4 takeaways as Celtics crush Warriors after star erupts in first quarter

Story by

Story by
4 takeaways as Celtics crush Warriors after star erupts in first quarter

Brian Robb · MassLive

Thu, Mar 19, 2026 ·

4 min read

About Our Ads

The Celtics won their third straight game in convincing fashion on Wednesday night, cruising to a 120-99 win over the Golden State Warriors at TD Garden.

The visitors were outmanned in this one, with Stephen Curry (knee) and Al Horford (calf) among several sidelined Golden State players. It became evident early that the Warriors weren’t going to be able to keep pace with the Celtics firepower.

Boston jumped out to a double-digit in the first quarter behind 19 points from Jaylen Brown and did not look back from there for the final three quarters. The Warriors got no closer than seven points in the second half before Boston pulled away for good with a 17-6 run midway through the fourth quarter that put the visitors away.

Brown led the way for Boston with a game-high 32 points while Jayson Tatum chipped in with a season-high 24 points and 10 rebounds, his third double-double in six appearances this season. Payton Pritchard also added 19 points and a game-high seven assists off the bench to help Boston close out a 3-0 homestand.

Kristaps Porzingis finished with 11 points in his first appearance at TD Garden since being traded last summer. Golden State has now lost six of their last seven games.

Boston returns to action on Friday night when they hit the road to face the Memphis Grizzlies .

Here are four takeaways from the Celtics’ win:

Jaylen Brown remains on a tear:Fresh off a 41-point performance against the Suns, the All-Star spotted the Celtics a double-digit lead with a monster first quarter against the Warriors. Brown hit eight of his first nine shots in the opening period, scoring 19 points in the frame while playing all 12 minutes. The Celtics forward nearly outscored the Warriors (23 points) by himself in the period as he punished the Golden State defense repeatedly inside the arc, going 7-of-8 in the paint and on midrange jumpers. The fast start helped Boston jump out to a 36-23 lead as the hosts shot 56 percent from the field and 54 percent from 3-point range in the period.

Jayson Tatum finds his rhythm from 3-point range:The one trouble spot for Tatum in his first five games back had been his 3-point shooting (27.1 percent on 9.6 attempts per game). However, Boston’s star found his groove early against the Warriors, which helped the hosts stay in control for the better part of 48 minutes. Tatum knocked down four of his first six attempts from 3-point range in the first half, helping him post 16 points by intermission on his way to his best scoring effort of the season. Tatum had not shot above 30 percent from 3-point range in his last four games so the improvement helped Boston’s offense provide big problems for the Warriors’ defense all night.

Kristaps Porzingis gets nice ovation in return to Boston:After missing the Hawks ’ game in Boston back in January, Porzingis made his first appearance at TD Garden since being traded away from the Celtics last offseason. Porzingis got a polite reception during starting lineup intros and a louder ovation when honored with a tribute video at the end of the first quarter. The center was aggressive offensively for a undermanned Warriors offense but that did not lead to an efficient performance as he went just 4-of-13 from the field while playing 22 minutes.

Celtics stay in control of the No. 2 seed for now:Boston’s third straight win pushed their league over the Knicks for the No. 2 seed back to 1.5 games for the time being. However, the schedule gets much tougher for Boston after a trip to Memphis on Friday with six straight games against expected playoff teams on the horizon including the defending champions on Wednesday. The Knicks schedule will remain soft until late March so the Celtics will need to avoid any extended flubs in order to hold off a Knicks squad that remains hot on their heels.

More Celtics content