Last season's star-turn in the NBA Finals was a decade in the making for Payton Pritchard, who says a meeting with a six-time All-Star set him a path to NBA success and championship glory in Boston.

Here are five stats that defined the Celtics' 40-point victory over the Warriors on Monday. Read more on Boston.com.

Pritchard didn’t — or couldn’t. When the February trade deadline approached, Pritchard asked to be traded. The front office made calls to try to honor the request, team sources

Enter Gary Payton II, who received the ball from a driving Dennis Schröder and got all the way up, slamming down a thunderous dunk on OKC center Isaiah Hartenstein to extend the Warriors’ lead to nine points with just over a minute to play. The dunk got the entire Golden State bench on its feet, and sent the crowd into hysterics.

Get real-time NBA basketball coverage and scores as Boston Celtics takes on Golden State Warriors. We bring you the latest game previews, live stats, and recaps on CBSSports.com

The Celtics entered the game 8-8 in their last 16 games. But on the first of four stops out West, they led by 15 at the half and never looked back.

He is the focal point of a lot of scouting reports,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said of Herro. “So for us, it’s understanding that he’s got to play kind of like Steph. He might not get the ball, but

The latest update to the status of Warriors superstar Stephen Curry has led experts to update predictions and player stat projections for the Boston Celtics vs. Golden State Warriors game tonight.