 GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (11-3)
 at BOSTON CELTICS (12-2)
Tip-off: Thursday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: NA, Total: NA The upstart Celtics will get a serious test against the visiting Warriors on Thursday. There's no lens through which the Celtics' double-digit win streak at the beginning of this season isn't wildly impressive. After losing Gordon Hayward to a devastating injury and losing the first two games of the season, Boston seemingly decided to just stop losing, racking up wins in contests that included opponents like San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Toronto. It's a campaign that's been made even more impressive by the fact that Hayward isn't the only one who's been out; PG Kyrie Irving, PF Al Horford, PF Marcus Morris and SG Marcus Smart have all missed some games for various reasons. The one "asterisk" on the streak, if it could be called that, is that the Celtics haven't played very difficult competition. That certainly will change on Thursday night, when Boston hosts the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors for a nationally televised matchup. The Warriors are off to an 11-3 start, and it should tell you something about their talent that that record qualifies as something of a disappointment. The Warriors will have had two nights of rest after beating Orlando on Monday, a game in which PG Stephen Curry didn't play. As of Tuesday morning, he was listed as questionable for Thursday's game. Irving was questionable to play Tuesday night after suffering a facial injury last week. Obviously, if he plays against Brooklyn without any issues, he should be good to go against Golden State.A Sunday afternoon matchup against the Raptors marked Horford's return from two games out of the lineup while he was in concussion protocol, while it was Irving's first full game out with an injury (albeit effectively his second). Horford stepped up on offense in Kyrie's absence, scoring 21 points on deadly-efficient 8-of-9 shooting from the floor. Horford has been a beast this season, seemingly playing with a new-found aggression on offense. It's a shift that has largely been brought about by Irving's arrival in Boston, as the two shared an innate offensive chemistry the second they took the court together. Their pick and roll is already one of the most deadly in the NBA. It certainly didn't take Irving to look comfortable in green, as he's made all the same difficult shots he always has while seamlessly integrating into coach Brad Stevens' ball-motion offense. The third banana, depending on the game, has been second-year SG Jaylen Brown or rookie SF Jayson Tatum. Tatum would be the prospective Rookie of the Year if not for injury holdover Ben Simmons, thanks to his already polished offensive game and a defensive awareness that seems miles ahead of what he displayed at Duke next year. There's still plenty of polish to come for Brown, but he's well on his way to becoming an impact player. C Aron Baynes has stunningly looked like a one-man solution to the defensive rebounding issues that have plagued Boston for years. PGs Terry Rozier and Shane Larkin see more ballhandling duties if and when Irving sits, as does Smart. It's no secret that the Warriors are stacked, as a team would have to be to be overwhelming favorites even with Curry out of the lineup. Such was the case when the Dubs took down Orlando on Monday, 110-100, for their seventh straight victory. SF Kevin Durant picked up the slack with 21 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, while PF Draymond Green ascended from his usual offensive role to score 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Green also posted a game-high plus/minus of +25 in 32 minutes, nine points better than anyone else who played. Clearly, his essentialness to the team has not diminished over the years. It was a role reversal from earlier in the month for Steph and KD, as Curry put up a 22-point, eight-rebound, eight-assist statline against Minnesota when Durant sat out with a bruised thigh. It's a luxury for coach Steve Kerr to sit superstar players without truly interrupting his offense, and it's one he's not hesitant to take advantage of these days. Recently, on KD's YouTube channel (seriously), SG Klay Thompson referred to his jumpshot as "art." He's not wrong. Klay's averaging 20.6 PPG on the young season, which would be his lowest such number since 2013-14, but he's shooting the hell out of the ball: His 47.7 three-point percentage needs no contextualizing. He led the team in scoring with 28 points in the game that Durant missed against the Timberwolves. At only 5.1 PPG, SF Andre Iguodala can easily be overlooked, but his 25+ MPG off the bench make him one of the team's most integral contributors. Fellow bench-mobbers PF David West, SG Nick Young and PG Shaun Livingston give the Warriors a depth that is practically unfair, given their talent in the starting lineup.
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