The end of Monday's game in Oklahoma City wasn't exactly pretty, but the Celtics still won by a comfortable margin. That's all they needed to do to end their four-game trip out West anyway, especially with Monday's game coming on the second leg of a back-to-back.
"It's not always going to be the prettiest game," Ime Udoka said. "Did well enough to maintain what we had, but we have to be more specific on guys, attention to detail — as far as who their scorers are and who to help off of. Could've been much better as far as that."
Of course, this West Coast trip wasn't exactly a gauntlet of top-tier opponents. Steph Curry missing nearly all of Golden State's meeting against Boston robbed the Celtics of an opportunity to challenge themselves, and neither the Kings nor Thunder have star-studded rosters. But, long trips like this out West are always tough.
In fact, the other time the Celtics went out West for a deal of time this season, they only went 1-4, losing to the lowly Lakers and Clippers in the process. The results from this visit couldn't have been more different. Even with Sacramento and OKC being part of this recent four-game stretch, it says something about where the Celtics stand.
Jayson Tatum shot 58.8% from the floor throughout the trip and averaged 31 points per game in the process. If he's shooting like that on the road night-to-night, there's not much opposing teams can do — and they're trying different ways to stop him. While he did that, Jaylen Brown shot 54.5% from the floor, scoring 27.8 points per game in the process. Not to mention, Payton Prichard was on cruise control, shooting 61.5% from 3-point range and averaging 14.8 points per game throughout Boston's West Coast trip. Marcus Smart, Robert Williams and Grant Williams all had an impact on the offensive end, too, but they each had a bigger impact on the defensive end.
It may seem like the Celtics are getting hot at the wrong time, but that's not the case. This team has been playing quality basketball since the calendar flipped over to 2022. The Celtics seem like they're peaking right now because they've managed to take major strides since January. There's still room to grow, but they're rounding into form.
"We've shown our defensive grit and established our identity throughout these last couple months, month and a half," Grant Williams said. "Just a matter of maintaining that and keeping that going, keep being who we are and playing the way we are."
"We've kind of proven ourselves right in terms of having confidence, in terms of being there for one another. I feel like this team has grown closer and closer every single day. Just proving to ourselves that we can compete with the best teams, worst teams — anyone in the league. Just a matter of maintaining that consistency, not riding the highs or lows, just staying even keel."
