Warriors vs. Celtics 2017 live stream: Time, TV channel, and how to watch online

The Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors both have gotten off to fast starts this season. Boston, led by guard Kyrie Irving, is on a 13-game winning streak — and the Warriors have won seven in a row. Now, the Celtics will host the Golden State Warriors Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. on TNT (livestream).

Irving is back in the fold after missing a game due to a facial fracture suffered Nov. 10 against the Hornets. The 25-year-old point guard returned to Boston’s starting lineup Tuesday and helped the Celtics knock off the Brooklyn Nets.

Boston (13-2) has to defend Golden State’s three-point shots to win this game. So far this season, the Warriors have connected on a league-high 41.2 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc. Golden State is more than capable of going on a offensive barrage — especially when Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant get into a shooting rhythm.

The Warriors (11-3) have averaged 121 points per game over a seven-game stretch. But Boston has been playing a physical brand of defense this season — only allowing an average of 94.5 points in its first 15 games. This is the first of two matchups between both teams this season.

The Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics face each other Thursday night, and it will be a rare occurrence. The Warriors have played 322 games since the start of the 2014-15 season (counting playoffs), and all but six of them have come against teams with a worse record. Six out of 322!

Thursday will be the seventh. The 13-2 Celtics will put their 13-game winning streak on the line against the 11-3 Warriors.

Here are all the games that the Warriors have played in the past four seasons against teams with a better record than them.

In last night’s 110-100 victory over the Orlando Magic, the third quarter was once again the deciding frame. The Magic’s Aaron Gordon was the most recent victim who was left without answers “They’re a really good third-quarter team. We were down a little bit and there was a lack of energy on my part. It’s unacceptable.”

Lack of energy or not, after seven straight wins, it’s getting harder and harder to identify the Golden State Warriors standout star on any given night. The Warriors, once again, are blistering the landscape of the NBA and doing it with an egalitarian ethos that is as inspiring to fans as it is demoralizing to opponents.

Since dropping their first two games of the season and losing prized free agent Gordon Hayward to injury, the Celtics have won 12 [now 13] straight games. It’s an improbable turn of events for a team that was expected to sink into the muck of mediocrity that is the East, but there are several indications that there’s something deeper happening here.

The Boston Celtics have now won 12 straight games [now 13], edging the good Toronto Raptors on Sunday after DeMar DeRozan missed a pair of go-ahead attempts. This win came without Kyrie Irving, making it all the more impressive.

Six of Boston’s 12 wins have come against teams currently in the playoff picture, and a couple of more against teams expected to make the playoffs are on the list. There have been 16 winning streaks at least this long in the past five years — just about three per season.

There isn’t a bad team with a winning streak like this, though last season’s Miami Heat won 13 straight and still missed the playoffs. The 2013 New York Knicks won 13 straight and flamed out in the second round of the playoffs. It happens that a less-than-great team has a great winning streak.

The Kyrie Irving-led Celtics are dominating the competition in the Eastern Conference, but the Warriors will overwhelm Boston in this game.