Warriors expose emerging Celtics area of vulnerability in upset win

 The Warriors handed the Celtics their first home loss of the season on Wednesday night but they will be the first to tell you it comes with a bit of asterisk.

“I know they’re missing JB and Porzingis, but felt like it was a good test,” Stephen Curry said after the 118-112 victory. “They’ve been playing well, despite those guys, they have a certain style that we haven’t seen and Tatum’s been playing awesome, D-White’s playing awesome. So defensively to try to match up with them was great. And an environment that’s tough to win in no matter who’s playing. Obviously we know what happened last year. So it was a great test, knowing we haven’t done a a damn thing. But it felt good.

“Obviously Boston was without Jaylen Brown and Porzingis, so this is not their best version of their team, but they’re still damn good. It’s a hell of a win and a tough environment,” Kerr said.

The Celtics are learning a lot about themselves in the midst of a 7-2 start without a few key faces. Porzingis is set to return at some point next month, barring any setbacks in his leg rehab. Brown remains day-to-day with a hip flexor that has caused him to miss three games already.

Yet as Joe Mazzulla has attempted to mix and match in their absences, a troubling trend has emerged for the Celtics against high-powered offenses: an inability to get stops with Al Horford at center.

The emergence of Neemias Queta in the rotation over the past week has put this development front and center. Whether it was him fueling a near comeback against the Pacers or starting alongside Horford during the past two games, it’s evident that Queta is quickly becoming a necessity for Mazzulla due to his defense.

On the one hand, it’s very encouraging for the Celtics’ to see this development from Queta. On the other hand, it’s a bit alarming he’s become a necessity so quickly into the year. Some of that has become due to injuries but the numbers tell the story as Celtics radio voice Sean Grande highlighted.

It’s a very small sample size so far (Queta has been in rotation for five games) but it was on display front and center Wednesday night. The Warriors closed out their win against the Celtics with 30 points in the final seven minutes against a leaky Celtics defense. Some of those points came via free throws late but the Celtics struggled to get stops late despite going double big with Queta and Horford.

Playing double bigs isn’t ideal against an athletic Warriors lineup late but Queta certainly was a bright spot in that duo. The added size up front didn’t help on the boards as the Warriors piled up several key offensive rebounds late to go along with some shots that came via defensive breakdowns with Tatum and Jrue Holiday being the guilty parties.

Whether the Celtics can remain an elite defense with Horford playing center remains an open question so it will be interesting to see where Mazzulla goes with it once Jaylen Brown returns to the lineup. Porzingis’ return will ultimately be the bigger deal for the starters in December but it’s evident that Boston’s defense is worth keeping an eye on.