LAS VEGAS, NV- Justin Jackson led the Boston Celtics (2-1) with 24 points in a close 103-92 win to hold off the Golden State Warriors (1-2).
Justin Jackson scored 11 points while shooting 4-of-4 from the field for Boston in the first quarter, and the Celtics held Golden State to just 18 first-quarter points.
The Warriors also shot 7-of-22 (31.8%) from the field, and Boston entered the second quarter with a 38-18 lead.
Golden State bounced back offensively with 26 points in the second quarter. However, Boston maintained a 20-point lead and entered halftime with a 64-44 lead.
Jackson led the Celtics at halftime with 14 points, which was followed by Brodric Thomas’s 13 points.
After halftime, Jackson was once again hot, scoring eight points in the third quarter. Boston entered the fourth quarter with an 85-69 lead.
The Warriors opened the fourth quarter with a 12-0 run and were down 85-78 with 5:36 left within regulation.
Despite being outscored 23-18 in the fourth, Boston was able to hold on for the win.
“We just had to get some stops and take care of the basketball,” Jackson said. “Most of that run was us being careless with the ball and they were kind of killing us on the offensive rebound. We just had to tighten that up a little bit and we were able to come out with the win.”
Juhann Begarin scored 21 points, and Mfiondu Kabengele had a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds for Boston.
Warriors’ Slow Start Costed Them
Golden State had trouble shooting the ball from tipoff.
That slow start of only making seven field goals in the first quarter basically gave the game away to Boston.
All game, the Warriors tried to climb back into the game while being down double-digits. What made things worse was that Boston made 13 3-pointers and shot 37-of-82 (45.1%) from the field.
Meanwhile, Golden State shot 8-of-27 (29.6%) from deep and 36-of-85 (42.4%) from the field.
There is promise for the Warriors’ young guys as they proved that they are capable of making a comeback late in games.
However, doing that for every game is unsustainable, and they will need to tighten up in order to win their next game.
Jonathan Kuminga led the Warriors with 27 points.
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