When Payton Pritchard said the Celtics weren’t motivated by the chance to potentially tie the 2015-16 Warriors’ record for road wins in a single season (34), he wasn’t lying.
“We haven’t talked about it at all,” Pritchard said on Tuesday. “We’re not motivated by it at all because, at the end of the day, you could have that and not win the championship, and nobody would even remember. So for us, it’s just playing the right way and trying to get a W.”
Wednesday night in Orlando was the Celtics’ final road game of the season, and with a win, they would have tied that Golden State Warriors record. But on the second night of a back-to-back in the final week of the regular season, the Celtics rested all of their top six—Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis, and Al Horford—leaving the Stay-Ready Group to chase history. That task came against a Magic team that needed a win to clinch the No. 7 seed in the East and homecourt in the play-in tournament.
Despite holding their own early and making a run at the end of the first half, the undermanned Celtics—who got to their hotel around 4 AM—just didn’t have enough. The result was about what you’d expect: a 96-76 loss that certainly wasn’t winning any beauty contests.
There wasn’t much more to it—and definitely not much to talk about.
“I appreciate everyone’s creativity and the type of questions that they’re asking, but we got to the hotel at 4:30 in the morning,” Joe Mazzulla said postgame. “That was really fun what you guys did there. But what are we doing?”
It was a no-brainer to rest the starters. Tatum had just played the entire second half and overtime in New York the night before, logging a season-high 48 minutes—his most since March 2023. Porzingis also saw a season-high 38, while White and Holiday each played over 37.
Jaylen Brown is still managing a knee issue and didn’t look like himself Tuesday, so sitting out was probably for the best. Meanwhile, Al Horford—fresh off celebrating his Florida Gators’ Final Four run—has now sat out back-to-back games and will likely appear in just two in the two weeks leading up to the playoffs.
To take it a step further, Orlando clinched the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament with the win. They’ll host either the Hawks, Bulls, or Heat on Tuesday, with the winner earning a first-round date with Boston. The Celtics had no interest in showing Orlando even a glimpse of their game plan.
And, to Pritchard’s point, does anyone remember that 2015-16 Warriors team for having the most road victories in NBA history? No. They are remembered for blowing a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.
There’s only one goal that matters to the Celtics—and to get there, they need to be healthy come June.
That said, success in the playoffs requires being a strong road team, and this Celtics team has proven just that, cementing their place as one of the most dominant road teams in NBA history.
Here’s a look at the numbers that highlight the 2024-25 Celtics’ dominance on the road, including new franchise records for wins, winning percentage, and point differential.
Final record: 33-8 (.805) – tied for second most road wins in NBA history and the third-best winning percentage
Boston’s 33 road wins tied the 1995-96 Bulls for the second-most in NBA history. For some perspective, that Bulls team was led by future Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Toni Kukoc. Their head coach, Phil Jackson, was also a Hall of Famer.
Those Bulls won 72 regular-season games. It was the first year of a three-peat for the Bulls. Jordan was named MVP, Jackson was Coach of the Year, Kukoc was Sixth Man of the Year, and Jerry Krause was Executive of the Year. Pippen finished fifth in MVP voting and second in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
As for Boston’s .805 road winning percentage—which they share with that same Bulls team—it ranks third in league history. Only the 2015-16 Warriors (.829) and 1971-72 Lakers (.816) were better.
That Warriors team went 73-9 and featured three All-NBA players: Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson. Curry won MVP, averaging 30.1 points, and Andre Iguodala finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting. But they fell short in the Finals.
The 1971-72 Lakers (who played three neutral-site games that season) finished 69-13 and went on to win the title. They were led by four Hall of Famers—Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Gail Goodrich, and Jerry West. Their head coach, Bill Sharman, spent 10 years in Boston as a player and is also in the Hall of Fame. That team still holds the longest winning streak in NBA history at 33 games.
Outscored opponents by +386 points on the road – the second-largest disparity in NBA history (for now)
Twenty-three of the Celtics’ 33 road wins (69.6%) came by double digits, the second-most in NBA history, trailing only the 1971-72 Lakers, who had 24. The Celtics joined the Lakers and the 2015-16 San Antonio Spurs (20) as the only teams to reach 20+ double-digit road victories. Oklahoma City also joined this exclusive club with their 20th such win of the season, a 13-point victory over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.
Had the Celtics not suffered a 20-point loss to Orlando on Wednesday (where they needed to win by 4+ points), they would have become just the second team in NBA history to post a double-digit road scoring differential, joining the 1971-72 Lakers (11.3). Instead, they dropped to 9.4, moving them below the 2024-25 Thunder (+9.6) into third place all-time.
The 20-point loss also kept the Celtics from joining the 1971-72 Lakers (+430) as the only teams to outscore opponents by 400+ points on the road in the history of the NBA. They entered the night with a +406 differential but fell to +386 after the loss.
Their +386 point differential is the second-largest in NBA history, though the Thunder (+368) are just 18 points behind with two road games remaining against tanking teams in Utah and New Orleans.
716 Made Three-Pointers on the Road – Most in NBA History
It’s no surprise that the Celtics, who set the overall record for most threes in a season (1,420 and counting), also set a new benchmark for the most three-pointers made on the road in a single season, with 716. That eclipses the previous record of 663, held by the 2022-23 Golden State Warriors.
In addition to their shooting prowess, Boston limited opponents to just 538 made threes on their home floors—a +178 advantage in three-point shooting—outscoring teams by a total of +534 points from beyond the arc on the road.
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