The Celtics’ team-first ethos helped carry them to an NBA championship last season and appears to have them well-positioned to win another. Before facing Boston on Thursday night, Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said the Celtics simply seem to care about winning more than anything, and that the team’s stars are unafraid to make the simple but proper play time and again.
This is what Joe Mazzulla has been seeking and preaching since taking over as coach in 2022, and the players have embraced this connected approach. But Mazzulla said it should not be confused with a lack of individual swagger.
“I think it’s important to know that we do have egos,” he said. “We just put them in the right place. It’s not that we shouldn’t have them. We should have them, as long as they’re put in the right place. So I think it’s with the character of guys, and I think they have a trust and an understanding of what can lead to long-term success.”
Celtics basketball 🫡 pic.twitter.com/1YOIRXoYUM
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 13, 2024
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Mazzulla was making this point after another undermanned and unselfish performance that led to another lopsided win, 123-99 over the Pistons.
Playing without superstar Jayson Tatum, who sat out to rest, as well as sharpshooter Sam Hauser, who was sidelined due to an adductor strain, the Celtics dished out 34 assists, their second highest total this season.
Payton Pritchard came off the bench and poured in a game-high 27 points to go along with 10 assists, a season high. All-Star Jaylen Brown, who appeared positioned for a scoring binge with Tatum out, instead continued to make the proper reads and in the first half had the same number of assists as shots (five).
“At the end of the day, we try to hang our hat on playing the right basketball,” Pritchard said. “No matter who is in, we make the right reads regardless. It’s not like JT’s not playing, like, ‘Oh, I’m going to take more shots tonight.’ That should never be the case. I’m always hunting to take the right shot, make the right passes.”
Needed a Luke celly after this one 😂 pic.twitter.com/XlVfxo1S1S
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 13, 2024
Derrick White finished with 23 points, and Brown had 14 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. After a sluggish start the Celtics ultimately shot 51.1 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from the 3-point line.
Ron Holland had 26 points to lead the Pistons, who started the game by making just 1 of 17 3-pointers and finished 7 for 37.
With Tatum and Hauser out, Mazzulla deployed double-big lineups throughout the night. And they showed that they are capable of joining in the playmaking fun, too.
Midway through the third quarter, big men Luke Kornet and Kristaps Porzingis teamed up to complete the game’s most sparkling assist, completing a rare big-man give-and-go that ended with Kornet slicing into the paint and slinging a pass to White for a 3-pointer.
LOGO P ☄️ pic.twitter.com/Sm9kKbcBbs
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 13, 2024
“It was a beautiful play,” Porzingis said.
If opposing coaches want to find a weakness on this team, they will really have to squint.
When the Celtics failed to advance to the NBA Cup quarterfinals, two regular-season games were added to their schedule. They had no say in the opponents, but they also had nothing to complain about.
Boston was given games against the Pistons and Wizards. Washington is the worst team in the NBA, and although Detroit has improved, it is not yet a team that strikes fear into others.
The Celtics mustered just five points over the game’s first five minutes and started 4 for 18 with three turnovers. But the fact that those grisly numbers resulted in just a 12-11 deficit provided evidence that things were not rosy at the other end, either.
Kornet provided a spark off the bench. The backup center converted a putback for a 3-point play, scored inside, and then soared in for an alley-oop. Boston is most dangerous from beyond the 3-point arc, but its last five baskets of this quarter came in the paint, helping it take a 27-16 advantage to the second quarter.
“[Kornet] does a great job playing off the other guys on the offensive end, and you kind of saw that with his screening, his cutting and his passing and his offensive rebounds,” Mazzulla said. “So, I thought his physicality really helped us there in his first stint.”
The Celtics uncorked one of their typical scoring bursts when Pritchard and White hit 3-pointers before Pritchard attacked for a layup. The 8-0 flurry near the end of the quarter transpired in just 44 seconds and gave the Celtics a 59-42 lead.
After serving as a facilitator in the first half Brown started the third quarter by hitting a 3-pointer and converting a 3-point play, putting Boston ahead, 68-49. That ignited the Celtics’ best offensive quarter of the night. They were 13 for 23 from the field and 6 for 11 from the 3-point line, and there was no reason to believe their 93-68 lead would be threatened.
