Coming off Friday’s win over the reigning champion New York Knicks in their home opener, the Celtics have a chance to build some early-season momentum during a four-game homestand.
The Bulls and Nets, who won a combined 51 games last season, are in Boston for three games this week, with Chicago visiting Monday and Friday and Brooklyn in town Tuesday.
With 12 of their 16 games in November coming on the road, the Celtics have a chance to make the most of their time at home. They continued their strong start Monday night, blowing out the Bulls by 35 points in a wire-to-wire win in which they led by as many as 40.
Here are five takeaways as the Celtics improve to 2-1 on the season and win their first two games on their home court.
A Payton Pritchard heater put this one away quickly
After picking up his fourth foul of the game just 4:45 into the third quarter with the Celtics up by 10 points, Jayson Tatum headed to the bench.
The game could’ve changed with Tatum on the bench in foul trouble. However, Payton Pritchard had other ideas.
After Tatum sat, Pritchard exploded for 16 points, highlighted by three straight three-pointers on consecutive possessions.
With Tatum on the bench, the Celtics outscored the Bulls 31-11, with Pritchard single-handedly outscoring the Bulls in that span, 16-11.
Pritchard finished the quarter with 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting (87.5%) from the field and 5-of-5 from three-point range. He added two assists, scoring or assisting on nine of the Celtics’ 13 field goals in the quarter (69.2%). The Bulls, as a team, scored 21 points in the frame.
That 10-point lead ballooned to 30 behind Pritchard’s scoring outburst.
The Celtics were red-hot from three
The Celtics made 21 of their 47 three-point attempts (47.7%).
Nine different Celtics made at least one three, with five (Pritchard, Paul George, Sam Hauser, Jayson Tatum and Mike Conley) making multiple, and three (Pritchard, George and Hauser) making three or more.
When the Celtics make 20 or more threes, they are hard to beat. In the Joe Mazzulla era, the Celtics are now 76-6 when making 20+ threes, including playoffs. When they make 20+ threes and shoot over 45.0%, they’ve never lost (41-0).
Pritchard, Hauser, and George each making three is a continuation of what has been a red-hot start for the trio. Through three games, George is shooting 13-of-26 (50%), Pritchard is shooting 10-of-18 (55.6%), and Hauser is shooting 8-of-14 (57.1%).
An encouraging trend continues
The Celtics have been one of the worst teams in basketball in recent years when it comes to forcing turnovers. Dating back to Mazzulla’s first year, they have ranked 26th (12.7), 29th (12.0), 27th (12.8), and 29th (12.4) in opponent turnovers per game.
However, the early returns suggest this team could be different.
After Friday night’s win over the Knicks, Paul George declared the Celtics were a team that forces turnovers. So far, he appears to be right.
The Celtics forced 17 turnovers against the Pistons, 18 against the Knicks, and 25 against the Bulls. Their 60 forced turnovers are their most over any three-game span in the Joe Mazzulla era.
Those 25 Chicago turnovers led to 39 points for the Celtics.
It’s still early, but this trend started in the preseason and has carried over into the regular season, which is an encouraging sign.
An uncharacteristic night taking care of the basketball
As great as they were at forcing turnovers, the Celtics gave the ball away far too much themselves.
Boston turned the ball over 25 times, its most in a game since December 2021. Prior to Monday night, the Celtics had committed 25 or more turnovers in a game just 14 times since the turn of the century.
The Celtics aren’t a team that turns the ball over at a high rate. They have finished in the top 10 in turnover percentage in each of the last four years and ranked in the top two in fewest total turnovers in each of the last three seasons.
There is no need to worry about one anomaly, but 25 turnovers is a lot.
Jayson Tatum’s quietly impressive night
Jayson Tatum finished with 23 points, seven rebounds (team-high), six assists (team-high), and a steal in 27:41, and it almost feels ho-hum.
That’s a testament to Tatum.
This is the type of production the Celtics can expect from him this season. He looks poised for a monster year.
