For the first 12 minutes on Monday night, it seemed like the Celtics were on track for another letdown against a depleted opponent.
Facing a new-look Miami Heat without All-Star guard Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (notably, the Celtics were missing Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday), Boston fell behind by as much as 11 points in the opening quarter, marking their worst start in nearly two years.
Struggling to find their rhythm, the Celtics managed just 18 points on 6-of-25 (24.0%) shooting overall, including a dismal 2-of-18 (11.1%) from beyond the arc. It was the first time since February 27, 2023, that Boston failed to reach 20 points in the first quarter. Their 16 missed three-point attempts matched a franchise record for the most in an opening quarter and were just shy of tying the team’s overall record for misses in any quarter.
However, a 5-0 run to end the first quarter sparked a massive 37-12 surge, giving Boston a 16-point lead in the second quarter that never shrank below two possessions. From there, the Celtics cruised to a 103-85 victory.
Jayson Tatum led the charge with 33 points — his 21st 30-point game of the season, tying him for third-most in the league. All five Celtics starters (Derrick White, Sam Hauser, Tatum, Al Horford, and Kristaps Porzingis) finished in double figures.
Bam Adebayo led the way with 22 points and 12 rebounds for a Miami team that doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.
Here are six takeaways from the win, as the Celtics improved to an NBA-best 22-6 on the road, extending their road winning streak to six games.
Sam Hauser remained hot
With the Celtics struggling to get anything going offensively, it was Hauser who gave them the boost they needed to go on their big run in the second quarter.
The sharpshooter, who made his eighth start of the season, scored a team-high 12 of Boston’s 34 second quarter points. All four of his makes came from downtown, where he shot 4-of-6 (66.7%), knocking down more threes in the frame than Miami did as a team (3).
“Sam was key for us in the first half,” Al Horford said.
Hauser finished the first half with 15 points — his most in any half this season — sinking five of his eight (62.5%) three-point attempts, matching Miami’s team total. The Celtics improved to 15-2 this season when Hauser hits at least three threes and a perfect 9-0 when he makes four or more. His five threes tied his season-high for a game.
The 27-year-old has battled a nagging back injury, an adductor strain, and, most recently, a hip issue, all of which have disrupted his rhythm. However, over his last 10 games, he's made 28-of-50 shots (56.0%) and shot 42.6% in both December and January.
“I feel like I’ve been playing well for the last couple of weeks,” Hauser said. “I feel pretty good.”
His shooting percentage has steadily climbed as his shots have started to fall. After Tuesday night’s performance, Hauser is now shooting 41.8% from beyond the arc this season. Notably, he’s never shot below 40% from three in college, the G-League, or the pros.
“It’s just ebbs and flows of the season,” Hauser said after getting his percentage back above 40%. “You are not going to be able to shoot 40% each month, each week, each day. So it’s just sticking to the process and not necessarily the results of everything. Seeing if you are taking good shots, taking the right shots.”
Payton Pritchard also played a key role in the second quarter run
A key factor in Boston’s second-quarter surge was the pace they played at, which was sparked by Payton Pritchard.
With Jaylen Brown sidelined and Jayson Tatum spending much of the quarter on the bench, Pritchard took charge of the Celtics’ offense, pushing the tempo and keeping the pressure on Miami.
“I thought Payton came in and just changed the game for us. His pace, how he was playing. He was finding people, and that’s kind of contagious,” said Horford. “Once he started doing that, I think it got all of us going, and we were able to do a good job executing on offense and get good shots. I think that was the key. Payton’s pace is what got us going.”
Pritchard played the entire second quarter, and although he’s known for his scoring, he attempted just one shot. Instead, he recorded six of Boston’s nine assists—double Miami’s total—and grabbed five rebounds.
He finished the night with five points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists. Remarkably, it was the second time this season that the 6-foot-1 guard led the team in rebounds.
“I thought he picked up the ball pressure and the deflections, and he spearheaded that unit of just kind of being a little more active. And I think he kind of got us on that run,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “When you ask him about Payton, he’s been doing that all year. What did he have, 25 against New York? He can do it with scoring, but he could also do it doing other stuff, and he only gets nine shots tonight, 1-for-8, but he has 10 rebounds. He can impact the game in so many different ways. He’s special.”
Usually, with Pritchard, the conversation surrounds his scoring. That’s what he does best. However, he is a complete player and continues to make strides in his game. The scoring aspect is obvious—he leads all reserves in points and threes this season. But games like Monday night are a healthy reminder that he is a well-rounded player.
