The Boston Celtics defeated the Golden State Warriors, 140-88, at TD Garden on Sunday afternoon.

The Celtics (48-12) are the best team in the league and the Warriors (32-28) are an average team that’s looking to sneak in the Play-In Tournament in the Western Conference. Even though there’s a difference between both teams in terms of talent, no one expected the Warriors to struggle this much against Boston. The Celtics grabbed a 44-22 lead in the first quarter, and it seemed the game was already over following the first quarter. Boston didn’t step its foot off the gas and bolstered their advantage even further in the second quarter, and a 38-16 score made it a 44-point game for the Celtics at the break. Boston also won the third quarter before allowing Golden State to reduce the deficit down the stretch. At the end of the day, Boston won by 52 points. It was the team’s third-biggest win in franchise history. Boston's only bigger blowout wins were a 133-77 victory at Chicago on Dec. 8, 2018, and a 128-75 drubbing over Sacramento at home on Jan. 25, 2022.

Jaylen Brown led the way for the Celtics with 29 points, and he also added three rebounds and three assists. Jayson Tatum posted 27 points, five assists and three rebounds on his birthday. Derrick White posted 14 points, eight assists and three rebounds. Payton Pritchard delivered 19 points, six rebounds and six assists coming off the bench. Boston shot 55.2 percent from the field and 51 percent from three-point range.

Lester Quinones was the top scorer for the Warriors with 17 points coming off the bench. He was one of three players who scored in double digits in this huge loss. Jerome Robinson posted 10 points, and Moses Moody was the lone starter who scored in double digits with an 11-point effort. Klay Thompson, Jonathan Kuminga and Draymond Green all had six points. Stephen Curry finished with four points (2-13 FG) across 17 minutes. The Warriors shot 39.1 percent from the field and 17.1 percent from three-point range.