The Boston Celtics beat the Brooklyn Nets on February twenty seventh, 148-111, in an unprecedented taking pictures masterclass.
Credit score: Boston Celtics-Twitter/XThe Celtics blazingly destroyed the Nets, taking pictures 80.8% efficient subject purpose proportion, the best in NBA historical past. This outing highlighted the Celtics’ capability to unfold the ball round evenly; the highest scorers, Jaylen Brown and Nikola Vucevic, every tallied 28 factors. 6 gamers had 10+ factors and uncovered holes in a flailing Brooklyn protection. The depth carried over to the defensive aspect of the ball, the place no Web had greater than 20 factors. By taking pictures 22/34 from 3, the Celtics remain a threat in the Eastern Conference whereas the Nets are nonetheless trying to find their long-term identification.
This win capped off an unbelievable February for the workforce in inexperienced, through which they went 9-2. Their two losses got here in tough performances versus the Knicks and Nuggets. Derrick White was awarded the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for his efforts. He had an general defensive subject purpose proportion of 37.6% and allowed 4.8 subject objectives.
A Snapshot of a Profitable Month
2/4: @ Houston Rockets // W, 114-93
In a recreation lacking Brown, the Celtics dominated the supposed contender, the Houston Rockets, on the 4th. White and Pritchard had half the factors on 45 pictures. Neemias Queta had 5 blocks and a couple of steals to close down the towering frontcourt of Houston. Queta, Garza, and even Hugo Gonzalez held All-Stars Alperen Sengun and Kevin Durant to a mixed 9/22 efficiency.
This was the start of the Pritchard-off-the-bench motion, which has been a revelation in hindsight. Ron Harper Jr. began and confirmed grit, flattening 9 rebounds and draining 3 for 7 from 3.
2/22: @ Los Angeles Lakers // W, 111-89
On the twenty second, the Celtics took down Luka Doncic and the Lakers. Regardless of an inefficient outing from Brown, who shot 10-28, he led the scoring, bolstered by 12 free-throw makes an attempt.
An environment friendly dissection of the Lakers’ pitiful protection by Payton Pritchard, alongside a spotlight ankle breaker on Jarred Vanderbilt, led the Celtics to victory.
Together with his 2 rebounds on either side of the ground and eight assists, Pritchard solely solidified himself as an important a part of successful if he doesn’t begin.
His capability to enter the game after watching from the bench and figuring out tips on how to assault a protection is poetry in movement. That is solely exacerbated by the Lakers’ tough protection, ranked within the backside 5 leaguewide.
2/24: @ Phoenix Suns // W, 97-81
A notable win for the workforce’s trajectory was the 97-81 beatdown of the Phoenix Suns on the twenty fourth. As talked about in my prior article, the bench led a 50-11 run headlined by Sam Hauser within the second and third quarters. Hauser outscored the Suns himself and highlighted our bench’s capability to flip the swap in a recreation. Moreover, Ron Harper Jr. was given one other likelihood to begin and delivered.
With quarter-hour, he was a +24 plus minus and went 2/4 taking pictures. Without Jaylen Brown, the offense did not stagnate and was given a spark that in any other case felt misplaced at factors with the starters in.
Wanting Forward: Who’s Up Subsequent?
On March sixth, the Celtics host the Dallas Mavericks in what can be a homecoming for fledgling star Cooper Flagg. The Maine native will look to take down his hometown workforce as they await the confirmed return of Jayson Tatum.
The Celtics face a aggressive March, taking part in a number of contenders and some video games towards rising squads.
Two matchups towards the Thunder and Hornets will test the Celtics’ defensive integrity, particularly within the backcourt.
Moreover, the Celtics will go on the highway to tackle the revitalized Cavaliers and red-hot Spurs subsequent week.
