Kerr views opponent at championship level

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Sunday’s matchup with the Celtics was one that he’d like to forget as soon as possible.

The Celtics routed Kerr’s Warriors from start to finish during a 140-88 win at TD Garden. The margin of victory

(52 points) is the biggest for Boston against Golden State. The Celtics have an NBA-best three wins of 50 or more points this season.

“You flush it down the toilet,” Kerr said. “We had a great road trip, 3-1. We’ve had a million games, so Boston was amazing. We weren’t beating them today.”

The Celtics are barreling down the stretch with the league’s best record and an 11-game win streak in tow.

Throughout his career, Kerr has had an up-close view of what championship-caliber teams look like. He was a member of five NBA championship teams as a player, and has coached the Warriors to four titles. His most recent title was in 2022, when the Warriors topped the Celtics in the Finals in six games.

Kerr was asked before the game for his thoughts on whether these Celtics have what it takes to win it all.

“Why not? They’ve been on the brink for six or seven years,” Kerr said. “Great organization. Always been really well coached. Continuity. They have everything that it takes. I think in this league it always requires some luck to win a championship. Sometimes things break your way, sometimes they don’t.

“The idea is to give yourself a chance as many times in a row as you can and they’ve done a great job of that. I think it’s just a matter of time that they break through. This is, I think, the best version of this team that I’ve seen.”

Kerr said the biggest difference between this year’s Celtics team and the one Golden State beat two years ago has been the additions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis.

“That’s two really high-level players added to what was already a great team,” Kerr said. “I think Jrue replaces a lot of what Marcus Smart gave Boston defensively and is an additional ballhandler and playmaker, and then Kristaps changes everything just with his floor spacing and overall offensive game. They’re very lethal.”

Mazzulla looks inward

The Warriors entered riding a threegame winning streak. They had won 13 of 16 games and were a game back of Dallas for eighth place in the West.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said during his pregame news conference that he hadn’t seen much of a difference in the Warriors from the last time the teams played, a game Golden State won in San Francisco, 132-126, in overtime to improve to 13-14. Sunday’s game played out much differently, though, with Jaylen Brown spearheading a stellar first half that ended in a 44-point Celtics lead.

The Celtics took care of the details, big and small, and flipped the script on the Warriors.

“I think it’s just a matter of playing what our game is,” Mazzulla said. “I think it’s something that we’ve done pretty well. We’ve just played our game and then we’ve adapted based on how the game was going. So, I think it’s two teams willing to go outside the box on either end of the floor to generate advantages.

“At the end of the day it comes down to those things, like we can play fast if you take care of the basketball. We can defend at a high level especially if we hold them to one shot. It’s really about the game management, the momentum plays, and the things that go into the margins.”

Porzingis, Queta out

Porzingis, who is dealing with a left quad contusion, was downgraded from questionable to out for the game.

The center has played in 44 of 60 games. He’s averaging 20.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks.

The Celtics were also missing backup center Neemias Queta, who was ruled out with a right knee hyperextension.

“I know he’s doing OK and I think he got positive results on it,” Mazzulla said. “I think it’s like a week-or-two thing. It’s nothing serious.”