The Celtics take responsibility for costly deficits, from losses to Warriors

It was the long-awaited and highly anticipated matchup marked on Jayson Tatum's calendar – or at least it should have been – but it didn't live up to the hype. The Boston Celtics couldn't overcome an uncharacteristic first-half gaffe in their 118-112 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night at TD Garden.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr wowed the TD Garden crowd; However, a lackluster offense from the Celtics in the first half quickly exhausted the team. Boston committed 10 turnovers, shot 35.1%, missed a total of 14 3-pointers and entered halftime trailing Golden State 51-40. Admittedly, this is a double-sided coin. On the one hand, Boston's defense effectively kept the Warriors in check, but on the other hand, the offense delivered its weakest performance in a quarter (so far) in the second frame (16 points).

The Celtics, suffering their first home loss of the season and first since Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals more than five months ago, made no excuses when reflecting on the overall missed opportunity.

“They attacked us, took us out of our rhythm, and after that we started doing the simple two-way pass that opened things up,” Payton Pritchard told reporters after the game, according to NBC Sports Boston. “But we just became more physical and handled their pressure better. … We weren't physical enough with the ball. We had a lot of turnovers and stuff like that, which led to them getting out and stuff like that. So it’s just a matter of being strong with (the ball).”

Pritchard himself got off to a hot start and got involved early in the discussion about the candidacy for Sixth Man of the Year, but was unable to get it started early on. He was held to 0 for 4 from 3-point range by Golden State's defense, which is usually Pritchard's haven for points. Without them, the 6-foot-1 guard becomes an offensive liability, and that was the case until the pendulum began to swing Boston's way, first with 41 points in the third quarter.

Tatum also used his motivation driven by Kerr and finished the game as the top scorer with a performance of 32 points on 10 of 20 shots. Boston took a four-point lead with 5:04 to play in the fourth quarter, but was unable to maintain it. In those final minutes, Golden State grabbed four offensive rebounds – finishing with 15 total – and made the Celtics pay a heavy price when Tatum took his eyes off Warriors sharpshooter Buddy Hield, who sank the game-winning three-pointer to put Golden State up 111 -104 to take the lead with 46.3 seconds remaining. That was an early end to Boston's half-hearted comeback effort.

“Kevon Looney, did he have something? Two setbacks? “Three setbacks?” Pritchard said, according to NBC Sports Boston. “Buddy Hield, we left him open on the open threes, so it's just the little things that we'll look back on and be disappointed in ourselves because we definitely could have controlled the outcome. … We’ll learn from it and get better.”

The reigning champions only lost four times at home last season. Granted, even with an almost entirely identical roster — Boston lost Svi Mykhailiuk and Oshae Brissett to free agency in the offseason — the circumstances are different.

Jaylen Brown missed his third straight appearance with a hip flexor injury, and Kristaps Porzingis, who could return in December, has yet to suit up. Without Porzingis, Boston completely upset Golden State eight months ago in last season's 140-88 win at TD Garden.

Looking ahead, the Celtics can only improve when necessary and turn the tide, as they now have two (very) avoidable losses in their first nine games.

“I think we did a great job responding to their physicality,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said, as seen in postgame coverage from NBC Sports Boston. “Whenever two good teams play together, it all comes down to the details in the end and I think they did a little better than us. I thought our execution was better (in the second half). Our spacing was better, we found reads quicker and we were just as physical on offense as we were on defense. … We allowed three offensive rebounds and missed Buddy Hield on an open three-pointer and just the little details in the open floor.”

Boston next has the Brooklyn Nets in play on Friday night.