BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored a career-high 34 points with 19 rebounds after Al Horford’s 3-point overtime with one of his own on Thursday night to help the Celtics pull away from Golden State in a of an NBA Finals rematch and beat the Warriors 121-118.
Jaylen Brown added 16 points and nine rebounds, making a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. Horford had 20 points, 10 boards and three blocked shots for the Celtics, who lost to the Warriors in the NBA Finals in six games and then lost a fourth straight game against them in their regular season opener. in December.
Stephen Curry scored 29 points, Jordan Poole had 24 and Klay Thompson also had 24 before fouling in overtime for the defending champions, who fell 5-18 on the road this season.
The Celtics led up to 10 in the first half but trailed for the entire second half before Brown made a 3-pointer to tie it at 106. Boston scored the first four points of overtime but Draymond Green hit a pair free throws and Curry sank a 3-pointer to give the Warriors the lead.
Brown floated to make Boston 112-111, then Horford hit a 3-pointer and Tatum made his own to give the Celtics a 118-111 lead with 1:26 to play. Boston was sloppy in the stretch to give Golden State a buzzer chance, but Poole’s half-court shot wasn’t close.
The Warriors won the Game 6 Finals in Boston and then won the regular season opener on Dec. 10 in San Francisco. Although the Celtics had the NBA’s best record this season, losses to Golden State still trouble them.
LONG SHOTS
Curry wowed the Celtics crowd late in the first half with a buzzer-beater that was officially listed as 50 feet.
The Warriors had the ball with time running out, but Malcolm Brogdon stole it from Thompson and passed it to Tatum. Curry took it away from him and lined up a 3-pointer on the other side of the half-court circle.
He crossed the net, giving the Warriors a 55-54 lead.
REGULATION
Boston scored 12 of the first 14 points in the second quarter to turn a one-point deficit into a 10-point lead, but the Warriors quickly regained the lead and took it to 11, 85-74, with two minutes left. make. the third.
After the Celtics tied it on Brown’s 3, the Warriors elected not to call a timeout, and Curry dribbled past the clock before throwing a 3-point attempt that hit the front of the rim. (The Celtics managed to get a timeout with 0.5 seconds left, but couldn’t shoot.)
RETURNS
Brown was back for Boston after missing three games with a groin injury. Celtics center Robert Williams III missed the Dec. 10 game between the teams and sat out the first 29 games of the season recovering from left knee surgery.
With Curry returning Jan. 10 after an 11-game absence (partially dislocated left shoulder) and Wiggins returning earlier in the month after missing 15 games (strained right leg muscle; non-COVID illness), both teams were relatively healthy. good health .
ADVICE
Horford had 10 points, five rebounds and a chase block in the first quarter. … Thompson picked up his fifth foul and went to the bench with eight minutes left in the fourth. … Wiggins scored 20 points. Green had 11 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. … Williams had 14 points and 11 boards. Smart marked 18.
NEXT
Warriors: Visit Cleveland on Friday.
Celtics: Visit Toronto on Saturday.
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