After the Celtics’ victory over the Spurs final month, Jaylen Brown wished to ensure his crew stayed dialed in for the mentally hardest portion of the season.
Brown wished the Celtics to be locked in for the 14-game stretch main into the All-Star break, when groups notoriously begin to take a look at. He thought it was necessary to remain engaged, figuring out it may assist them construct endurance for the playoffs.
“Teams start to count the days, and we’re going to just keep stacking wins,” Brown mentioned.
It wasn’t an ideal stretch for the Celtics, by any means, as complacency crept in with a pair uncharacteristic losses. They had been unimpressive in some victories. But they nonetheless continued to stack wins. Over these 14 video games, the Celtics went 11-3 and completed with an emphatic victory on Wednesday evening with a XXX-XX domination of the lowly Nets at TD Garden that was by no means even remotely shut.
Derrick White scored 27 factors, Jayson Tatum added 20 factors and 9 assists, and Payton Pritchard had 28 off the bench for the Celtics. They led by 46 coming into the fourth quarter, permitting their common starters to get an early begin to their All-Star breaks as they didn’t contact the ground for the ultimate interval. The Celtics (43-12), now on a six-game successful streak, lead the Eastern Conference by a commanding 6 1⁄2 video games with 27 video games to play.
The victory marked Mazzulla’s a centesimal profession win as a head coach after taking the job originally of the final season.
The Celtics approached the ultimate sport earlier than the break with the suitable strategy and focus, whereas it seemed just like the Nets had been already on trip. The C’s held the Nets to fifteen factors within the first quarter and totally dominated them in each facet. Behind a number of second probabilities and shot-making, the Celtics greater than tripled up the Nets at one level within the second quarter by a rating of 52-17 after they reeled off a 22-0 run.
The Celtics led 68-32 at halftime, a 36-point benefit that marked their fourth-largest halftime lead in franchise historical past and largest since 2010.
The Celtics poured it on to begin the second half as they went on a 9-0 spurt behind three triples out of the break and by no means seemed again on this laugher. They led by as many as 56 within the fourth quarter.
Some different takeaways from the Celtics’ win:
– Kristaps Porzingis left the sport late within the second quarter with an obvious leg harm and limped to the locker room. He didn’t return to the sport, however got here again to the bench for the beginning of the second half and was all smiles, suggesting the harm isn’t severe.
– The greatest signal of the Celtics’ effort – or the Nets’ lack thereof – got here in effort performs. The C’s completed with 9 offensive rebounds and transformed them into 21 second-chance factors. Luke Kornet was a monster on the glass with 4 offensive boards, which led to a number of of these factors.
– Rookie Jordan Walsh earned some shocking first-quarter minutes when he checked into the sport with 2:16 remaining within the opening interval, and performed in a lineup alongside Tatum and Porzingis. He dedicated two fast fouls.
Source: www.bostonherald.com