On Wednesday night, Jayson Tatum and his Boston Celtics nearly pulled off a miraculous second-half comeback against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. But damn Stephen Curry, returning from an ankle injury, helped Golden State hold on long enough to secure an eventual 118-112 win.

Things looked good early for the Celtics. After a strong 14-3 start in Boston, the Warriors responded with a brutal 30-15 run, capped by back-to-back Kyle Anderson treys, while throwing the Celtics out of rhythm with stellar defense. The Warriors would hold a 32-16 lead in the second quarter to a 51-40 lead at halftime. A 41-31 Celtics third frame brought Boston within a point, but a flurry of plays around the basket late (from free throws to putbacks) helped Golden State ice the W in the fourth.

Curry scored 27 points on 8-for-17 shooting from the field (4-for-9 from deep) and 7-for-7 shooting from the foul line, passing for nine assists, grabbing seven rebounds, wiping off four steals and blocked one shot.

With the win, the Warriors improved to a stellar 7-1 record on the year, while the Celtics fell to 7-2 on the season.

Boston was without All-Star small forward Jaylen Brown and former All-Star center Kristaps Porzingis, while Golden State was missing bench guards Brandin Podziemski and De’Anthony Melton.

Here are our takeaways:

Golden State has tried to balance its shooting with size and defense in the absence of ex-Splash brother Klay Thompson, now with the Dallas Mavericks. Steve Kerr has tinkered with his starting lineup this season, shifting soon-to-be restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga to a backup role with the team.

His current starting five of Curry, shooting guard Moses Moody (who, unlike Kuminga, did agree to a rookie-scale contract extension this summer), small forward Andrew Wiggins, power forward Draymond Green and second-year center Trayce Jackson-Davis are a intriguing mix of shooting and size. That means this summer’s expensive group of free agents – Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson and De’Anthony Melton (although Melton was injured in this game) – have come off the bench. Hield has added a particularly productive microwave scorer dimension to the club’s attack. 2024 All-Rookie Team guard Brandin Podziemski has also rotated between Kerr’s bench and starting units. Big man Kevon Looney and guard Gary Payton II have also settled into bench roles.

Suddenly the team is deep, but not the kind of All-Star-laden team it was during Curry’s MVP prime. It’s all about Curry, but these new pieces fit well with the existing additions.

This is a very different team than the 2022 club that defeated Boston in a hard-fought six-game NBA Finals matchup. The 2024-2025 vintage of the Celtics, now full of Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and post-championship glow, is better, harder, deeper and more confident than the 2023-2024 incarnation. A respectable road loss tonight, without Porzingis or Brown, is hardly an indication of how the two teams would fare in a series. Boston clearly has what it takes to repeat. It will be interesting to see if the Warriors get in their way.

Joe Mazzulla’s Celtics beat the Warriors on Wednesday night with a whopping 54 triples (they made 19) to Golden State’s paltry 34 (they made 14, for a better 41.2 percent). This cutting-edge approach was ultimately negated by a huge Warriors advantage in points scored, 52-36.

Even with Al Horford back in his starting lineup, Joe Mazzulla opted to keep Queta in his starting five. He moved Tatum down one position to accommodate the young big man, who jumped at the fifth spot, and Horford, who started at power forward. Queta rewarded Mazzulla’s decision by beating Horford. He scored 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from the foul line, grabbed eight rebounds, blocked two shots and registered a +13 in his 28:09 of action, the only positive. niggle among Boston’s starters.

All-NBA Celtics forward Jayson Tatum led all scorers with 32 points on 10-for-20 shooting from the floor (5-for-10 from long range) and 7-for-9 shooting from the charity stripe. All-Defensive Team guard Derrick White had 26 points on 8-for-19 shooting from the field (7-for-16 from deep) and 3-for-3 shooting from the foul line, plus six rebounds. Point guard Payton Pritchard, continuing his strong play of late, had 15 points, while the aforementioned Horford and Queta each scored in double figures.

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