Jaylen Brown had a triple double in San Francisco on Thursday night, leaving Draymond Green (rear) and the Warriors in their dust.
Jaylen Brown had a triple double in San Francisco on Thursday night, leaving Draymond Green (rear) and the Warriors in their dust.Jeff Chiu/Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Even though the Celtics and Warriors face each other just twice a year during the regular season, their success and star power helped them build one of the NBA’s best rivalries over the past decade, with the 2022 NBA Finals the crescendo.
But Thursday’s matchup at the Chase Center felt like the dawn of a new, less captivating era. With Stephen Curry still out with a knee injury, Jimmy Butler out for the year with a torn ACL, and the undeniable truth that the Warriors’ dynasty has passed, Golden State rolled out a starting lineup that included Gui Santos, Pat Spencer, and De’Anthony Melton.
The Celtics, meanwhile, returned from the All-Star break healthy and determined to prove that their powerful start was no fluke. A 121-110 win in which they led by as many as 34 points and held off a late Warriors flurry was a good start.
Jaylen Brown had 23 points, 15 rebounds, and 13 assists to lead Boston, and Payton Pritchard scored a game-high 26 points. The Celtics made 51.6 percent of their shots, hit 17 of 40 3-pointers, and dished out 36 assists.
Former Celtics Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis played their first game against Boston since departing last summer. Both came off the bench, with Porzingis registering 12 points and Horford adding 5 on 2-of-10 shooting.
Even without Curry, the greatest shooter of all-time, the Warriors did not veer from spraying 3-pointers. The Celtics happily let Draymond Green take his turns, and he started 0 for 3 with an air-ball. The others went 8 for 14 in the opening quarter, however, with Will Richard draining two in the final 35 seconds during a perfectly executed two-for-one opportunity to slice a 10-point deficit to 36-32.
But Boston started the second quarter by hitting three in a row. A reeling Warriors defense could not keep up with their quick strikes and timely cuts, with Brown leading the way with seven first-half assists and Boston registering 21 as a team.
Horford came off the bench in the first quarter and Porzingis checked in to a warm ovation to start the second, but both players had a minimal impact. Horford missed his first five shots before finding Porzingis in the post for a dunk.
But after a Porzingis 3-pointer pulled the Warriors within 63-48, the Celtics closed the half with a dizzying surge. Sam Hauser hit a 3-pointer before a beautiful ball movement-heavy possession ended with a Pritchard 3. Then Hauser hit another 3 with 35.5 seconds left, setting up Pritchard’s pull-up jumper that sent Boston to halftime with a 74-51 lead.
The third quarter unfolded similarly, and that gap widened to 95-61. With 2:38 left, Pritchard reached in and forced a jump ball against Porzingis. Neither player wanted to let go of the ball after the whistle, with both holding tight as they walked toward midcourt.
Pritchard finally relented and both were smiling at the end, but the moment was a reminder that Porzingis and Horford are no longer Celtics, and that Boston has no intentions of letting up without them.
The Warriors did just enough to ensure that the Celtics’ starters did not receive the rest of the night off, as they sliced the massive deficit to 117-106 on a Horford layup with 2:57 left. But the initial hole was simply too deep.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.