Celtics: With defeat of Warriors, Boston states case as NBA's top dog

BOSTON — The NBA Finals don’t start for another seventh months, but giddy Celtics fans would like to think that they saw a preview of them Thursday night.

The C's extended their winning streak to 14 games and halted the seven-game streak of the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors with a 92-88 victory at the Garden.

Despite losing Gordon Hayward just 5:15 into his Celtics debut on opening night with a season-ending ankle injury, Boston has surprised the NBA by compiling the league’s best record (14-2).

But playing the defending champions on national television provided a reality check that no other team could. This win over Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and company stamped the Celtics as legitimate title contenders, at least for now.

Kyrie Irving made only 4 of 16 shots, but gave the Celtics a 90-88 lead with two free throws with 14 seconds left and Jayson Tatum made two more foul shots with 6.7 seconds remaining.

A lot could change in seven months, however.

“I don’t think anybody after 15 games,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said, “is what they’re ultimately going to be. I’m not worried about our record or anyone else’s. We’ve just got to focus on getting better.”

No titles are won in November, but this was a highly anticipated early season showdown featuring the NBA’s No. 1 offense, Golden State; vs. the No. 1 defense, the Celtics. Curry, Durant and Thompson each average more than 20 points a game, but seven Celtics, Terry Rozier, Kyrie Irving, Aron Baynes, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford and Marcus Smart, rank among the top 10 in the league in defensive rating.

The Celtics held the Warriors well under their season average of 119.6 points and rallied from 17 down in the third.

Can there be such a thing as a big NBA game in November?

“Define big,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Exciting, this is very exciting playing against the team with the best record, in Boston, the hotbed. I love this crowd. There’s several crowds in the league that you just kind of feel like they get it. Here’s one of them and obviously their team is doing great. So it’s going to be electric and besides that it’s not a big game, but that part it’s going to be fun.”

The Warriors entered the night 218-42 over the past four regular seasons. They went on to reach the NBA Finals three times and won two championships. But the Celtics certainly weren’t intimidated, especially Brown, who scored 22 points, all in the first three quarters.

The Warriors took the crowd out of the game by jumping out to a 44-27 lead in the second quarter, but the fans got back into it while the Celtics closed to within five, 47-42, at the half. The Celtics were fortunate to be so close considering they shot only 30.2 percent to that point.

The Warriors regained a 17-point lead in the fourth, 66-49, but the Celtics scored the next 19 points – 9 by Tatum – to grab a 68-66 lead and entered the fourth tied, 68-68.

It was such a big game Hayward showed up on crutches to watch for the first time this season.

Actually every opponent considers a game against the Warriors to be big.

“Yeah,” Kerr said, “I told the guys last (Wednesday) night, I said, ‘Be ready, they’re coming after us,’ and Draymond (Green) said, ‘Well, who doesn’t come after us?’ (I said,) ‘You’ve got a good point.’ We’re taking everybody’s best shot, which is great fun. The difference is these guys have the best defense in the league, the best record in the league. So they’re coming after us with a team that’s loaded and a lot of momentum and playing really well. So it will be a great challenge.”

Curry missed the previous game with a thigh injury and he made only 3 of 14 shots and scored just 9 points. Irving grew so frustrated with his poor shooting, he ditched his protective face mask in the third quarter.

The Celtics expected a big challenge from the Warriors.

“They’re obviously and rightfully so, the team to beat,” Stevens said.

In the first quarter, Brown stole the ball from Curry and raced in for a jam and later blocked shots by Durant and Thompson. Brown scored seven points during a 15-3 surge to end the half and finished the half with 11 points and 5 rebounds.

—Contact Bill Doyle at william.doyle@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillDoyle15.