at
Boston Celtics (35-19) at Golden State Warriors (29-26)
Thursday, February 19, 2026
10:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #55 Road Game #28
TV: Prime Video, NBCSB, NBCSBA
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, 95.7 The Game, Sirius XM
Chase CenterProbable Celtics Starters 
PG: Derrick White ...................................... SG: Baylor Scheierman
C: Neemias Queta
SF: Jaylen Brown ............................................ PF: Sam Hauser
Celtics ReservesPayton Pritchard
Hugo Gonzalez
Luka Garza
Amare Williams
Nikola Vucevic
Jordan Walsh
2-Way PlayersRon Harper, Jr
Max Shulga
John Tonje
Injuries/OutJayson Tatum (Achilles) out
Head CoachJoe Mazzulla
Probable Warriors Starters 
PG: Pat Spencer.................................................. SG: De'Anthony Melton
C: Draymond Green
SF: Moses Moody .............................................. PF: Gui Santos
Warriors Reserves Pat Spencer
Al Horford
Gary Payton II
Brandin Podziemski
Quinten Post
2 Way PlayersLJ Cryer
Malevy Leons
Nate Williams
Injuries/Out Jimmy Butler (knee) out
Seth Curry (back) out
Stephen Curry (knee) out
Kristaps Porzingis (Achilles) questionable
Head Coach Steve Kerr
Game Notes The Celtics begin the stretch run after the All Star break with a visit to the Golden State Warriors. This is the first of 2 meetings between these two teams this season. They will meet for a 2nd and final time in Boston on March 18, They split the series 1-1 last season with each team winning on the road. In fact, over the past 4 seasons, the Celtics and Warriors have split the series 1-1 every season. The Celtics are 211-141 all time overall against the Warriors and 79-86 in games played at the Warriors.
Both teams are quite different from the ones who played each other in January of 2025. In the off season, the Warriors lost Kevon Looney to the Pelicans and signed Al Horford, Seth Curry and De'Anthony Melton. At the trade deadline, they traded Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to Atlanta for Kristaps Porzingis. They also traded Trayce Jackson-Davis to Toronto for a second round pick.
The Celtics are 2nd in the East, 5.5 games behind 1st place Detroit. They are half a game ahead of 3rd place New York, 1.5 games ahead of 4th place Cleveland, 3.5 games ahead of 5th place Toronto, 4 games ahead of 6th place Philadelphia and 6.5 games ahead of 7th place Orlando. The Celtics are 11-6 against Western Conference opponents. They are 17-10 on the road and 7-3 in their last 10 games. They are coming off a win in their last game.
The Warriors are 8th in the West, 12.5 games behind the 1st place Thunder, 4.5 games behind the 5th place Lakers and the 6th place Timberwolves, and 3 games behind 7th place Phoenix. They are 2.5 games ahead of 9th place Portland and the 10th place Clippers. They are 18-10 at home and 4-6 in their last 10 games. They are 10-10 against Eastern Conference opponents and they are coming off a loss in their last game.
The Celtics are beginning a 4 game Western road trip through Golden State, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix, and Denver. They will then return home for games against Brooklyn and Philadelphia before a game at Milwaukee. Then they are back home for games against Charlotte and Dallas before a tough 3 game road trip through Cleveland San Antonio, and Oklahoma City. Then they host Washington, Phoenix and Golden State.
After this game at home, the Warriors will host Denver before playing New Orleans and Memphis on the road. Then they are back home to play both the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers. They then play at Houston, at Oklahoma City and at Utah before 2 games at home against Chicago and Minnesota before a 6 game road trip through New York, Washington, Boston, Detroit, Atlanta and Dallas.
At this time, only Jayson Tatum is out for the Celtics while rumors abound as to when he will return. For the Warriors, Jimmy Butler is out after tearing his ACLin December. Seth Curry is out due to sciatica. Stephen Curry missed the last 5 games before the break with a knee injury and participated in the scrimmage on Wednesday but will miss this game. Kristaps Porzingis (achilles participated in practice on Tuesday and scrimmage on Wednesday and is questionable for this game.
