1. Incredible Defensive Effort
In a game where both Jaylen Brown and Sam Hauser were out on the second night of a back-to-back, the Hospital Celtics stepped up big time and handed the Houston Rockets their largest margin of defeat this season, winning 114-93. Boston held Houston to to their second lowest scoring game of the season as well, making them shoot 34-82 (42%) and 11-30 (37%) from three. They forced the Rockets into 9 turnovers, 6 steals, and 5 blocks, just dominating them on the defensive side of the ball. Houston got so tired of the Celtics defense that both Ime Udoka and Alperen Sengun got ejected in the second half.
This is the fourth win in a row for the Celtics and all of them came by double digits. They have held their opponents to an average of 91.2 points per game in this winning streak. In these games their opponents had their 3rd, 1st, 6th, and 2nd lowest points in a game this season. What a performance by Boston.
2. Third Quarter Explosion
At the half, the Celtics were leading the Rockets 49-42. They started the game rough shooting in the first quarter, only scoring 18 points but bounced back in the second quarter scoring 31. In my mind the second half was going to continue being a defensive slug fest but Boston had a different idea. In the first 8 minutes of the second half, the Celtics exploded for a 28-6 run on the Rockets and opened up a 26 point lead. They had one sequence midway through their run where they hit four straight three pointers and really took the life out of Houston. Durant tried to make a little bit of a push with 9 straight points after this but there was no stopping Boston.
The Celtics shot 12-27 (44%) from the field and 7-14 (50%) from three in the quarter while the Rockets shot 11 less shots than them, going 7-16 (44%) from the field and 2-5 (40%) from three. This third quarter was a big reason why Boston was able to win this game by 21 points and they got contributions from every player up and down the lineup.
Celtics Shot Zone Chart in the 3Q (Via NBA.com)
3. Domination on the Boards
Coming into this game the Houston Rockets were the number one rebounding team in the NBA, grabbing 49.4 boards a game. In this game against the Celtics however, they were held to only 38. Boston on the other hand averaged 45.1 rebounds a game and grabbed 57 on the night. That is an insane number for the Celtics and gets crazier when you notice 20 of them were offensive rebounds. Boston did everything they could to destroy Houston on the glass in this game and it worked to perfection.
4. Derrick White Big Night
For the first time since January 10th, Derrick White scored 20+ points in a game, finishing with 28 points and 8 assists on 10-25 shooting from the field and 6-14 from three. White really looked like he broke out out of his shooting slump in this game and at the perfect time too. Shorthanded, he was given the keys as the number one scoring option and didn’t let up.
White really started to come alive in this game in the second quarter where he scored 9 points on 3-6 shooting. His first shot came after pump faking a three to get Amen Thompson to bite, then driving to the basket and finishing a floater. The second came on a turnaround three where Thompson was right in his face for the contest. Finally, the third came when being guarded by former Celtic JD Davison. White drove to the basket, pump faked a couple of times to get Davison in the air, and finished with a nice bank shot off the top of the backboard.
The third quarter was where White really started to take over with his scoring, finishing with 14 points and 4 threes. White started his third quarter scoring with a three coming off of an offensive rebound tipped by Neemias Queta to Baylor Scheierman. His second came on a step-back three over Tari Eason. The third bucket was the only non-three he scored, sprinting to the basket and finishing a nice finger roll over Sengun. The fourth came on a three pointer where White stopped on a dime and had Josh Okogie on skates. Finally, he finished his night with a step-back in the face of Kevin Durant.
5. Payton Pritchard Bench Scoring
After transitioning to the bench in the Celtics last game against the Mavericks and having a great performance, Payton Pritchard continued his great play as Boston’s 6th Man, finishing with 27 points and 7 assists on 9-20 shooting from the field and 5-10 from three. I have been loving what Pritchard has done in these last two games because he just looks so much more comfortable as a scorer when he doesn’t have to worry about being the main point guard on the team.
Pritchard’s biggest impact on this game came in the fourth quarter where he scored 11 of his 27 points. These points were important because Durant was coming off of a nice scoring run to finish off the third quarter. Pritchard started his fourth quarter with a three coming off a nice handoff by Neemias Queta. The second bucket saw him take Jabari Smith Jr all over the court before splashing a midrange jumper in his face. The third started with a missed three by White but a good offensive rebound by Ron Harper Jr. allowed him to tap it back to Pritchard for a wide open three. To finish off his night, he thought it would be fun to navigate another great Queta screen to splash a wide open three.
Neemias Queta was dominating the Rockets in this game, finishing with a double-double of 10 points, 19 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Alperen Sengun is one of the best big men in the NBA and Queta basically made him a non-factor for Houston. I really wanted to highlight his 5 blocks in this game because Queta was a big reason why the Rockets had a hard time scoring.
The first block came in the second quarter when Aaron Holiday threw up a prayer after Pritchard played some great defense on him. Since it was a poor attempt, Queta was able to just swat it out of the air with no problem. The other one that came in the second quarter was when Durant had Harper Jr one-on-one. Queta decided to reach in as KD went up for the shot and got the deflection.
