Scalabrine: If Klay Thompson Not 100 Percent, Celtics Will Beat Warriors
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Warriors bring their 23-0 record to Boston Friday night, but some think the Celtics will be the team to end Golden State's perfect start to the season.
That includes former Celtic Brian Scalabrine, who joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich on Friday morning to break down the game. The Warriors bring the NBA's best offense to town, averaging 115.8 points per game, but will face off against a Celtics team that ranks fourth in defensive efficiency.
While Steph Curry is playing out of his mind, averaging 32.2 points per game, the Warriors may be without guard Klay Thompson who is nursing a sprained ankle. He is coming off a season-high 39-point showing on Tuesday night against the Indiana Pacers, and knocking down 44 percent of his shots from downtown.
But Scal said if Thompson is not 100 percent on Friday night, the Celtics will win.
"That's the big one. You have to completely face-guard Klay Thompson. You have to take a defender out of the play, and that opens the floor for [Draymond] Green, [Andrew] Bogut and [Andre] Iguodala," explained Scal. "It's the shooting overall, and especially the shooting off of transition. That is the biggest thing. If you can eliminate the transition buckets, you have a chance can beat these guys. I'm not just trying to gas the Celtics, but if Klay Thompson isn't 100 percent I think the Celtics will win this game."
Scal worked on the Warriors' coaching staff under Mark Jackson in 2013, but things did not end well. A disagreement with Jackson led to him being demoted to Golden State's development league team, and he ended up coming back to Boston to join CSNNE's broadcast team in 2014.
But Scal held no ill will towards the Warriors or their success as they went on to win a title under Steve Kerr last season.
"Really last year, when they won and I made the decision not to coach, there are a lot of rumors out here. I did have an opportunity to coach under Steve Kerr. Last year when they were making their run, typically you would be upset," he said. "I was really happy for them. Yesterday I talked to general manager [Bob Myers], just talking about some for the players, their development. I'm 100 percent happy for these guys.
"Those guys are great and I really enjoyed my time as a coach. After them winning a championship and me not wishing I was there, I knew I made the right decision," said Scal.
He said he never had problems with any of the players. It was just a disagreement he had with then-head coach Mark Jackson.
"I kind of, as the season went along, I went a bit against the grain. Usually you're supposed to completely support your head coach whatever he says, whether he is crazy or otherwise. And I just couldn't do it," he said. "I thought it was a championship-caliber team and I got ostracized for feeling that way. It wasn't just one thing, just a bunch of different things I don't want to get into. I really believe in this roster, and really it was just a disagreement between me and Mark."
Jackson was fired by Golden State in May 2014 after losing to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs.