Celtics guard Marcus Smart, right, lands on the foot of Golden State’s Stephen Curry while diving for a loose ball in the first half Wednesday night in San Francisco. Jeff Chiu/Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry went down with a left foot injury late in the first half and didn’t return as the Boston Celtics routed the Golden State Warriors 110-88 on Wednesday night.
Curry was injured with 4:19 remaining in the second quarter along the sideline while scrambling for a loose ball as Marcus Smart made a diving lunge for the ball and landed on the reigning scoring champion’s leg. Curry grimaced in pain and got up but hobbled along before exiting on the next dead ball moments later.
That came when Smart made another aggressive play, receiving a Flagrant 1 foul 4:09 before halftime when he leapt and caught his leg on Klay Thompson’s shooting arm. Smart got an earful from furious Warriors Coach Steve Kerr.
The team said Curry, who had three points on 1-for-4 shooting, experienced soreness in the foot.
Draymond Green was whistled for a technical for arguing a foul called on Thompson against Smart at the 1:48 mark, with Green throwing his arms up in the air in disgust and yelling.
Jayson Tatum had 26 points and 12 rebounds to lead Boston, while Jalen Brown scored 14 of his 26 points in the first half. Smart wound up with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go with eight assists.
The Warriors couldn’t keep up in their fourth straight home defeat to the Celtics and sixth of seven matchups in the Bay Area.
Boston’s stingy defense held Golden State to a cold 29.3% in the first half. Jordan Poole was 1 of 8 but recovered to scored a team-high 29 points.
Curry’s injury came two days after he dazzled for 47 points on his 34th birthday in a 126-112 win against the Wizards on Monday.
Green came off the bench for a second straight game as he regains his strength from a back injury. His minutes increased from 20 to 22.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Derrick White was 0 for 8, missing all five of his 3-point tries. … Boston improved to 4-7 on the road vs. the Western Conference.
Warriors: Poole has scored 20 or more points in eight straight games. … Andrew Wiggins and Nemanja Bjelica were both out with a non-COVID illness, the second straight game Wiggins missed. … Golden State would have been the first team this season to reach 30 home victories. The Warriors won the first meeting in Boston, 111-107 on Dec. 17. … The Warriors shot 7 for 21 in the first quarter.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
