The Celtics became the first team in the NBA to reach 50 wins this season with their 121-99 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.
This marks the seventh time in franchise history that the Celtics have reached 50 wins in their first 64 games. Four of those previous six teams have gone on to raise the Larry O’Brien trophy, with the last instance occurring in the 2007-08 season.
It also marked the third consecutive season the Celtics had reached 50 wins in a season, an accomplishment the team doesn’t take for granted.
“I’m going to keep saying it until I’m blue in the face, man. I’m grateful to be on a team that’s winning. To be on a team that’s playing the right way. That has another opportunity to do something special. That’s a blessing,” Jaylen Brown said postgame.
“It is important for us not to take these things for granted,” Jayson Tatum added. “We’re not perfect, but we strive towards that. At this point in the season, to have 50 wins, we’re doing something right. The scary part is we can get better.”
The Celtics finally caught a break following a grueling stretch of facing eight consecutive playoff or play-in contenders when they faced off against a Portland team that has only managed 18 wins thus far — a far cry from the Celtics’ impressive tally of 30 wins by double digits.
Monday night began a back-to-back series for the Celtics, with their next game in Utah against the 28-win Jazz. Despite the stark contrast in records, head coach Joe Mazzulla remained cautious. He’s well aware of the narratives that tend to surround the NBA and knows better than to underestimate any opponent.
“Expect them to be two very difficult games,” Mazzulla said pregame on the back-to-back set. “We’re going to have to continue the process that we have been throughout the year. Just find ways to win… The approach doesn’t change regardless of who we’re playing.”
Playing down to their competition was a common criticism of the Celtics a season ago, an area in which they have been much better this season. With their win on Monday night, Boston advanced to 23-1 against teams with a sub-.500 record. Comparatively, they were 24-10 a season ago.
Once again, the Celtics didn’t mess around. They came out, played their brand of basketball – dominating the margins and hanging their hat on the defensive end – executed at a high level, and took care of business.
Boston simply played the game the right way, earning high praise from Portland head coach Chauncey Billups.
“One thing I love about their team is they don’t get bored playing the right way. They just play the same way the whole time,” Billups said. “They’re the best team in the league for a reason.”
Led by Brown, who finished with a game-high 27 points, six Celtics finished in double-figures scoring as Boston cruised to a wire-to-wire victory, trailing for just 30 seconds.
“Top to bottom, guys were ready to play,” Mazzulla said postgame.
The Celtics have now won two straight games and are back to .500 on their five-game road trip.
Here are five takeaways from the win.
The bench is (still) enough
I don’t know what to tell you if you still doubt that this Celtics’ bench is deep enough for the playoffs.
After changing the game on Saturday night in Phoenix, Boston’s reserves picked up right where they left off, with another excellent performance on Monday night, reaffirming that they are a playoff-caliber rotation.
With Kristaps Porzingis sidelined due to right hamstring tightness and Jrue Holiday out with left knee tendinopathy, the Celtics needed their reserves to step up — and they did just that.
As is customary when a starter is unavailable, Al Horford seamlessly transitioned into the starting lineup and set the tone right from the start. In the opening frame, he buried three triples, grabbed two rebounds, dished out two assists, and blocked a shot.
Horford’s versatility and consistency this season have been remarkable. Adjusting to splitting time between coming off the bench and starting, especially for a 37-year-old who has spent his entire 16-year career as a starter, is no easy feat. Yet, despite his role, Horford has delivered consistently, and Monday night was no exception.
In a less common occurrence, Payton Pritchard made his first start of the season and 10th of his career. It was a special homecoming for the 26-year-old, who grew up just 11 miles from the Moda Center and was a four-year starter for the Oregon Ducks in college.
Pritchard’s improved playmaking was on full display as he flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 11 points, leading the team with eight rebounds, and sharing the top spot with eight assists.
“Payton is a really good player, but he’s not their starter,” Billups said postgame on Pritchard. “But he played like one today. We knew that Payton would be very aggressive at home, and he’s just a hooper anyway. He always plays well no matter if it’s against the Trail Blazers or anybody, he’s a hooper.”
There seems to be this misconception surrounding Pritchard that he’s not a good defender. Maybe it’s because he’s a 6-foot-1 guard, but the notion is inaccurate, and Mazzulla made that clear postgame.
“The best thing about Payton that people don’t appreciate is his defense and tenacity. We all know he can score and shoot, but his level of defensive intensity has been huge for us all year,” Mazzulla said postgame. He’s really developed a role in his defense and rebounding.”
The contributions didn’t stop there.
Sam Hauser, who has developed into a great three-and-D wing himself, chipped in a season-high 22 points on 8-of-12 (66.7%) shooting and finished a game-high +22.
Through four games on this road trip, the Celtics are a +36 with Hauser on the floor and a -11 when he is off. That 46-point swing is the most significant disparity on the team over that stretch.
