-8 20, D.Green 3-5 4-4 11, Curry 9-25 5-5 29, Poole 10-25 2-2 24, Lamb 1-4 0-0 2, Looney 1-1 0-0 2, DiVincenzo 2-6 0-0 6. Totals 40-100 20-23 118.
BOSTON (121)
Horford 8-13 2-2 20, Tatum 9-27 12-12 34, Williams III 6-8 2-3 14, Brown 6-18 3-6 16, Smart 7-16 1-2 18, Williams 1-4 0-0 2, Kornet 1-1 0-0 2, Brogdon 5-15 1-3 14, White 0-6 1-2 1. Totals 43-108 22-30 121.
|
Golden State |
26 |
29 |
34 |
17 |
12 |
- |
118 |
|
Boston |
25 |
29 |
28 |
24 |
15 |
- |
121 |
3-Point Goals: Golden State 18-52 (Curry 6-18, Thompson 4-8, Wiggins 3-8, DiVincenzo 2-4, Poole 2-10, D.Green 1-2, Lamb 0-2), Boston 13-41 (Tatum 4-13, Smart 3-6, Brogdon 3-8, Horford 2-5, Brown 1-4, Williams 0-2, White 0-3). Fouled Out: Golden State 1 (Thompson), Boston None. Rebounds: Golden State 47 (D.Green 13), Boston 63 (Tatum 19). Assists: Golden State 28 (D.Green 9), Boston 21 (Tatum 6). Total Fouls: Golden State 26, Boston 19. A: 19,156 (18,624)
Curry executed the switch correctly and stayed with Brogdon, the screener. But Thompson stayed on Brogdon, too, instead of picking up Smart, the ball-handler.
The miscue left Smart wide open and forced Poole — who was standing a few steps below the top of the key — to stray further away from Brown and contest what he thought would be a Smart 3-point attempt. Except Smart didn’t shoot the ball. Having three defenders around him, he recognized Golden State’s error, made a split-second read in mid-air and got the ball to a wide-open Brown.
An argument can be made that Poole shouldn’t have been playing so far off Brown to begin with, and should’ve been positioned closer to the right elbow. And the way Wiggins — who was clearly guarding Tatum — was pointing at Brown as the Warriors got set defensively suggests that Poole might’ve lost track of his man.
“We missed the switch and then we had to go into scramble mode,” Green said. “It was either give up a corner 3 to Al Horford, who just hit one, or live with the wing 3. (Brown) made it.”
Kerr decided to open with a small lineup, starting Poole in place of Kevon Looney in an attempt to outrunthe larger, more athletic Celtics. Golden State had great success with this strategy at times last season, but this time around it didn’t exactly yield favorable results defensively.
The Celtics outscored Golden State 52-30 in the paint and outrebounded them 63-47 (18 offensive). Looney had 12 rebounds off the bench and Green added 13.
While the backcourt trio of Curry, Thompson and Poole did light up the scoreboard, it obviously came with a cost. Regardless, Kerr told reporters postgame that this season’s three-guard lineup experiment will continue because the team needs a spark.
“Let’s try something different,” Kerr said. “First time in a while we’ve had all those guys healthy, too. It’s a lineup that we know can be explosive.”
C.J. Holmes covers the Warriors for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: cj.holmes@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @CjHolmes22
