Getty Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics.
The Boston Celtics picked up a big-time win on Thursday night, taking down the reigning champion Golden State Warriors. Heading into the contest, there was a lot of build-up, as the Warriors beat the Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals and then punked Boston in their first matchup of the season on December 10.
Golden State had control for most of the game, but Boston mounted an impressive comeback, sending the game to overtime and earning a victory. At the end of regulation, it was Jaylen Brown who nailed the game-tying shot, and after the game, head coach Steve Kerr spoke about the defensive breakdown that led to Brown’s three.
“I haven’t seen the replay yet, but in that situation, it’s – the whole game plan is no threes, right? And there was no timeout. They didn’t take a timeout,” Kerr said via NBC Sports Bay Area. “They just came down and played. And so that’s where the guys have to be able to decipher that on the fly. You can debate fouling there. It’s pretty early to foul generally, it’s, you know, kind of under eight, under 10, or whatever. Everybody’s going to debate that forever in this game. But what you can’t do is give up an open three. And so the whole idea is switch everything and run them off the line and don’t don’t let them line up at three. So we had a defensive breakdown that led to the opening.”
Brown’s shot came after a long night of disappointment for the Celtics star. In what was his first game back after an adductor injury, he struggled mightily with his efficiency. He ended the game with just 16 points, nine rebounds, and three assists on 6-of-18 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 shooting from three-point range.
Draymond Green Sends Message to Celtics Fans
As noted, there was a lot of build-up heading into the game. The two teams met in the Finals last year, and there was a lot of tension. Warriors star Draymond Green even sent Boston fans a message with the prediction that some would reference his pre-season incident with Jordan Poole, when a video leaked of him punching his Golden State co-star in the face.
“If someone brings that up, I’m more worried about Jordan than myself,” Green told Kendra Andrews of ESPN. “I’m always hyper-alert because I want to see how that’s compounding in Jordan’s head. What actions do I need to take in that moment to make sure it doesn’t mentally affect him.”
Jaylen Brown Knew the Plan for Warriors
Meanwhile, Brown was prepped. He knew what the Celtics had to do in order to secure a win over the Warriors. Brown noted that they’ve grown a ton since last year, and it would be an entirely new challenge. That’s how the Celtics needed to look at things.
“The reality is, you remember it, you learn from it, you grow from it, but you let it go at the same time and you move forward,” Brown told NBC Sports Boston. “We’re not the same team as last year, they’re not the same team as last year. Some of us are not the same players we were last year. I’m not the same player I was last year…This year, our offense has been able to take leaps by understanding the game, seeing the game, and understanding what they want to take away.”