The Celtics can't hold on to the lead late as Stephen Curry gives the Warriors a road win

If Jayson Tatum, like many Celtics fans, had Olympic revenge on his mind before his showdown with Steve Kerr, he left TD Garden disappointed.

The Boston star bounced back from his slowest start of the season to finish with 32 points on 10 of 19 shooting (5 of 9 from 3-point range), but he only made three field goals in the fourth quarter as the Celtics blew a late lead and lost 118-112 to Kerr's Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.

Team USA headliner Stephen Curry led Golden State to victory with 27 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, four steals and a block, handing Boston its first home loss of the season. The Celtics had a seven-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, but were outscored 30-17 in the final six minutes.

The loss ended a streak of 14 straight Celtics wins without Jaylen Brown, who missed his third straight game with a hip flexor strain. Boston has fallen to 7-2 this season and hosts the Brooklyn Nets this Friday.

Tatum's bench seats in Paris were close to the hearts of Celtics fans, who booed Kerr – the head coach of both the Warriors and the national team – with authority during pregame warmups. But with Golden State expending extra defensive resources trying to stop Tatum, one of Boston's other Olympians carried the early scoring burden.

Derrick White (26 points) hit each of his first three 3-pointers and drew a foul on another, taking advantage of the Warriors' frequent double-teams against Tatum. His hot shot helped the Celtics take a 14-3 lead.

But from that point on, Boston struggled to solve an aggressive Golden State defense that ranked second in the NBA in defensive rating and fourth in steals and blocks per game. A six-minute scoreless drought ensued, and the Celtics' double-digit lead quickly evaporated.

Tatum, the NBA's leading first-quarter scorer since Wednesday, didn't have a point in the first 11 minutes before closing the first quarter with a quick 5-0 run.

The Warriors then continued to double-double Boston in the second quarter, outscoring the Celtics 32-16 and ending the first half with a 9-0 run capped by an off-balance second-chance bank shot from Moses Moody, that drowned out the buzzer.

After averaging 37.5 points in the first quarter of their first eight games, the Celtics needed nearly 22 minutes to reach that mark. The Warriors led 51-40 at halftime despite getting just six points from Curry, one of the few All-Star players left on their retooled roster.

However, the two-time NBA MVP was effective as a facilitator (six assists in the first half) and defender (three steals), opening the second half with two quick shots to help Golden State extend its lead to 14.

“They're physical, so they force you to fight through space, and they have active hands,” Mazzulla said. “They had a ton of deflections in the first half. They were able to get a few things there. But I thought we did a better job of managing the physicality in the second half.”

Boston finally started to make some offensive strides in the third quarter through improved 3-point shooting and active work on the offensive glass. The Celtics made 10 three-pointers in the frame, including four from Tatum, who scored 17 points in the third period. Boston closed the quarter with 3-pointers from Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser (wed in by one from Jonathan Kuminga) and trailed by just one point, 82-81, heading into the fourth quarter.

The Celtics also had a 9-2 advantage in offensive rebounding during their 41-point third-quarter rout, with four of their triples coming on offensive boards.

Another three-pointer by White two minutes into the fourth quarter gave Boston the lead for the first time since the 8:00 mark of the second quarter. Center Neemias Queta followed with two game-winning dunks — including a thunderous putback after a missed Hauser three-pointer — and then knocked away a Curry layup. The 7-foot Portuguese player received a rousing ovation as he walked to the bench.

Queta made sure his presence was minimal for Boston, posting 14 points, eight rebounds (five on offense) and two blocks in his second career start. He was the loss's best plus-13 player and the only Celtics starter to finish with a positive plus/minus.

Over the last five games, Boston has outscored opponents by 64 points with Queta on the floor.

“Neemie did a great job of getting us offensive rebounds and giving us extra possessions to get out in transition,” Mazzulla said.

But the Celtics couldn't maintain this lead. Curry scored 10 points in three minutes, Kevon Looney converted two putbacks after Warriors misses and Buddy Hield hit a corner three to bring Golden State within seven points with 46.3 seconds left.

Al Horford responded with a three-pointer to cut the score to 111-107, but a series of late free throws allowed Golden State to pull away.

Originally published: November 6, 2024 at 10:16 pm EST