Preview: Warriors welcome Celtics to Chase Center in first meeting since Finals

The Golden State Warriors square off against the Boston Celtics in a rematch of last summer’s NBA Finals; a hard fought six game series that the Dubs emphatically emerged victorious from.

It wasn’t just that the Warriors bounced back from a 2-1 deficit to best the Celtics in the championship series. Golden State flat out broke Boston’s spirit with relentless execution and dogged intensity.

Will the Celtics get a measure of revenge?

Golden State Warriors vs Boston Celtics

December 10th, 2022 | 5:30 PT

Watch: ABC| Listen: 95.7 The Game

Remember before the Finals how Boston was supposed to be the grittier, more physical team and the Dubs were TUXEDO PLAYERS?

LOL. The Dubs flipped that narrative on its head, antagonizing Boston and their boisterous fanbase to their breaking point.

A large part of that was Stephen Curry going berserk during the series against Boston’s elite defense on his way to a Finals MVP. Another big reason the Warriors finished the Celtics off in six games was a spirited defensive effort led by Andrew Wiggins. He’ll forever be remembered for locking up Celtics’ star Jayson Tatum in that series:

These two teams will clash for the first time this season Saturday night. Boston has responded to their crushing Finals defeat by starting off the season with the NBA’s best record at 21-5. Meanwhile the champs are a mediocre 13-13 so far, as they tool around their proven core with young players learning their roles.

And with the aforementioned Wiggins missing this game with right adductor tightness, one of GSW’s lottery picks will probably get extended time defending Boston’s dynamic duo of Tatum and Jaylen Brown. His name is Jonathan Kuminga, and the Dubs drafted the athletic wing with the hopes that he could use his physicality to harass opposing scoring threats.

Kuminga will definitely have his hands full trying to deal with Tatum’s scoring prowess. The Boston wing is averaging 30.5 points per game and is coming off of a 25-point effort in the team’s recent win over the Phoenix Suns.

We’ll see if the Warriors can overcome the absence of their guy Wiggins against these tough Celtics. The men in green will be without the services of bigs Al Horford and Robert Williams, so no team will be at full strength. These two teams are a fun matchup, let’s get it on!