Jaylen Brown let the scorer's table know he drained a first-half 3-pointer in Wednesday night's game against the Warriors at TD Garden.
Jaylen Brown let the scorer's table know he drained a first-half 3-pointer in Wednesday night's game against the Warriors at TD Garden.Barry Chin/Globe Staff
Warriors coach Steve Kerr had monitored the Celtics’ successful season from afar, but when Boston rolled to a win in San Francisco last month, the up-close view was startling.
“I was just blown away how good they were, the spacing, the execution,” Kerr said before Wednesday’s rematch at TD Garden. “They just got good shots over and over again. They played so well together and that was without Jayson [Tatum], even. …They still know exactly who they are, and now they get Jayson back, of course.”
In this game, Kerr had a better idea of what was coming. But his undermanned team could do little about it. The Celtics raced to an early lead behind Jaylen Brown’s 19-point first quarter and led for the final 44 minutes of their 120-99 win, their third in a row.
Brown, who moved past Dave Cowens into 10th pace on the franchise’s all-time scoring list, had 32 points to lead Boston.
Jayson Tatum added 24 points and 10 rebounds. He entered the night 13 for 48 from the 3-point line this season but went 5 for 11 Wednesday.
Former Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis had 11 points for the Warriors, who remained without Stephen Curry, Al Horford and Moses Moody. Golden State made just 10 of 43 3-pointers.
Porzingis played his first game in Boston since the Hawks traded for him last summer. Atlanta sent Porzingis to Golden State at last month’s trade deadline.
The big man received a warm reception when introduced as a starter and a standing ovation following a first-quarter video tribute. Porzingis started the game by swatting away Tatum’s layup attempt and added a 3-pointer soon after. But the Celtics provided strong resistance against his signature foul-line post-ups.
Tatum, who has struggled with his long-range shot since returning from his Achilles injury, had his best scoring stretch of this season when he connected on 3 of 4 3-pointers in the opening quarter.
And that was not even close to being the Celtics’ most impressive feat of that stretch. Brown remained an unstoppable force while operating closer to the basket. He made 8 of 9 shots and scored 19 points in the quarter, and his pull-up jumper in the final second staked Boston to a 36-23 advantage.
Draymond Green, the only active contributor remaining from the Warriors’ dynasty, hit two 3-pointers in the first four minutes. But he is a below-average long-range shooter, and the Celtics mostly dared him to keep firing.
Green had little success, but neither did his teammates. The Warriors were just 6 for 24 from the arc in the opening half.
A Luka Garza putback with 3:57 left gave the Celtics a 54-34 lead, their largest of the half, before Pat Spencer sparked an 8-0 Golden State run with a pair of jumpers.
Tatum, who had not scored since midway through the opening quarter, was fouled on a rebound with 2 minutes left with Boston in the penalty. He cashed in those two free throws and added a nice driving layup and a 3-pointer, giving him 16 points in the half and sending Boston to the break with a 63-50 lead.
The Celtics were held scoreless for the first 2:35 of the third quarter, and the Warriors pulled within 63-56 on a Brandin Podziemski 3-pointer.
Boston pushed its lead back to 17 before Green started the fourth with a 3-pointer and a layup. But White steadied the Celtics, as he’s done so often. The guard hit a 3-pointer, then chased down Podziemski from behind for a steal that led to a Baylor Scheierman 3-pointer.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.