Prior to Wednesday night’s matchup with the Bucks, Joe Mazzulla was asked about his team’s “comfortable” lead atop the Eastern Conference.
“There is no such thing as comfortable in the NBA,” Mazzulla interrupted.
Mazzulla’s statement was proven to be accurate just a few hours later.
After building an 18-point lead entering the fourth quarter, which expanded to as many as 21, things got a little close for comfort. The Giannis Antetekounmpo-less Bucks stormed back, cutting the deficit to one possession twice in the final three minutes.
However, despite some anxiety looming throughout TD Garden, the Celtics got some big buckets down the stretch from their stars and strung together some stops, eking out a 122-119 victory. The win advanced Boston to 20-10 in clutch situations this season and clinched the Atlantic Division for the third consecutive season.
“We just kept making plays, and you just can’t expect a team like that to go away. You can, obviously, always pinpoint again those 5-10 possessions that we can execute, but I liked the poise,” Mazzulla said postgame. “I liked the intentionality that we tried to play with on both ends of the floor. It’s just a good opportunity for us to clean up our execution.”
Wednesday night’s game followed an eerily similar script to the last time these two teams met in Boston on Thanksgiving Eve. In that game, Boston also blew a 21-point lead, allowing Milwaukee to make a late push, cutting the lead to one possession, but Boston still managed to come out on top.
Jayson Tatum finished with 31 points, leading a balanced Celtics scoring effort, who were without Jrue Holiday (shoulder) and Sam Hauser (ankle). Five Celtics scored at least 15 points (Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis, and Payton Pritchard), with three surpassing the 20-point mark (Tatum, Brown, White).
It marked the fifth time this season that the Celtics had five or more players score at least 17 points. Unsurprisingly, all five of those games have been wins.
Damian Lillard scored a game-high 32 points for Milwaukee in the loss, with Bobby Portis and Khris Middleton contributing 24 and 22 points, respectively.
Here are four takeaways as the Celtics extend their win streak to seven games and advance to 32-3 at TD Garden this season.
A nice test
The Celtics have been dominating their opponents for nearly three months now, with an average margin of victory of 17.1 points per game since February 1. Dating back to January 1, that figure was still an impressive 12.7 points per game.
While no team ever necessarily wants to squander a 21-point lead, it provided the Celtics a relatively rare opportunity to sharpen their late-game execution, an aspect of the game that cannot be replicated in practice.
“It was good to be in one of those games,” Mazzulla said after the game. “We haven’t been in one in a little while. It’s just a good learning experience.”
A 22-6 fourth-quarter run cut the Boston lead to three with 2:56 remaining before Boston’s stars slammed the door.
Tatum, who had yet to score in the second half, extended Boston’s lead to five points by driving past Malik Beasley, drawing a foul from Pat Connaughton, who came over to help, and calmly sinking both free throws.
On the ensuing possession, Tatum again blew by Beasley for an easy layup.
“That was big time,” Mazzulla said on Tatum getting downhill postgame.
Boston’s process deserves credit for facilitating Tatum’s buckets, as their spacing allowed him to penetrate easily.
After Milwaukee cut Boston’s lead to three points again with 32.1 seconds left, it was Brown who stepped up. The All-NBA wing confidently knocked down a pair of free throws and made a crucial defensive stop on a Lillard layup attempt to seal the deal for the Celtics.
With only 13 games remaining on the schedule and rest already becoming a factor, the Celtics may not have many more opportunities to be tested in the way they were on Wednesday night, especially in clutch situations, which remains a concern for Celtics fans.
“Absolutely. There are going to be games like that,” Brown said when asked if it’s important to have games like Wednesday night before the playoffs. “I thought we handled it well.”
Indeed, they did, giving them plenty to learn from.
Payton Pritchard changes the game
Early in the second quarter, notorious instigator Patrick Beverley hit a fade-away over 7-foot-2 Luke Kornet. As Beverley backpedaled on defense, he fixed his gaze on Kornet and delivered the unmistakable “too small” gesture — a gesture Pritchard took personally.
“It kinda lit a little fire in me,” Pritchard admitted after the game. “He was trying to clown one of our teammates, so I definitely took it a little personal.”
Insert the Michael Jordan “And I Took That Personally” meme here … because Pritchard certainly did.
On the first Boston possession following Beverley’s mocking of Kornet, Pritchard drilled a 25-foot three-pointer over Beverley.
That was just the beginning of Pritchard’s second-quarter takeover. He went on to score on five of Boston’s next six makes, pushing what was a five-point lead to 18. Pritchard finished the frame with 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Until midway through the quarter, Pritchard had more points and assists than Milwaukee’s team.
“Just finding ways to impact the game,” Mazzulla said on Pritchard postgame.
