West's best meets top team in East when Warriors play Celtics

OAKLAND - On Saturday, the Warriors face a threat.

They face the Boston Celtics, whose 35-14 record is the best in the Eastern Conference. They've won three of their past five games against the Warriors. And this offseason, they added an All-Star - guard Kyrie Irving.

This game could be a preview of the NBA Finals.

“We feel like they're just as good as any team in the league,” Warriors forward Kevin Durant said Friday after practice. “The way they play, the way they pass, the way they move on offense, their defensive intensity, it has been top-level the whole season.”

The Warriors have played the Celtics once already this season. That game was in Boston. The Celtics shot 38 free throws, held Stephen Curry to just nine points on three of 14 field-goal attempts and beat the Warriors 92-88.

“We had control of that game,” head coach Steve Kerr said, “but our fouling allowed them back in it, and then the game slipped away from us.”

“We've got to play without reaching,” Durant said. “We want to be aggressive, but we want to make sure that we're not putting teams in the bonus early. That takes our momentum away.”

The Celtics specialize in taking momentum away. They have the best defense in the NBA, ranking No. 1 in lowest field-goal percentage allowed, lowest three-point-shooting percentage allowed and overall defensive rating.

“They put a lot of pressure on the ball,” Kerr said. “They've got a lot of guys who can switch. They've done a good job filling that roster with versatile wings - Jaylen Brown, (Jayson) Tatum, (Gordon) Hayward when he's healthy, (Marcus) Morris. They've got a really good roster.”

“They're just aggressive,” Durant said. “They jump in the passing lanes. Brown is very, very aggressive contesting shots and getting steals. I think we can offset that by being patient, running our stuff. We're getting used to teams overplaying a lot and being super physical. We try to offset that by cutting backdoor, making hard cuts, fighting through the physicality and getting on the free-throw line.”

Brown and Tatum are new additions to the Celtics' starting lineup. Brown primarily came off the bench as a rookie last season.

Now, Brown is the Celtics' starting shooting guard. He's 21, an excellent defender and is shooting a solid 37.2 percent on three-pointers.

Tatum was in college last season. Now, Tatum is the Celtics' starting small forward. He's 19, an excellent defender and is shooting an astronomical 45 percent on three-pointers.

Tatum and Brown are the Celtics' all-purpose players.

Al Horford is one of their All-Stars. He plays center and averages 13.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and a team-high 5.3 assists per game. Boston tends to run its offense through Horford. He's like a point guard. Call him a point center.

“Horford can extend out to the three-point line and is an excellent passer and screener,” Kerr said. “So, they're very difficult to cover, because they cover so much ground. They shoot a lot of 3s, they get a lot of offensive boards and they run good stuff. They make you work defensively.”

What kind of stuff do the Celtics run on offense?

“A lot of great movement and motion,” Kerr said. “(Celtics coach Brad Stevens is) very bright, not only in terms of X's and O's but also in his demeanor, the way he handles players, the way he communicates. He is very poised and smart, and seems to set a really good tone that is reflected in the way his players play.”

Stevens' players play hard, and that's because they don't play too much. They can afford to give maximum effort.

In their most recent game against the Clippers, nine Celtics played at least 17 minutes, and only one played more than 29 minutes. In comparison, four Warriors played more than 29 minutes in their most recent game against the Timberwolves, and only five Warriors played more than 17 minutes.

The Warriors have a few great players. The Celtics have a bunch of very good ones.

And they have Irving.

The Celtics traded for him this offseason, traded Isaiah Thomas to get him. Irving will be a starter in the upcoming All-Star Game. He's averaging 24.5 points and five assists per game.

Last season, Thomas averaged 28.9 points and 5.9 assists per game as the Celtics' starting point guard.

How has Irving made the Celtics better? How has he changed them? Or has he?

“Oh yeah,” Kerr said. “He's one of the best one-on-one players in the league. He's a handful.”

“Hell yeah, they changed,” Durant said. “Kyrie is the most skilled player - well, top-three skilled player in the league. One of the most skilled players to ever play. Hell yeah, he changed (the Celtics). They upgraded at point guard.

“Last year, they had a guy who was scoring a lot for them in Isaiah, but Kyrie could easily average 30 if he wanted to. Now, they've got guys like Tatum playing well and Brown and Horford and Marcus Smart.

“Kyrie is an all-world talent. On top of that, the young guys have gotten better over the year as well. It's a good mixture of vets and young players that they have.

“It should be a great matchup. You've got the best offensive team and the best defensive team. I'm sure that's the narrative. It should be fun.”

Another way of looking at the narrative - blockbuster matchup.