The rest of Queta’s blocks came in the fourth quarter but two of them came in one sequence. It started with Queta hustling back for a chase down block on Tari Eason where he fell into the stands. When he came out of the stands, the Celtics turned the ball over and Reed Sheppard was going for a dunk attempt before Queta swatted it away. It was recovered by Eason who scored but the effort on that play was amazing.
Finally, his fifth block came when him and Garza double teamed Sengun under neath the basket. Queta knocked the ball out of Sengun’s hands and it must have hit off of him before it went out of bounds because the ref called it Celtics ball. Sengun was not happy with the call ended up getting ejected from the game over it.
7. Ron Harper Jr. Career Night
When Ron Harper Jr. signed with the Celtics on a two-way contract, I don’t think anyone really expected much from him. But after putting up some great stats for the Maine Celtics this year in the G-League, Joe Mazzulla decided to call his number tonight for his first NBA start. He took the opportunity and ran with it, finishing with 11 points and 9 rebounds on 4-8 shooting while locking up Kevin Durant on defense.
Harper had three possessions in the third quarter where he was the primary defender on KD and he played great defense. The first came at the 10:21 mark where Harper Jr. fought around a screen to contest a Durant three. The other two came on back-to-back possessions around the 7 minute mark. Durant was being hounded around the perimeter and once he went for a midrange pull-up, Harper Jr. was right there for a great contest. The second came when KD decided to shoot a pull-up three around a Sengun screen, but Harper Jr. got around quick enough to once again contest the shot.
When it comes to the offensive side, Harper Jr. did his job by hitting the wide open shots that came to him. His first three baskets all came on catch and shoot threes. The first came on a pass from Derrick White where Harper Jr. pump faked Kevin Durant, relocated, and splashed the three. The second came on a nice pass by Luka Garza for a wide open corner three. The last three came off of a great contest of Durant on defense and Baylor Scheierman rewarded Harper Jr. with a wide open fast break corner three.
His last basket of the game was electric. After a great offensive rebound by Hugo Gonzalez and a missed three by Derrick White, Harper Jr. came flying in out of nowhere and through down a nasty dunk. I loved what I saw out of Ron Harper Jr. in this game and I think I want to see more of him moving forward.
8. Baylor Scheierman Steps Up
Baylor Scheierman was the second Celtics player to record a double-double in this game, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds on 5-10 shooting. Baylor was balling all night long and did a great job when it came to being a secondary option for the Celtics at times. His scoring came up huge for Boston in this game and I think it is important to talk about it.
Baylor started his scoring in the second quarter when he received a bounce pass from Pritchard. Scheierman then threw his shoulder into Tari Eason and finished a crazy, one-legged floater over him.
In the third quarter, Scheierman made two threes, the first one coming on a catch-and-shoot opportunity from White. The second was a bit of a chaotic play that started with Queta making a steal and diving on the floor to get the ball. Queta found White who started the fast break and found Scheierman wide open in the corner for three.
In the fourth quarter, Scheierman continued his great night with his last two baskets of the game. He started by getting a pass from Pritchard and driving to the basket for a running bank shot layup over a late contest from Reed Sheppard. The second was a catch-and-shoot three that came off a nice bounce pass by Pritchard who was getting double teamed.
One thing you can never knock Luka Garza for this season is his hustle. He leaves it all out on the court every single night and in this game it looked like he was going to war. Garza was put into the starting lineup tonight, finishing with 19 points and 6 rebounds on 7-13 shooting and just like Queta, he did an incredible job when it came to guarding Sengun. Sengun was attacking Garza on the block all night long and although he got beat a couple of times, Luka held his own and was able to make some nice contests.
Some of my favorite moments offensively from Garza included his first three of the night in the second quarter. He couldn’t get the hand-off to Pritchard, so he just turned around and hit a wide open jumper. The second basked I liked came in the third quarter where he played the pick and roll to perfection with Ron Harper Jr. As he rolled to the basket, Harper Jr. found him with a nice bounce pass and Garza hit a deceleration step on Jabari Smith Jr to get the And-1. Finally, in the fourth quarter, Garza faked like he was going to set a screen for White but instead ran under the basket. He had the defense out of position and finished with a rare dunk.
10. Joe Mazzulla Coach of the Year
If you don’t think Joe Mazzulla is the Coach of the Year in the NBA this season, I really just think you don’t watch basketball. What Mazzulla and his staff have been able to accomplish when it comes to getting the best out of every player on the Celtics roster is something no other coach in the league is doing. He started Ron Harper Jr. tonight for his first NBA start against one of the best teams in the Western Conference on a back-to-back and it worked. He implemented a game plan for lineups that have probably never seen the floor together and it worked. He had Payton Pritchard, who was the Celtics starting point guard all season long, come off of the bench and it worked.
Mazzulla should have been in the running before tonight just because of what he has done without Jayson Tatum this season but tonight cemented his case for me. No other coach in the NBA can do what Joe Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics development staff can do when it comes to finding ways to win basketball games and he needs more respect. Granted if Joe did win the award I’m sure he would respond with “who cares?” and go on a diatribe on Shaolin monks or something but its the thought that counts and he should win the award.