Why Stephen Curry thinks the Celtics have nothing to worry about

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry think so Boston Celtics they’re doing a good job of chasing back-to-back titles. And it’s not just because The Celtics beat the Warriors on Monday afternoon, 125-85.

After dominating the 2023-24 season en route to their 18th championship in franchise history, the Celtics are hungry to hang another banner. Of course, that’s easier said than done, like The Celtics found themselves in a difficult situation recently and are 4-4 in their last eight games.

Curry was part of the last Warriors team to win back-to-back championships in 2018, so he knows a thing or two about defending a title. After the Celtics blew out the Dubs by 40 points, he claimed Boston’s current cold streak quite normalvia SB Nation’s Noah Dalzell.

“It’s a marathon of a season,” Curry said. “You get the best shot every night. Teams spent the entire summer trying to figure out how to beat you because you were the one holding the trophy. Now you hold yourself to the standard of the championship, knowing that you have achieved it. So there will be a lull throughout the season. It kind of happens.”

Although the Celtics’ last lull was ugly, featuring one an overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks and a double digit loss to the rebuilding Toronto Raptorsthey responded against the Warriors. The green team led by 15 points at halftime, then buried the Dubs in an avalanche in the third quarter, scoring 43 points and the Warriors 24 in those 12 minutes.

Boston shot 53.3% overall and each of its starters shot at least 45% from the floor. Meanwhile, no one for Golden State reached 20 points, as Curry had a game-high 18 points in 27 minutes of play. The now 21-21 Warriors shot just 26.4% from deep and scored just 26 points to the Celtics’ 52.

“I don’t know what people expected, but they’re 30-13,” Curry said of the Celtics. “They’re doing well.”

Standards are high in Beantown, which helps explain why some label a 30-win team as “on the decline.” The Celtics lost just 18 games during the 2023-24 regular season, and the current C’s have already lost twice as many games at home as last season.

However, it was always going to be difficult to top last season’s dominance. There’s a reason no reigning champion has even appeared in the NBA Finals a year after winning it all since the 2018-19 Warriors.

Repeating regular-season success is important for the defending champions, but Curry stressed that’s not the only path to postseason glory. In fact, health and momentum may be more important than a 60-win season.

“You try to go into the playoffs with a good identity, good momentum, good confidence, good health, and then you’re just rolling the dice trying to get it back,” he described.

The Celtics’ road to a comeback continues on Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers. Less than 24 hours after that, the C’s take on the rival Los Angeles Lakers. Then on Saturday afternoon they face the Dallas Mavericks for the first time since the 2024 NBA Finals. None of these games are easy, but the Celtics know to expect that as they try to accomplish something no team has in the 2020s.