NBA highlights on Jan. 26: Warriors defeat Celtics at TD Garden

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The Golden State Warriors visited the TD Garden on Saturday to challenge the Boston Celtics in a road game. After 48 minutes into the grueling competition, the defending champion defeated the Celtics 115-111 to continue their straight winning journey.

GSW claim 10th consecutive win

Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors in the game they won against the Boston Celtics 115-111 on January 26, 2019. /VCG Photo

Kevin Durant scored the highest 33 points plus nine rebounds for Golden State while Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson scored 24 and 21 points respectively. DeMarcus Cousins played 23 minutes to put down 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and five fouls.

Boston's Kyrie Irving scored the team's most 32 points and 10 assists. Al Horford dropped a double-double of 22 points and 13 rebounds with a high efficiency of 66.7 percent (10/15). Second-year wingman Jason Tatum put down 20 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Before Saturday's game, GSW already won nine straight games, three of which were with Cousins. Meanwhile, the Celtics have already claimed 10 consecutive victories at the TD Garden. As for the defending champion, this game should be a perfect opportunity to test how "Boogie" and his teammates adapt to each other since Boston had the league's top five defense, a reliable big man in both offense and defense (Horford) and Brad Stevens, a head coach who always knows to hit where it hurts the most.

Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics penetrates in the game they lost to the Golden State Warriors 111-115 on January 26. / VCG Photo

The Celtics in the first quarter acted out of character to speed up the game, much to Warriors' liking. When Cousins was on the court, Boston's players, including center Horford, chose to stretch out of the restricted area with perimeter and 3-pt shots to avoid physical fights with Boogie. Irving played the whole quarter to score 11 points and four assists while sinking three of four three-pointers.

Golden State in this quarter were plagued by fouls as Curry and Cousins had to leave after two fouls. Durant carried the team's offense by dropping 14 points. Both teams had communication problems in defense as they left multiple open shots for each other this quarter. Thanks to a higher field goal rate, the Warriors led 29-26 after Q1.

Curry #30 of the Warriors shoots a three-pointer in the game against the Celtics on January 26. /VCG Photo

Curry returned in the second quarter with a hot hand to make straight shots from the 3-pt line before dropping 17 points this quarter. Meanwhile, Curry also ran his team to keep a fast pace while using the chance of Boston double teaming him to create easy baskets for his teammates.

By contrast, the Celtics got into trouble with offense without Irving and once trailed by nine points. Upon Irving's return, the team began to catch up and managed to narrow the score difference to two points after the first half (59-61).

Irving #11 of the Celtics defends Kevin Durant #35 of the Warriors in the game on January 26. /VCG Photo

GSW began to invest more efforts in guarding Irving in the third quarter, giving Boston's other players more opportunities, which they took. For example, Tatum sank three straight shots from the 3-pt line. However, as Golden State further enhanced their defense, the Celtics fell into a scoring drought for nearly five minutes. The Warriors managed to stop Irving from scoring this quarter and expand their lead to six points (80-74) before the fourth quarter.

Boston started the last quarter by focusing on Horford in offense as Cousins already had five fouls under his belt. With a 12-2 run, the home team regained the lead 96-94. GSW responded with a 7-2 run before Irving and Durant began to carry their respective team's offense. The two sides kept exchanging points until 111-111 tie. After that, Golden State's defense made key contributions again as they made Boston miss all their shots. In the end, the defending champion left Boston with a victory.

Steve Kerr, head coach of the Warriors, reaches 300 wins in only 377 games after the team's win on Saturday. /VCG Photo

After Saturday's game, GSW not only became the first team this season to claim 10 straight wins, but also made their head coach Steve Kerr the fastest coach to reach 300 wins in all of the four major sport leagues (NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB) in North America. In NBA, Kerr broke Pat Riley's record of 416 games with 377 games.

Gregg Popovich, head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, reaches NBA's most 521 wins in away games after his team beat the New Orleans Pelicans 124-116 on January 26. /VCG Photo

Another new record on Saturday was brought by the San Antonio Spurs, which took an easy win by beating the New Orleans Pelicans 124-116 in a road game. Thanks to this victory, San Antonio's head coach Gregg Popovich surpassed Pat Riley to win 521 away games, the most in NBA history.

Other games on Saturday included: (away teams come first)

Indiana Pacers 103-106 Memphis Grizzlies

Philadelphia 76ers 110-126 Denver Nuggets

Atlanta Hawks 111-120 Portland Trail Blazers