Celtics
Celtics guard Payton Pritchard drives to the basket against Portland Trail Blazers guard Rayan Rupert during the first half. AP Photo/Charles Krupa
The Celtics comfortably beat the Trail Blazers on Sunday, as their Stay Ready group pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 124-107 victory.
Here are the points to remember.
1. Jaylen Brown led all Celtics scorers with 26 points and collected his 10,000th point as a member of the Celtics. He became the 15th Celtic to reach the 10,000 mark, and (almost certainly not intentionally, but remarkable nonetheless) he did so with a diving layup with his left hand.
“It certainly means a lot,” Brown said afterward. “I don’t want to skip this. It’s been a great journey, even though the journey is still ongoing, just take the time to appreciate all the work, the hard work, the effort that has gone into getting here. There were ups, there were downs, things didn’t go my way, things went as planned, and you know, here we are. So I’m incredibly grateful and looking forward to the future.
Brown noted that his career hasn’t always been as smooth as it is today.
“But for day one, JB fans that have been in my corner since day one, I feel that love and I just like to show that love back,” Brown said. “There are a lot of people here in Boston who have supported my career, my journey, and I am grateful for that. This encouraged me to continue improving. This encourages me to continue to improve and prove the naysayers wrong and continue to level up.
2. Robert Williams is out for the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn right knee ligament in November, but he was with the team in Boston on Sunday and received a big ovation from fans when he was welcomed back to TD Garden with Dalano Banton and Malcolm Brogdon.
The lack of a Williams tribute video seemed like a pretty big affront…except Williams himself asked not to be honored, according to The Boston Globeby Adam Himmelsbach.
Still, Williams waved to fans during his enthusiastic welcome, and he seemed excited to see his former Celtics teammates again.
For his part, Joe Mazzulla I just said that he saw and greeted Williams in the hallway during one of the Hawks games. Overall, the return of a fan favorite came without much fanfare.
3. The Celtics bench unit was able to finish the game again, and this time they were excellent. Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Oshae Brissett, Svi Mykhailiuk and Xavier Tillman helped the Celtics win the fourth quarter 31-22 after nearly blowing a double-digit lead against the Kings on Friday, highlighted by this Pritchard dish in Brissett.
A reporter asked Mazzulla after the game about Pritchard’s mindset that there is no such thing as garbage time.
“It starts with them,” Mazzulla said. “Payton leads the charge in that mindset, but Oshae loves to compete at a high level. All these guys do it. And I think when those guys are in the game, there’s no drop-off in execution and effort that we’re trying to play with, so that’s a credit to them.
Another credit to the bench: Derrick White played just 31 minutes and Brown 30. Kristaps Porzingis finished with 27, while Jrue Holiday and Al Horford played 21.
4. Pritchard finished with an efficient 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting, along with eight assists and two rebounds. His ability to lead the bench unit offensively, create opportunities for himself and others, and increase the number of rotation players has been a great boost for the Celtics as they attempt to be right before the playoffs. Rather than giving up a series of justifiable but ugly defeats with the elimination of their starters, the Celtics are building on a lead in the Eastern Conference standings that was already insurmountable a few weeks ago.
“He takes pride in situational basketball and he takes pride in finding any way to impact the game, and I think that’s important for us,” Mazzulla said.
5. Sam Hauser bounced back from a 1-of-18 performance from the field in Friday’s win with a 4-of-6 night Sunday, including 2-of-4 from behind the arc. Even with that horrible shooting performance dragging down his numbers, he’s 46.3 percent from behind the arc over his last 10 games.
6. Banton seems to be enjoying his role with the Blazers – he finished with a game-high 28 points, including 15 in the first half, and dished out nine assists. He scored in a variety of ways – coming out of the pick-and-roll, spotting up behind the arc and working his way to the rim in the paint.
Banton benefits from the green light that lottery-bound teams give to virtually anyone who plays meaningful minutes — he finished a relatively inefficient 11 of 23 from the field. Still, he seems to be enjoying an opportunity and appears to have earned a closer look in Portland next season, which is nice to see.
7. The water at the top of the Eastern Conference standings remained calm, but about 15 games below the surface, Sunday was wild. The Bucks lost to Jalen Brunson and the Knicks. The Knicks and Magic (who beat the Bulls) are just one game behind Milwaukee for the No. 2 seed. The Cavaliers – who have lost seven of their last 10 games – blew a 26-point lead and lost to the Clippers. The Pacers beat the Heat, putting them in a great position to hang on for the sixth seed. The 76ers won and overtook the Heat to rank #7.
Do you have all this? No? In summary, there is a very good chance that the Sixers and Heat will play in the play-in game 7-8. Additionally, the Bucks – who have games against the third-place Celtics, Thunder and Magic (twice!) – are absolutely in trouble, and seeds 2-5 are by no means locked in yet.
8. The regular season ends in a week, so we’d like to take a moment to remind Celtics fans that this week is your last chance to enjoy Celtics play-by-play announcer Mike Gorman. The games themselves may not matter, but the voice that calls them certainly does.
The Celtics face the Bucks on Tuesday, followed by three home games against the Knicks, Hornets and Wizards.
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