BOSTON – The Boston Celtics put away their flashy season tournament court after a 121-107 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night and brought back the classic hardwood for a game against the Toronto Raptors just 24 hours away later.
Playing on a different wood against a different Atlantic Division opponent, Boston produced a similar result, eliminating Toronto, 117-94, to complete a back-to-back sweep inside TD Garden.
The C’s were led by their trio of high-volume scoring stars, as Jaylen Brown (29 points), Jayson Tatum (27 points) and Kristaps Porzingis (21 points) combined for 65.8 percent of their scoring production in a game they led by no less than 30 points.
Where the Celtics did the most damage was inside the 3-point arc. They consistently got into the paint and shot 32 of 42 from 2-point range for a 76.2 percent mark – the most efficient 2-point shooting game of any team in the NBA this season.
The crazy thing is that the last time the Celtics shot that high from inside the arc was also the last time they played against Toronto, on April 7, 2023, when they shot 30 of 37 for a mark of 81.1 percent – the most efficient 2-point scoring by any NBA team over 1,230 games played last season.
The Celtics clearly found their sweet spot against the Raptors, and this time they were able to exploit Toronto even more inside thanks to the addition of Porzingis, who had a career-high five dunks.
“His selection” was key, head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “He was able to help our pick-and-roll ball handler get away from the screen, and they weren’t turning at first, and so we were able to go back and get into a fence and kind of create a second secondary action. Once they started to turn, we were able to get their bigs away from the rim, and that’s when we were able to either feed them to him in the post or drive them without any rim protection.
Tatum’s presence was also essential. The All-NBA wing posted a ridiculous plus-42 in 34 minutes of action, the third-best plus/minus mark of his career. He also had a plus-28 score the night before, giving him a plus/minus total of plus-70 over a 24-hour period.
Now, Tatum is plus-166 this season, which is by far the highest mark in the league. The next closest is teammate Jrue Holiday at plus-111. Porzingis and Derrick White are tied for seventh at plus-95, and Brown rounds out the starting five at 14th place at plus-67.
“I just try to make good things happen when I’m on the court, play right away and try to impact winning,” Tatum said. “I don’t necessarily think about plus/minus, I just try to go for it every time I’m on the field and do the things that help us win. So I hope I can continue this momentum, because it means I’m doing something right.
When it comes to doing the right thing, we need to address how Mazzulla currently empowers his bench. The second-year head coach has spoken several times early in the season about how he plans to coach his second and third players during the garbage period just as hard as he coaches the starters early in the match. He proved his point Saturday night.
With 3:39 left in a 27-point game, Toronto’s Thaddeus Young knocked the ball out of bounds, which officials said had been deflected by Boston’s Oshae Brissett. However, Brissett insisted he never touched the ball and so Mazzulla chose to challenge the call.
It’s rare for a coach to issue a challenge when his team eliminates his opponent late in a game, and some Toronto players were visibly frustrated by the decision. However, Mazzulla explained after the match that this was just one example of his desire to strengthen his reserves, regardless of the time or the score.
“I don’t know if it was disrespectful or cheap to object in that situation, and I don’t really agree or disagree,” Mazzulla said. “I think at the end of the day my responsibility is first and foremost to my players. And out of respect for the game, we’ve been in this situation before where we don’t take the last shot, we let the clock go down, we do that all the time. But with three and a half minutes to go, when you have a group of guys checking in and playing as hard as they can, I think it’s my responsibility to my players first. It was a clear opportunity for me to empower the players, to let them know that I’m coaching you, and those minutes are just as important to me as the start of the match.
Second unit winger Sam Hauser understood the decision and appreciates how much Mazzulla values his playing time and that of his fellow reserves.
“It’s important for all of us, too,” said Hauser, who shot 4 of 6 from long range in a 12-point effort. “If we’re out there, we want him to support us, and I think he does.”
