Jayson Tatum would have surely enjoyed his team beating Steve Kerr’s Golden State Warriors a little more if he were playing on Thursday. Coming off of winning a championship, Tatum was on the cover of NBA 2K and had signed the largest contract in NBA history. However, his thick resume remained on Steve Kerr’s blind side during the Olympics. Tatum barely played in Team USA’s gold medal quest, which still gets him frustrated.

On Thursday, Boston played as if it were avenging Kerr for his decision in Paris. Without Tatum, the Celtics trounced the Warriors 121-110, and led by as much as 34 points at one point in the game. Joe Mazzulla’s team played with ruthless execution against a team without Stephen Curry. In the post-game presser, Kerr gave an honest evaluation of the Celtics without Tatum.

“I thought Boston was incredible. They’re having an amazing season, and they’re a machine right now,” he said about the Celtics’ game execution. “They’ve done such a good job. Their staff has done a hell of a job with Joe, and the group, they’ve got the continuity, but given the departures and the injuries, it’s remarkable what they’ve done, and they just put on a clinic those first three quarters.”

Kerr also gave props to his team for showing fight despite playing without a certified scorer. After trailing by 29 points by the end of the third quarter, the Warriors outscored the hosts by 37-19 in the fourth quarter.

“We were slow to get moving. I never liked the first game out of the break. It never feels great to have all that time off. So I felt like we were kind of slow to get moving. It was good to see the fight and the rhythm we found late to at least make it respectable and find some momentum and rhythm for the next game, which is important.”

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However, as much as Kerr would rely on his team gaining momentum, without Stephen Curry, the rest of the season doesn’t look good for them.

Warriors face a grim reality after Stephen Curry’s latest injury update

The Warriors were hopeful that Curry would finally return to the lineup after the All-Star break. However, as the Warriors’ superstar started his drill, he was still feeling pain in his knee. Despite a clean MRI, the team ruled out Curry for the next 10 days, which means he will miss the next four games, excluding the Celtics game.

The Warriors don’t have much left in the season if Curry stays out for long. For Kerr, he is now relying on Kristaps Porzingis to guide the team in Curry’s absence.

“It’s rather critical,” Kerr said. “Obviously, we know the drill. We have to have Steph if we expect to do anything. So it’s one of the reasons we held him out tonight. We’ve got to be certain, he’s got to be certain. But we really feel strongly that Kristaps can help us, and we can hold down the fort while we’re waiting on Steph.”

However, upon closer look, the picture is concerning for the Dubs. Porzingis is on a minute restriction and played only 17 minutes against Boston. He is yet to get in game shape, which means he will be under a minute restriction for the next few games. It will leave the Warriors without Curry and heavily cut minutes from Porzingis. Even when Curry returns, he will be under a minute restriction, which adds another week to the Warriors’ agony.

So here is the realistic picture. In the next two weeks, the Warriors face the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers, the Thunder, the Houston Rockets, and the LA Clippers. They have almost no chance without a fully healthy Curry, unless the basketball gods make a few changes. In two winnable games against the New Orleans Pelicans and the Memphis Grizzlies, they will be without Curry and Porzingis on a minute restriction.