Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry thinks the Boston Celtics are doing a fine job of pursuing back-to-back titles. And that’s not just because the Celtics hammered the Warriors on Monday afternoon, 125-85.
After dominating the 2023-24 season on the way to their 18th championship in franchise history, the Celtics are hungry to hang another banner. Of course, that’s easier said than done, as the Celtics have hit a bit of a rough patch recently and are 4-4 in their last eight games.
Curry was a part of the last Warriors squad to win consecutive championships back in 2018, so he knows a thing or two about defending titles. Following the Celtics’ 40-point drubbing of the Dubs, he claimed that Boston’s current cold streak is completely normal, via Noa Dalzell of SB Nation.
“It’s a marathon of a season,” Curry stated. “You’re getting everybody’s best shot every night. Teams spent all summer trying to figure out how to beat you because you’re the one that was holding up the trophy. Now you’re held to a championship standard, knowing that you’ve accomplished it. So, there are going to be lulls throughout the season. It kind of happens.”
Steph Curry on the process of trying to defend a title:
“Teams spent all summer trying to figure out how to beat you, because you're the one that was holding up the trophy.”
“I don’t know what people expected, but they’re 30-13. They’re doing alright.” pic.twitter.com/3YaOVnbsas
— Noa Dalzell
(@NoaDalzell) January 21, 2025
Although the Celtics’ latest lull was ugly, featuring an overtime defeat to the Atlanta Hawks and a double-digit loss to the rebuilding Toronto Raptors, they responded against the Warriors. The Green Team took a 15-point lead at halftime and then buried the Dubs with a third-quarter avalanche, scoring 43 points to the Warriors’ 24 in those 12 minutes.
Boston shot 53.3% altogether and each of its starters shot at least 45% from the floor. Meanwhile, nobody for Golden State even reached 20 points, as Curry had a team-high 18 points in 27 minutes of play. The now 21-21 Warriors shot just 26.4% from deep and only notched 26 points in the paint to the Celtics’ 52.
The Celtics hammered the Warriors for their first win in San Francisco since 2022.
A lot of good from this one:
– Baylor Scheierman career high for points
– Celtics had 34 assists, just one shy of season high
– Second-biggest margin of victory this season (40 points) pic.twitter.com/c2KWVHW9ug— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) January 21, 2025
“I don’t know what people expected, but they’re 30-13,” Curry said of the Celtics. “They’re doing alright.”
Standards are high in Beantown, which helps explain why a team with 30 wins is labeled as “declining” by some. The Celtics only lost 18 games during the 2023-24 regular season, and the current C’s have already dropped twice as many home games as they did last season.
However, surpassing last season’s dominance was always going to be difficult. There’s a reason no reigning champion has even appeared in the NBA Finals the year after winning it all since the 2018-19 Warriors.
Replicating regular season success is important for a defending champ, yet Curry emphasized that it’s not the only path to postseason glory. In fact, health and momentum might be more crucial than a 60-win season.
“You try to get to the playoffs with a good identity, good momentum, good confidence, good health, and then you just roll the dice trying to run it back,” he described.
The Celtics’ road to running it back continues on Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers. Less than 24 hours after that, the C’s take on the rival Los Angeles Lakers. Then on Saturday afternoon, they encounter the Dallas Mavericks for the first time since the 2024 NBA Finals. None of these road games seem easy, but the Celtics know to expect that while trying to accomplish something no team has in the 2020s.
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