When the Celtics visited Golden State last January, they won by 40. Through three quarters, their latest visit was similarly one-sided.
Boston led by 29 with less than 12 minutes remaining Thursday night — then needed to survive a furious Warriors comeback to secure a 121-110 victory at the Chase Center in both teams’ first game back from the NBA All-Star break.
Jaylen Brown, fresh off the first All-Star start of his career, registered a 23-point, 15-rebound, 13-assist triple-double to lead the Celtics to their seventh win in the last eight games.
Payton Pritchard added a game-high 26 points off the bench, including eight of the 19 that Boston scored in the fourth quarter. Pritchard, who’s topped 20 points five times in six games since being shifted from starter to sixth man, hit six 3-pointers while tallying seven assists and six boards.
Former Celtics big men Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis both came off the bench for Golden State, which was playing without injured stars Stephen Curry (knee) and Jimmy Butler (torn ACL).
Horford struggled as a shooter in his first game, going 2-for-10 to finish with five points and eight rebounds. Porzingis, who was traded from Atlanta earlier this month, started slowly in his Warriors debut but scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting to help fuel his team’s fourth-quarter rally.
It was the first appearance for the oft-injured Porzingis since Jan. 7, and his and Horford’s first time suiting up against Boston since their departures last summer.
The win kicked off a four-game West Coast swing for the Celtics, who will visit the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET) before finishing with a back-to-back in Phoenix and Denver next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Head coach Joe Mazzulla didn’t tinker with his starting lineup during Boston’s eight-day layoff. The Celtics sent out the same top unit they used in their final games before the break: Derrick White, Baylor Scheierman, Brown, Sam Hauser and Neemias Queta. Pritchard and trade-deadline pickup Nikola Vucevic remained in their bench roles.
Those impact reserves, along with Ron Harper Jr. and Jordan Walsh, helped Boston build a 10-point lead midway through a fast-paced, high-scoring first quarter.
Harper, a two-way player who’s seen meaningful minutes in four of the Celtics’ last five games, hit both of his 3-point attempts during his opening shift. Walsh and Scheierman each hit an early three, and both added fast-break finishes at the rim. Boston did much of its first-quarter scoring in the paint, including a series of nifty spins and step-throughs by Brown.
Hot 3-point shooting kept Golden State in it through one quarter, but the Celtics sprinted ahead early in the second. They scored on their first six possessions of the period and seven of their first nine as part of a 17-2 run. Porzingis was on the wrong end of several of those Boston buckets. In his first four minutes of floor time as a Warrior, the former C’s center was a minus-15.
An overhead Hauser pass to a cutting Vucevic put Boston up 53-34. The Celtics’ lead reached 23 points later in the quarter as they spread the ball around (21 assists before halftime) and buried 11 first-half 3-pointers.
By the 8:59 mark of the second quarter, all 10 Celtics players who’d entered the game had registered at least two points and one rebound.
Boston closed the half with points on five of their final six opportunities, including two threes each by Pritchard and Hauser. Pritchard added a pull-up jumper in the lane to cap a 15-point first half and send the Celtics into the locker room with a 74-51 cushion.
The Celtics opened the second half with a 13-0 run and coasted through the third quarter, their lead peaking at 34 points.
One of the second-half highlights was Pritchard, moments after sinking a three that clinched Brown’s triple-double, tying up Porzingis to force a jump ball. Neither of the former teammates wanted to relinquish possession, leading to a post-whistle tug-of-war that drew smiles from both players. (Pritchard, who’s generously listed at 6-foot-1, lost the ensuing jump to the 7-2 Porzingis.)
With his team up 102-73 entering the fourth quarter, Mazzulla lifted most of his starters. But he reversed course after the Warriors staged a 10-0 run that included turnovers by Scheierman and Walsh. Mazzulla reinserted White, Hauser and Vucevic, and when they couldn’t stifle Golden State’s charge, he subbed in Brown, as well.
A steal-and-score by Gary Payton II cut Boston’s lead to 111-99 with six minutes to play. Pritchard responded with back-to-back 3-pointers, but a Horford layup made it an 11-point game with less than three minutes remaining. Only then did the comeback bid finally stall.
Horford misfired on a corner three, and Brown hit a fadeaway on the ensuing possession. Brown then fed Queta for a dunk that iced the game with a minute to go.