Co-stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown put on a show this Sunday as they led the Celtics to their third-largest win in franchise history against the Warriors. While the guard dropped 29 points, the forward, who turned 26 years of age this day, contributed with 27 as they demolished their rivals with a 140-88 victory.
Boston made history in many ways last night, as they also set a league record by becoming the first club to ever post three wins over a 50+ point margin in a single campaign. With this triumph, the Massachusetts squad extended their season-best winning streak to 11 matches.
“It feels great, but, at the same time, it’s always within humility,” Brown shared postgame. “We don’t take the game for granted. We didn’t come and mess around and that’s just how we show our respect to the game; we handle business and take care of it. … It’s a lot of respect for the Golden State Warriors, but we feel like it’s our time now.”
The Celtics defeat the Warriors by 52 ☘️
They become the first team in NBA history to win 3 games by 50+ in a season. pic.twitter.com/hLzJFvbkw7
— ESPN (@espn) March 3, 2024
The Celtics only bigger victories were on December 8, 2018, when they beat the Bulls 133 to 77, and four years later in 2022 as they defeated the Kings by a 53-point difference.
“We told Jaylen, ‘If they’re going to keep doing that, you should shoot 20, 30 3s,’” expressed Payton Pritchard, who contributed with 19 points during the clash.
Brown started the game on fire, as he connected three-straight shots beyond the arc in a 40-second span during the first quarter. The Warriors initial strategy was to leave the 27-year-old alone without any defensive pressure, and he certainly took advantage of it.
“First time it’s ever happened to me,” Brown said of Golden State’s defense. “Honestly, I was a bit surprised. It took a little bit of adjusting and I think we just took advantage of whatever that attempt was and made the best of it.
“If you wanna dare me to shoot, we can do that, too,” he added about their initial struggles, despite scoring 19 in the opening quarter. “I thought it was a little disrespectful, but we took advantage of it and we didn’t look back.”
Stephen Curry didn’t play the entire second half and ended the match with a season-low four points for Golden State
As they suffered this blowout loss at halftime, news got worse for the…