Warriors rally to hand Celtics first home loss of the season

After a messy first half, the Celtics erased a 14-point deficit in the third quarter and held a 95-88 advantage with six minutes left before the Warriors came back behind Curry.

He hit a 3-pointer, was fouled on another and added two layups during a 16-4 surge that gave Golden State a 104-99 lead. The Celtics trailed by 4 when Tatum missed a fadeaway with 1:08 left, and on the other end, Buddy Hield drained a 3-pointer that stretched the Warriors’ lead to 7. Golden State scrapped the win at the foul line.

White started the game by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers, was fouled on his third attempt and made all three free throws, then added another 3-pointer, sending Boston to an early 14-3 lead. But the Celtics then went more than five minutes without a point against this much-improved Warriors defense. Golden State gradually bounced back, but didn’t really take advantage of Boston’s drought.

While it was a somewhat juicy subplot, it would have been out of character for Tatum to call shots like he had something to prove. When the first quarter double team arrived, he made the right pass to an open teammate.

He had a quiet start as a goalscorer. After four consecutive misses, he fired a 22-footer that slid through the net with 47.7 seconds left in the first quarter.

It helped the Celtics take a 24-19 lead into the second quarter after going just 6-for-19 from the field with five turnovers in the first.

Tatum took a seat to start the second quarter, as is customary. But now the Celtics don’t have Jaylen Brown (strained hip flexors) to guide them during those stints, and the already struggling offense became even more dire.

Golden State’s Kyle Anderson hit three 3-pointers over a one-minute stretch and helped turn the deficit into a 33-29 lead. Boston still trailed by 4 when Tatum returned at the 6:08 mark, but he didn’t provide a spark.

He followed up a 3-pointer by committing three turnovers and two fouls and missed his only other shot of the period. The Celtics committed 10 turnovers as a team in the half. The Warriors led 51-40 at halftime when Moses Moody knocked down a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer.

Curry extended the lead to 14 with a 3-pointer early in the third, but the Celtics began to regain control by relentlessly attacking for offensive rebounds. Boston didn’t score a second-chance point in the first half, but converted in the third quarter by fighting for caroms after missed 3-pointers.

Fourteen of Boston’s first 29 points of the quarter came on second chances, including four 3-pointers. Tatum, meanwhile, was untracked by scoring 11 consecutive Celtics points, and he had 17 in the quarter and hit four 3-pointers.

After going 6 for 20 from beyond the arc in the first half, Boston was 10 for 21 in the third. Consecutive 3-pointers by Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard in the final minute pulled Boston within 82-81 at the start of the fourth.

Tatum went to the bench, but the Celtics extended the lead, with Queta improbably leading the way. He had a follow slam and a one-handed dunk, and followed it up by knocking away Curry’s layup attempt. Queta received a standing ovation when he went to the bench with 6:37 left and Boston leading, 95-88, but that’s when the advantage started to disappear.

Adam Himmelsbach can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.