The Warriors scored their biggest win of the 2024-25 season thus far as they defeated the reigning champions Boston Celtics 118-112 at the TD Garden, handing them only their second loss of the season. The biggest clutch moment came with 46.3 left on the clock during the fourth quarter as Buddy Hield nailed a three-pointer which gave the Warriors a seven-point lead. It was Jayson Tatum’s error that enabled the play.
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With a minute left on the clock, Stephen Curry brought the ball up and Celtics guard Jrue Holiday pressed him as soon as he crossed the half-court line. Kevon Looney set the first pick as Derrick White switched on to Curry. However, Draymond Green’s hard on-ball screen on White made center Al Horford switch on the Warriors guard while he was still just past the half-court line.
Curry sniffed the mismatch and quickly drove toward the paint to attract further defensive attention. While White did recover to close the driving lane and shut down an easy baseline pass, the Warriors’ screening action had scrambled the Celtics’ defense brilliantly.
As soon as Curry crossed the free-throw line, he spotted Buddy Hield who was sliding to the right corner. Tatum didn’t pay attention to Hield and was ball-watching as the guard found himself wide open.
Tatum’s poor defensive awareness allowed Curry to make an easy pass to Hield in the corner, and before White could close in, he banked the three-pointer to virtually end the game. Curry screened Tatum to deny him any chance of making a recovery, which freed up a ton of space for Hield.
Back to that big Buddy shot.
Dubs set a series of screens to get Steph switched onto Horford. When Steph makes his move, watch Tatum: he falls asleep and completely loses track of Buddy drifting to the corner.
Buddy punishes accordingly. pic.twitter.com/DBLZlpgwzm
— Joe Viray (@JoeVirayNBA) November 7, 2024
The ceaseless screening action has been the staple of the Warriors offense under head coach Steve Kerr. He draws up exceptional schemes that utilize his guards, wings, and centers to set multiple screens, leading to a plethora of quality looks from beyond the arc.
The squad can run multiple dribble hand-off actions with Curry and Green, with both players screening for each other and their teammates consistently. These two are perfect at running the split actions that have defined the Warriors’ offense for more than a decade.
A small defensive lapse is enough for them to create an opening. In this case, Tatum should have quickly rotated to Hield as he is one of the best three-point shooters in the league. The Celtics also didn’t do a great job of stalling Curry from entering the paint area which opened up multiple passing avenues for him.
However, there is only so much a team can do when the Warriors guard is at the top of his game. Bringing in Hield to replace Klay Thompson was a masterclass from the front office, as the veteran is the perfect off-the-ball piece for coach Kerr, as the guard is well-verses at multiple screens to get himself open.
Per Forbes’ NBA reporter Evan Sidery, Hield and Curry have produced 143.3 points per 100 possessions, which is the best in the league by a wide margin.
Warriors’ lineups with the duo also have the league-best rating of +57.1. The clutch play against the Celtics was also reflective of their terrific partnership. If the duo continues to shine together at the current rate, the Warriors can catapult themselves into title contention, which didn’t seem possible after their relatively quiet offseason.