Luke Kornet and Oshae Brissett also left their mark on the game.
Kornet was everywhere with six rebounds, five boards, two assists, and a block. He also contested eight shots and was excellent as a screener.
As for Brissett, he finished with seven rebounds (four offensive) in 19 rebounds, bringing the energy on the glass.
With the Celtics playing five games in the next eight days and the home stretch coming up, Boston’s reserves should see plenty of run, and more opportunity to instill trust in the fans. However, they should have already earned fans’ trust by now.
Playing with pace
The Celtics are at their best when they get out and run in transition, and on Monday night, they pushed the pace for the entire 48 minutes.
Boston finished with 23 fast break points, shooting 10-of14 (71.4%) on those opportunities.
The fast pace was also a driving factor behind Boston’s 34 assists, as they either scored on the break or got into their offensive sets early. Getting into the sets early led to cleaner execution, as the Celtics finished with just three turnovers, tied for their second-fewest this season.
Each starter finished with at least four assists, as the ball was moving freely all night long, leading to easy looks. The Celtics generated 60 points in the paints, including 42 in the restricted area.
With their 34 assists, the Celtics advanced 32-4 in the Mazzulla era when they record at least 30 assists. They are 10-0 when recording 34 or more.
The D-White block party
It’s much easier to play with pace when the defense is stringing together stops, and that’s exactly what the Celtics’ defense did on Monday night.
“I thought their physicality took us out of some stuff early in the game,” Billups said postgame on Boston’s defense.
Boston held Portland to just 99 points, marking the 12th time the Celtics held their opponent under 100 points this season. Additionally, they forced 11 turnovers, which resulted in 19 points, and recorded 10 blocks.
If ten blocks without your 7-foot-2 center in Porzingis, who sits in the top 12 of total blocks, seems a bit wild, that’s because most teams don’t have a 6-foot-4 guard in the top 15.
On Monday night, Derrick White moved into the top 15 in total blocks in the NBA with his three rejections. White has 10 (!) games this season with at least three blocks and is now up to 76 on the year, the most by a guard by a long shot.
White has more blocks than Jarrett Allen, Jonas Valanciunas, Jusuf Nurkic, and Giannis antetokounmpo. He has played the same or fewer amount of games as all of those players mentioned.
Is Jayson Tatum slumping?
When questioned about Tatum’s shooting difficulties after the game, Mazzulla glanced down at the box score spread out before him on the podium, seemingly unperturbed.
“He had 26 [points], eight [assists], and five [rebounds],” he remarked confidently, indicating that Tatum’s overall performance was more than satisfactory.
Tatum’s shooting splits have fallen short of his usual standards throughout this road trip. With his 9-of-23 (39.1%) night on Monday, Tatum is shooting 33-of-85 (38.8%) on the road trip. But that doesn’t mean his overall game is necessarily slipping.
“I think he’s playing really good basketball, it just looks different,” Mazzulla said postgame. “He’s being patient. He’s understanding where the game is coming from.”
“I think people are so used to seeing him dominate in a different way, but we have a different team this year with different expectations. The most valuable thing that a guy like him can do is do what the game needs and do what the team needs and then also have to be able to be yourself, which he’s done for us.”
There’s no doubt Tatum is going through a bit of a shooting slump. His 39.1% is well below his 47.3% season average. However, he is impacting the game in different ways, specifically his playmaking, which has been incredible over the last month or so.
This indicates further development in Tatum’s game. He’s proving he doesn’t have to be defined solely on scoring on a nightly basis.
The All-NBA wing is demonstrating his ability to make an impact in various facets of the game, both offensively and defensively, even when he may struggle to find his stroke.
Jaylen Brown is making a push for All-NBA
With his 27-point, five-assist, six-rebound, and zero-turnover effort on Monday night, Brown notched his seventh game with at least 25 points and no turnovers, tying Tyrese Maxey and Kawhi Leonard for the most such games in the NBA this season. Reggie Lewis was the only Celtic to have more in a season, with eight in 1992-93.
Gone are the days of left-hand jokes and concerns about his playmaking abilities. Brown has undoubtedly turned a corner this season, and the Celtics are better off because of it.
The 27-year-old continued his dominant post-All-Star break run on Monday night, adding to his All-NBA case.
It’s worth noting that the new CBA changed the qualifications for award voting, including MVP, All-NBA, All-Defensive, etc. Players now need to play at least 65 games to be eligible, and voting is now positionless, unlike the previous format of two guards, two forwards, and a center.
Here is a look at some of the players already or who are on the cusp of being ruled inelgible.
Brown’s surge during the season’s home stretch positions him well to earn his second consecutive All-NBA honor. With the growing list of ineligible players, he’s also primed for consideration in All-Defensive voting, an honor he has been pursuing all season long.
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