Boston Celtics vs. Golden State Warriors Pick & Prediction JANUARY 20th 2025
Preview and Prediction
The Boston Celtics are hoping for a continuation of a recent pattern as they embark on a four-game journey to San Francisco to face the Golden State Warriors on the NBA's holiday schedule on Monday afternoon.
Following a 119-115 overtime defeat at home to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night, the Celtics will head west with a record of four losses in their last eight games, with alternating results.
The good news for Boston is that they have not lost back-to-back games since their last holiday appearance, a 118-114 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Christmas Day.
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The Celtics and Warriors have split their last three regular-season series, with Golden State winning the first game by an average of 8.7 points and Boston taking the rematch by an average of 25.7 points.
The Warriors started this year's series with a similar result, defeating the Celtics 118-112 in Boston on November 6th.
Stephen Curry led the way for Golden State with 27 points, but all eyes were on Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who was facing Warriors coach Steve Kerr for the first time since winning a gold medal together at the Paris Olympics last summer. Tatum was benched twice by Kerr during the tournament, despite winning an NBA championship just weeks earlier.
Tatum had a game-high 32 points in the loss and currently leads the Celtics in scoring (27.7 points per game), rebounding (9.3), and assists (5.4).
Boston has struggled to find consistency this season, going just 10-9 in their last 19 games after starting the season with a record of 19-4.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla sees potential positives in the team's recent losses, pointing to lessons learned in late-game execution.
"We need to improve our execution in late-game situations," he said. "We had a chance to win (against the Hawks), but we didn't execute it."
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Golden State has also had their ups and downs this season, starting strong with a record of 12-3 but going just 9-17 since then, never winning more than two games in a row.
The Warriors enter Monday's game on a two-game winning streak but finished their 122-114 victory over the Washington Wizards on Saturday night without Curry and Draymond Green on the court.
Curry left the game with a sore left ankle with just over a minute remaining, while Green only played for three minutes before leaving with a tight left calf. Green is scheduled for an MRI on Sunday and both players will be game-time decisions for Monday's game.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr expressed confidence in Andrew Wiggins' ability to step up if the team is once again hit with injuries, as they are already missing Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, and Kyle Anderson.
Wiggins had a season-high 31 points against the Wizards and is averaging 25 points over his last three games.
"With the way things have been going the last couple of weeks, we have really relied on his scoring," Kerr said. "He's doing a lot of good things for us, scoring in multiple ways. He was fantastic on the boards (with 11 rebounds against the Wizards)."
Boston Celtics vs. Golden State Warriors Recap DEC 10TH 2022
The Golden State Warriors picked up where they left off in June, riding Stephen Curry's long-range shooting and a defense that frustrated Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum for a 123-107 victory Saturday night in a rematch of the NBA Finals in San Francisco.
The clubs, who played a six-game Finals series won 4-2 by Golden State, will meet again on Jan. 19 in Boston.
Klay Thompson poured in a game-high 34 points, Curry had 32 and Jordan Poole 20 as the Warriors were able to outgun the league's top offensive team without Andrew Wiggins, who missed his third straight game with a strained right adductor.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 31 points, but Tatum was held to 18 points on 6-for-21 shooting and 2-for-9 on 3-pointers as Boston was outshot 51.1 percent to 43.7 percent overall and outscored 39-36 from beyond the arc.
The Warriors trailed only briefly, and never by more than one point, before building a 14-point lead late in the third quarter.
Seeking a fourth consecutive win to begin a six-game trip, the Celtics got within eight on two occasions in the fourth period, the last time when Derrick White hit a pair of free throws with still 5:29 to play.
But Tatum missed two free throws with a chance to close the gap to six, and when Kevon Looney and Draymond Green dropped in interior hoops and Curry buried his sixth 3-pointer of the game, Golden State regained command at 114-99 with just 3:51 left.
Curry, the Finals MVP, shot 12-for-21 overall and 6-for-11 on treys. He also found time for six rebounds and a game-high seven assists.
Thompson added four 3-pointers in 11 attempts as part of a 14-for-26 performance.
Jonathan Kuminga, who went scoreless in the Finals, chipped in with 14 points off the Golden State bench, while Green finished with 11 points and Looney with a game-high 15 rebounds and two blocks to complement seven points.
Brown, the Celtics' leading rebounder with nine, went 13-for-23 from the field. Boston was without Robert Williams and Al Horford.
Malcolm Brogdon had 16 points off the Boston bench, while Marcus Smart, who had a team-high five assists, and Blake Griffin added 13 points apiece.