Key Matchups vs
Jaylen Brown vs Moses Moody
Moody is averaging 11.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. He is shooting 43.7% from the field and 40.1% from beyond the arc. In his last game against the Spurs he finished with 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists and 3 threes made. The Celtics need to especially defend him on the perimeter as he can burn them with threes.
vs
Neemias Queta vs Draymond Green
Green is averaging 8.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game while shooting 41.7% from the field and 32.7% from beyond the field. in his last game, against the Spurs, he finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists while shooting 42.9% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc. He is capable of having a big game but also capable of melting down and getting tossed.
Honorable MentionNicolas Vucevic vs Kristaps Porzingis
This is a matchup of the Celtics trade deadline acquisition vs the Warriors trade deadline acquisition. Porzingis is averaging 17.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 blocks in 16 games this season. He is shooting 46.2% from the field and 34.6% from beyond the arc. Vucevic is averaging 16.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 51 games this season. He is shooting 50.4% from the field and 37.8% from beyond the arc.
Keys to the Game Defense - Defense is always the key to winning. The Celtics are 5th in the league, averaging 117.5 points per game. They are 9th in the league with a defensive rating of 112.6. The Warriors are 8th in the league, with a defensive rating of 112.5. The Celtics are 2nd with an offensive rating of 120.2 while the Warriors are 15th and have an offensive rating of 114.3. The Celtics have played good defense in spurts recently and have slacked off on defense in spurts as well. They need to get back to playing lock down defense consistently. The Celtics need to especially defend the perimeter as the Warriors are 1st in the league making 16.3 threes per game. They are last with 43.4 points in the paint per game.
Rebound - Rebounding is always a key to winning as you need the ball to score and a good way to get it is to grab rebounds. It takes effort to grab rebounds and the Celtics must make an extra effort to crash the boards and beat the Warriors to rebounds. If they put out extra effort on the boards, that usually carries through to the rest of their game. More rebounds gives them extra possessions and limits the possessions for the Warriors. The Warriors are 24th with 42.5 rebounds per game while the Celtics are 8th with 45.4 rebounds per game.
Three Pointers - Both of these teams shoot a lot of 3 pointers. The Celtics are 2nd in the league, shooting 42.4 threes a game. The Warriors are 1st, shooting 45.1 threes a game. The Celtics shoot 36.3% from beyond the arc while the Warriors shoot 36.2% on threes. Recently the Celtics have struggled as a team shooting 3's. They have to get their focus back on track and hit their threes and if they still aren't falling, they need to get into the paint.
Be Aggressive - The Celtics need to be the more aggressive team from start to finish. They need to be aggressive in going to the hoop, in crashing the boards, in fighting for loose balls and in running the court. They also have to be more aggressive on defense. They have to be the team that wants it more. When the Celtics have lost this season, it's mostly been because they allowed their opponents to be more aggressive and to play harder than them. Effort and being more aggressive will likely be the difference in this game.
X-Factors On the Road and Rust- The Celtics are on the road and have traveled across the country through 3 time zones to get there. The Celtics need to shake off the distractions of travel, being away from home, and playing on the road in front of a hostile crowd, not to mention jet lag and getting used to a different time zone. They need to focus on playing the right way and not on the distractions of playing on the road. Both teams have been off for a week for the All Star break and the Celtics need to shake off the rust and get back to playing like a well oiled machine quicker than the Warriors.
Officiating - Officiating always has the potential to be a factor in every game. Every officiating team calls the game differently. Some call it tight and others let them play. Some favor the home team while some call it evenly. However the game is called, the Celtics must adjust to it and not allow the officiating to take away their focus on playing the game. Complaining about calls rarely changes anything other than to take away from their focus on playing the game and irritate the officials.
Topic: Celtics (35-19) at Warriiors (29-26) Game #55 2/19/26 (Read 580 times)