Jayson Tatum took over in the third quarter
The first-half box score painted the picture: Jayson Tatum was not himself for the first 24 minutes.
The six-time All-Star posted just nine points on 3-of-10 shooting (1-of-6 from three), along with one rebound and zero assists. He was a team-worst -7 in the first half, which was evident on the court.
“I just didn’t have much of an imprint on the game as I normally do in the first half, so it was just kinda time for me to wake up in the second half.”
And wake up, he did.
Tatum erupted for 20 points in the third quarter, scoring all of them in the final 8:04. He single-handedly outscored Miami 20-16, turning a 10-point lead into a 23-point blowout.
He punished switches and mismatches throughout the quarter, hitting eight of his 11 attempts (72.7%), including 3-of-5 (60%) from three. He had more made field goals in the frame than Miami did as a team (7).
“He’s a special player. Big-time players make big-time plays, and he made a lot of them tonight,” said Hauser. “When he’s playing like that, and I’ve said this before, he makes everything easier for everybody else. Sometimes, you’ve just gotta give him the ball and get the hell out of the way, and he’ll make something happen. He’s special, and he makes our team go.”
Twenty-four of Tatum’s 33 points came in the second half, one point shy of matching the total of Miami’s entire starting five combined.
“It’s a luxury we have. For him to be consistent. We’re asking a lot out of him – to initiate the offense, score, pass the ball, defensively, he has to defend. There is a lot that goes into it, and he just embraces that. Those are the kind of things that he’s able to do.”
Over his last two games, Tatum has totaled 77 points on 26-of-42 (50%) shooting from the field and 11-of-26 (42.3%) from three, along with 15 rebounds and six assists. He’s made it abundantly clear that when he wants to take over a game, he can.
“He’s playing really well. He’s in a groove. He’s creating for himself, creating for others – but to me, it’s when he’s locked in defensively,” Mazzulla said. “He’s doing the right thing on both ends of the floor, especially defensively.”
“He’s not just being defined by scoring. He’s defending at a high level, which is really important for us. He has to rebound, he has to play defense for us to be great, and he’s doing that. When he’s playing connected basketball on the offensive end, he’s not forcing it; he’s fighting for the right shot, disrupting – his potential assists are up, and he’s just making plays. We just need him to continue to play on both ends of the floor.”
Al Horford provided a big lift
After a bit of an up-and-down stretch, Al Horford is starting to find his rhythm. On Monday night, he recorded his second double-double in the last four games, with Monday being his highest-scoring double-double of the season with 16 points.
Horford hit some timely shots, especially from beyond the arc, where he shot 4-of-8 (50%), his most three-pointers since Christmas. It was his second double-digit scoring night of the month through just five games, matching his total from 11 games last month.
For the Celtics to reach their ultimate goal, they need Horford, particularly in the playoffs. Over the last few games, the 38-year-old has shown promising signs of returning form.
The defense was strong again
One of Joe Mazzulla’s key benchmarks is holding opponents to 25 points or less in a quarter. The Celtics checked that box in all four quarters on Monday night, holding Miami to 24, 19, 22, and 20.
The result? The Heat finished with just 85 points, tying their second-lowest total of the season. Their 33.7% field goal percentage set a new season-worst. Their 24.4% three-point percentage was their third-worst.
In two games against Boston this season, Miami hasn’t cracked 90 points, posting just 89 and 85. Over those two games, they’re shooting a combined 62-of-176 (34.6%) from the field and 19-of-80 (23.8%) from three. Including last year’s playoffs, the Celtics have held the Heat under 90 points in five consecutive games—a ridiculous feat in today’s NBA.
This effort followed Boston’s defensive clinic on Saturday, holding the Knicks’ second-ranked offense to just 104 points on 42.2% shooting. The Celtics have now kept opponents under 30 points for nine straight quarters and under 25 in six of those.
Happy Derrick White Day
Monday marked three years since Brad Stevens sent Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, a first-round pick, and a 2028 first-round pick swap to the San Antonio Spurs for Derrick White.
The rest is history.
No player in the NBA has more wins (212) — regular season and postseason — since then.
White also boasts a +1687 plus-minus since coming to Boston, the third-best in the league over that stretch, trailing only Jayson Tatum (+2098) and Nikola Jokic (+2018).
“Derrick is just a tremendous player. He does everything really well. He doesn’t really have a weakness. He’s a very good person – a fun person to be around,” said Pritchard. “As far as the locker room goes, he helps that aspect. You can plug him in anywhere. He can play with anybody. He was a very great pick-up. Obviously, Brad did a great job with that trade because it helped us tremendously.”
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