featured-image

Keys to the Game: Celtics 119, Warriors 114

jQuery(document).ready(function() { addByline("Taylor Snow", "Celtics.com", "taylorcsnow"); keysToTheGame(); });

Key Moment

There were so many key moments to choose from in Boston’s epic 119-114 win over the Golden State Warriors Saturday night, but none were bigger than Marcus Smart’s clutch offensive sequence with just over a minute left in the game that helped to pave the way for a 119-114 Celtics victory.

The C’s, who had trailed by as many as 16 points during the first half, were down 109-108 with a little less than two minutes left at the time when Smart’s heroics began.

Kemba Walker began the offensive possession by rising up for a potential go-ahead 3-pointer, but the ball hit the front-rim and soared out toward the free-throw line where three Warriors player and one Celtics player were gathering themselves to leap for the rebound.

Guess who that Celtics player was?

Marcus Smart.

And guess who ended up with the ball?

(Do we even need to tell you?)

Smart soared for the rock, locked his hands on it and quickly dished it back out to Walker to save the possession.

But Smart wasn’t done yet. Five seconds later, he wound up with the ball back in his hands on the right wing. Kent Bazemore sprinted to close him out, but Smart duped him on a fake pass to give himself a wide-open look at the basket. He took his time, rose up, and delivered the go-ahead triple to give Boston a 111-109 lead.

The Celtics never trailed again after that point, slipping by with four-point victory largely thanks to Smart’s clutch sequence.

Key Player

Jayson Tatum and Steph Curry dazzled in the primetime spotlight Saturday night, giving us one of the greatest individual battles of the NBA season.

The pair traded buckets from start to finish, as Curry scored 47 points to Tatum's 44. Although Curry had the slight scoring edge, Tatum had the advantage in just about every other category, including the all-important win/loss column, so he got the edge for our Key Player.

Tatum shot 16-of-25 from the field, 5-of-9 from 3-point range, and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Curry shot 15-of-27 from the field, 11-of-19 from deep, and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe, meaning Tatum had the edge in shooting efficiency. They both also dished out three assists, but Tatum had a 10-7 rebounding lead, a 2-1 steals advantage, and committed just two turnovers to Curry's five. Tatum also was a plus-12 in the five-point win, while Curry was a minus-seven.

The 44 points represented the second-most of Tatum's career, just eight days after he delivered a career-high 53 points against Minnesota.

Box Score Nuggets

  • Stephen Curry (47 points) and Jayson Tatum (44 points) combined for 91 points in their nationally televised battle.
  • Tatum also led the game in rebounds with 10, and tied for the game lead in steals with two.
  • Jabari Parker scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in his Celtics debut.
  • Parker also coralled four rebounds, all of which came on the offensive end.
  • Parker and Marcus Smart combined for eight offensive rebounds, which equaled Golden State's team total.
  • Kemba Walker tallied 26 points and eight rebounds.
  • Both teams attempted 20 free throws, but Boston made one more (16) than Golden State (15).
  • Draymond Green dished out a game-high 10 assists.
  • The Celtics trailed by as many as 16 points during the first half.
  • The Warriors committed nearly twice as many turnovers as Boston (17-9).
  • The Celtics had a 26-15 advantage in second-chance points.

Quote of the Night

Brad Stevens on Stephen Curry