Celtics win showdown against defending champs

Kyrie Irving had 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, including two free throws that put Boston ahead in the closing seconds, and the Celtics beat the Golden State Warriors 92-88 on Thursday night for their 14th straight victory.

Jaylen Brown had 22 points and seven rebounds, and Al Horford added 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Kevin Durant had 24 points for Golden State. The defending champion Warriors had won seven in a row.

Playing his second game since suffering a facial fracture, Irving shed his protective mask in the second quarter. Then, with the game tied at 88, he was fouled on his layup attempt and calmly made a pair of free throws. Durant then came up empty on his jumper on the other end.

Golden State led by as many as 17, but had to lean heavily on its reserves as its trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Durant struggled offensively.

Curry, who returned to action after missing a game with a bruised right thigh, was the most ineffective. He was three of 14 from the field — two of nine from the 3-point line — and had nine points.

Curry sat for a long stretch after picking up his fourth foul early in the third quarter.

Boston came in limiting opponents to just 94.5 points per game, the stingiest mark in the NBA this season. It did even better against a Warriors team that entered the night averaging an NBA-best 119.6 points per game.

The Warriors went without a point from Durant’s 20-foot pull-up with 4:49 left in the third quarter until Omri Casspi’s floater with 34.5 left tied it at 68 — a 19-2 Celtics’ run.

Curry, Durant and Thompson were just seven of 26 combined from the field in the first half. But the Warriors were able to maintain their lead thanks to 14 fast-break points.

Durant was the only one of the three to score during a 12-0 Warriors run late in the second quarter.

Boston trailed by just 47-42 at the half, closing the quarter with a 13-2 spurt.