Jaylen Brown has often guarded the opposing team’s best player in recent seasons, but marking Stephen Curry is a different challenge. The Warriors star is always dangerous off-ball, sprinting around the court and ready to bomb away from 3-point land at a moment’s notice.
Still, the Celtics were looking for a bounce-back effort after a dispiriting overtime loss to the Hawks last time out. So, being one of the leaders, Brown revealed after the blowout C’s 125-85 win over the Warriors that he asked to guard Curry.
“Tonight was a challenge just from a travel standpoint, coming off a tough overtime loss,” Brown told reporters. “Everybody was a little beaten up. Joe (Mazzulla) talked to me about it. Just trying to take that challenge, chasing a guy around. It’s not easy. But try to do what it takes for us to get a win.”
The Celtics imposed their will on a shorthanded Golden State team early as the home squad was without four rotation players. The C’s also did most of their damage early when Curry went to the bench, where the remaining Warriors couldn’t overcome a fully-healthy Boston squad. Then the Celtics sprinted away in the third quarter, outscoring the Warriors 43-24.
Curry finished with 18 points, three rebounds and four assists, shooting 6-for-16 from the field and 4-for-12 on 3-pointers. He only played 27 minutes, including none in the fourth quarter, since the game was already out of hand.
“I’m guarding him, so chasing him around,” Brown said. “But on the defensive end, making him pay as well. Anytime he got in transition or he was cross matched and he was on me, just trying to make him pay, make him work, and just making the right play. Drawing the defense in, kicking it out, that led to some open shots and just being a playmaker.”
Anytime a team can put together a 40-point victory, spirits are going to be lifted even amid a challenging stretch. As Brown noted, the Celtics also had to travel across the country on a long flight to be prepared for Monday’s game in San Francisco. They passed the first test of a four-game road trip as they now face the Clippers, Lakers and Mavericks to finish out the week.
But for the Celtics, the issue hasn’t been overwhelming opponents. Even during this 17-game stretch where they’ve gone 9-7, they’ve had multiple massive wins. The problem has been stringing together consistent efforts across multiple games. So they’ll look to lock down after Monday’s win and shake off their recent struggles going forward.
“That’s becoming an identity that he has is his ability to impact the game on both ends of the floor,” Mazzulla said. “The thing that can’t go unnoticed is the Steph-Gary Payton pick-and-roll is one of the highest efficiency ones in the league, and I thought Jrue (Holiday’s) ability to defend Payton’s screening was huge for us to take that away. So when the guys can show different ways to be impactful and physical, and I think Jaylen did that from a standpoint.”
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