Celtics 7 takeaways as Celtics find way to beat Warriors in NBA Finals rematch The Celtics dispelled some ghosts with their win over the Warriors (even if they won’t admit it). Jayson Tatum and the Celtics beat the Warriors in a wild overtime win at TD Garden on Thursday. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff
The Celtics needed a huge rally and some huge shots down the stretch, but they defeated the Warriors 121-118 in overtime on Thursday at TD Garden in a rematch of the 2022 NBA Finals.
Here are the takeaways.
1. Several Celtics denied that Thursday meant more than any other regular-season game. Joe Mazzulla even seemed a little indignant on Jayson Tatum’s behalf when a reporter had the temerity to suggest that beating Andrew Wiggins might mean something to Tatum, given how well Wiggins defended the Celtics’ star in the Finals.
“Every game is important for him, the way he’s approached his craft, his season,” Mazzulla said. “And so to say that, that kind of diminishes his mindset and his work ethic.”
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Tatum was careful to downplay the matchup too.
“I think the first time we played them in San Francisco, I felt like we bought into that rematch of the Finals, ABC game, first time back since we lost,” Tatum said. “Everybody wanted to win so bad, and I think that was the first time all season that we played out of character, that we played tense. And we just kind of talked about it today. Like, the fact of the matter is we lost. We lost the championship. No one win can bring that back. We can’t go back and change that.
“So we didn’t look at this as a rematch of the Finals. It’s just one game against a great team with great players and obviously a great coach. But it was just one game.”
Good sentiments and a great mindset, to be sure, but Tatum and Mazzulla will have to pardon us if we don’t entirely buy it. Not after watching Tatum brick his way to a 5-for-18 start through three quarters. Not after Jaylen Brown went 1-for-9 over that same stretch. Not after Tatum recorded seven jaw-clenching turnovers, including three crucial ones in the fourth quarter that nearly cost the Celtics the game.
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And certainly not when you see Tatum emerge from his struggles to score 13 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to finish with 34 points, 19 rebounds and six assists — an MVP-type performance if we’ve ever seen one. Not when you see Brown light the TD Garden on fire by shaking off his own struggles with the game-tying 3-pointer that sent the game into overtime.
Jaylen Brown. TD Garden is very loud. pic.twitter.com/le96gQuxEL — Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) January 20, 2023
“It’s a big game,” Al Horford said. “I wanted to come out here and I wanted to win. I wanted to win really bad, absolutely. It’s a regular season game, it’s just one game, it’s over but it’s an important game.”
Because they beat you in the Finals?
“Obviously, yeah,” Horford said.
The Celtics might not face the Warriors again in the postseason — believe it or not, this Warriors team that gives the Celtics fits is ninth in the Western Conference at 22-23. Steve Kerr is still experimenting with starting lineups trying to find “a spark.”
But as Tatum noted postgame in his interview with Chris Haynes on TNT, this group is one of the greatest of all time. The Celtics spent the entire summer ruminating on the last time they saw the Warriors at TD Garden — when they danced on the Celtics’ home court and celebrated yet another title. Beating the Warriors in the regular season might not matter much in the long run, but it does put a little more distance between the Celtics and that night in mid-June which they aren’t likely to forget.
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The Warriors still have the power to make the Celtics see ghosts. On Thursday, the Celtics gritted their teeth, waved those ghosts aside, and emerged from the haunted house muddy and bloody but victorious.
2. The Celtics were willing to admit that Thursday’s game showcased their resilience.
“It takes a lot,” Marcus Smart said. “When you’re playing in chaos, it takes a lot. There were times out there we couldn’t even hear each other, and when you’re playing against a team like them you better be able to talk, and we’ve got to find a way. So being able to play in chaos like we did tonight definitely helps us get to find out who we are. We get to find out things we need to work on and things we like and continue to do it.”
Brown noted that the Celtics didn’t play a particularly clean game, which doomed them in the postseason.
“You’re not always going to have everything figured out,” Brown said. “We turned the ball over and made mistakes. But we didn’t hang our head. We didn’t allow that to turn into a 10-point run or whatever for their team. We kept guarding, kept defending and we cleaned it up. We were able to build a lead, and over time, we were able to finish out the game.”
3. Facing a small Warriors lineup with Jordan Poole playing alongside the starters, the Celtics got a huge performance from their bigs. Al Horford was particularly impressive in the first quarter with 10 points and five rebounds as the Celtics uncharacteristically went to the post to exploit what the Warriors gave them.
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“It really wasn’t part of the game plan,” Horford said. “I just think the way it was going early, one of those times Jayson was like, ‘Hey, get in the post.’ He felt like I had a matchup so he threw it to me, and I made an aggressive move, and after that I just was trying to be a little more aggressive getting to the basket. It wasn’t really part of the plan.”
Planned or not, the Celtics’ dominance around the hoop continued throughout the game. The Celtics outscored the Warriors 52-30 in the paint and 22-14 in second-chance opportunities, yanking down 18 offensive rebounds. Seven of Robert Williams’ 11 rebounds were offensive, while Horford and Tatum combined for five as well. Williams finished with 14 points in 27 minutes.
4. Brown returned from adductor tightness on Thursday and, after shaking off some rust, appeared to move without much issue.
“I felt fine,” Brown said. “I took the matchup chasing Curry around to start. To start the game I was a little trying to feel it out. But as the game kept going, I just feel like I got stronger and stronger.”
5. Celtics fans were livid at officials for several calls, including the two plays that were challenged. The Warriors challenged an out-of-bounds call, claiming it went off Brown’s foot. The replay didn’t appear to show anything conclusive, but officials reversed the call in favor of the Warriors.
Meanwhile, Horford was whistled for a three-shot foul in overtime, which the Celtics challenged. The replay showed very light contact from Horford, which almost certainly didn’t warrant a foul (especially if this wasn’t called).
Al Horford Andrew Wiggins foul or no foul pic.twitter.com/JYLNH8HPfN — That’s a highlight (@ClipIt_NBA) January 20, 2023
Warriors fans, meanwhile, had a pretty legitimate gripe with Klay Thompson’s sixth foul in overtime. He appeared to cleanly strip Brown as the Celtics star went up for a shot but was whistled for the foul. The Warriors, of course, had already used their challenge.
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As is nearly always the case, the game was decided mostly by the players, while the officials missed some bad calls and made some good ones.
6. The fully healthy Celtics started with a double-big lineup, sending Derrick White to the bench. White shot 0-for-6 from the floor in just 17 minutes, which is worth keeping an eye on as the Celtics try to find minutes for all of their best players.
Interestingly, the Celtics started overtime with Horford on the bench and Malcolm Brogdon on the floor. Horford then subbed in for Robert Williams, and the Horford, Brogdon, Brown, Tatum, and Smart lineup — which notably is full of good free-throw shooters — closed the game.
The Celtics are going to have to make some hard decisions fully healthy. Too many players can be a good problem to have, but it isn’t always easy to navigate.
7. Do the Celtics want to see the Warriors in the Finals again?
“We’d love to, but we’ve got to take care of business first,” Smart said. “Both teams. So we’re not looking past anybody. We’re not looking for anybody. We’re looking to take it one game at a time, but we understand that they’re the criteria and the defending champs, and that’s where we want to be.”
The Celtics will look to avoid a letdown game against the Raptors on Saturday at 5 p.m.