“Everybody always talked about his shooting, but I think this year in particular, he’s been impacting by his rebounding. He’s been impacting by his defense. His pace, getting down the floor and getting us into our actions quick in the shot clock. Getting into the paint and finding guys, he’s just becoming a really well-rounded player who knows he can have a positive impact on the game in many different ways, and it’s a huge asset for us.”
To Mazzulla’s point, one of the defining moments of Pritchard’s monster second quarter came when the 6-foot-1 guard flew in for an offensive rebound over 7-foot-1 Brook Lopez, drawing a foul and a standing ovation from the TD Garden crowd.
“Payton has been great. And I’m not surprised, to be honest,” Brown said postgame on Pritchard. “There are just some guys that got a certain mentality they carry, and Payton is somebody that you don’t worry about. Even in the lowest of times he’s a hard worker. His mindset is phenomenal in terms of like, relentless, like, never-give-up, warrior-type mentality. I’m not surprised at anything that we’re seeing now. It’s just now the work is coming to fruition.”
Pritchard has been fantastic in his increased role this season, but he’s taken things to another level over the past few weeks. The 26-year-old finished the night with 19 points on 7-of-11 (63.6%) shooting, six rebounds, and three assists. Five of his seven makes came from beyond the arc, making him just the third Celtic to hit at least five three-pointers in consecutive games this season, joining Jayson Tatum and Derrick White.
“He’s a pretty complete player from the standpoint of, like, I trust his defense. He can defend at a high level,” Mazzulla said on Pritchard. “He can rebound defensively and offensively. He can push the pace. He can shoot. He’s just continuing to get better and better all the time. And that’s just the player that he is.”
It’s remarkable the difference a year makes. Last season, Pritchard was out of the rotation; now, he is one of the most impactful reserves in the league. His plus-minus of +298 is the top mark among reserves. Additionally, his net rating of 12.9 is third-best in the league.
Pritchard’s resurgence off the bench has been key to the Celtics’ success and is going to play a pivotal role if the Celtics are going to raise Banner 18. It’s rewarding to witness his hard work paying off.
Given his production, that four-year $30 million extension signed this offseason looks like a bargain for the Celtics.
Jaylen Brown’s defense on Damian Lillard
At the beginning of the season, Brown made a goal for himself: to make an All-Defensive team.
The 27-year-old has undoubtedly put his money where his mouth is and, in this author’s opinion, played his way into the All-Defensive discussion. Wednesday night was another example of why.
With Holiday out, there was no question who was going to draw the Lillard assignment: Jaylen Brown.
Mere box score metrics don’t tell the story. Although Lillard finished with 32 points on 11-of-21 shooting, Brown made it difficult for Lillard all night, as he has done to opponent’s top scorers all season.
“It’s fun. It’s like a game of chess,” Brown said on defending Lillard. “Credit to Dame. He still came out and had a good showing.”
“I’ve been doing that all year. Just taking whoever the best guy is on whatever team, just – that matchup is mine. I want to be able to not just take on those matchups, but take them on with strategy. With intelligence. It’s going to help our team win.”
Brown made Lillard uncomfortable. He didn’t shy away from physicality, forcing Lillard to hunt switches away from Brown in the second half.
“Jaylen’s mindset and intensity to start the game was kind of what kept us connected throughout the game,” Mazzulla said postgame. “He set the tone as far as our defensive intensity for the game and then the rest of the guys picked up on that.”
Brown made Lillard work all night, inspiring his teammates along the way.
“It’s, like, powerful what that does for our team. How much better it makes us,” Tatum said on Brown’s defense after the game.
“Seeing him take the challenge of guarding the best guard on the other team, picking him up full court, chasing him around all night. It has an impact on the rest of the on the rest of the team and really gives everybody else no excuses. If he can do that all night while still trying to be effective on the offensive end, it’s nothing short of special.”
All season long, Brown has been playing the best basketball of his career on both ends of the floor. Earlier in his career, he was often defined simply as a scorer. Now, his game expands well beyond that, a testament to his ongoing growth and development.
“He’s done a great job living in that space of, ‘I’m not just going to be defined by one thing.’ I’m just going to impact the game,” Mazzulla said postgame. “He’s taking full ownership of it. That’s been a great form of leadership for us.”
At 27 years old, Brown is just entering his prime, and his continuous improvement bodes well for the Celtics’ future.
Locking up the top-seed
While Mazzulla remains cautious about getting comfortable despite the Celtics’ double-digit lead in the Eastern Conference, Doc Rivers sees the situation differently.
“The only thing that I know is we’re not going to catch them in the standings. I’m pretty sure of that,” Doc Rivers remarked when asked about the Celtics’ lead in the Eastern Conference pregame.
Wednesday night’s win pushed the Celtics’ lead over the Bucks in the Eastern Conference standings to 11 games, with just 13 games remaining.
Barring a historical collapse, the Celtics will likely have clinched the Eastern Conference by the time they return to TD Garden after a season-long six-game road trip. They need only three wins to make it official.
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