Keys to the Game

Taylor Snow

Whatever was said during Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett’s visit to Celtics practice Tuesday afternoon must’ve resonated with the team, because they came out of the gates Wednesday night in record-setting fashion.

Boston got off to a 27-4 lead over the Brooklyn Nets at TD Garden and was up 46-16 by the end of the first quarter, marking its largest point differential after one frame in franchise history.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown nearly doubled up Brooklyn during the first 12 minutes with a combined 30 points.

JT single-handedly outscored the Nets, 18-16 in the first while shooting 7-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Brown was not far behind with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, including 3-of-4 from deep.

As a team, Boston shot 62.1 percent from the field and 72.7 percent from long range during the first quarter while holding Brooklyn clips of 28.6 percent and 16.7 percent, respectively.

The Celtics went on to lead by as many as 49 points, and by building such a large lead, their starters didn’t even have to come out for the fourth quarter, as their teammates finished the job with a 139-96 victory.

Jayson Tatum set a Celtics record and nearly set an NBA record with his first-half plus/minus Wednesday night.

&nbsp;The All-Star starter went into halftime with a plus-42 in just 17 minutes of action, which bested Kevin Garnett’s franchise record single-half plus/minus of plus-40 and nearly bested Kevin Durant’s NBA record single-half plus/minus of plus-43.

Fueling that number were Tatum’s first-half leading 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range. He finished with a game-high 31 points (12-19 FG, 7-12 3P) along with nine rebounds, four assists, two steals, and just one turnover. His plus/minus ended up a remarkable plus-46 in less than 30 minutes of action.

"It’s still shifting. We still got work to do."

–&nbsp;Jaylen Brown, one year and one day after his renowned "The Energy is about to shift" Tweet

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Keys to the Game: Celtics 139, Nets 96

Marc D'Amico

How do we sum up what just happened at TD Garden? Here’s our best attempt

First, the Celtics were the beneficiary of a delayed and critical whistle.

Then, they were the beneficiary of a non-whistle.

And finally, Jaylen Brown carried them home during overtime.

It was Brown who drew that delayed whistle with 4.1 seconds left in regulation. The call arrived after the star wing had crashed the offensive glass on a missed 3-pointer by Al Horford, which led to a putback layup off the glass to make it a one-point game. He immediately asked the baseline official for a foul but didn’t get what he wanted – until another referee stepped to deliver the game-changing call.

That official made the correct call on Beverley, who had made contact with the top of Brown’s head as Brown dropped the layup in. The call sent Brown to the line for a game-tying free throw, which he calmly sank to make it 110-110.

It must be noted that just two nights prior, Brown missed two free throws that could have either sent Boston to overtime against New York, or won the game. He certainly redeemed himself on this night, and then some.

First, though, it’s on to the next critical moment: a non-whistle on the final play of regulation.

Following an LA timeout, LeBron James drove to the basket down the left side of the lane for a potential game-winning layup. He put a shot up off the glass with his left hand but left it short. Based upon his reaction, which was of complete disbelief after not drawing a whistle, he most definitely thought he was fouled on the attempt. The officials, however, saw it differently, and on we went to overtime.

That’s when Brown took complete control of the game by scoring Boston’s first seven points of overtime in a span of only 52 seconds. His 3-pointer at the 4:08 mark pushed the Celtics ahead 113-107 and their lead never dropped below three points from that moment on.

Brown went on to add in another four points, plus an assist to Jayson Tatum, before the Celtics closed out the 125-121 victory.

You’re going to hear plenty about Jaylen Brown tonight, so we’re giving some well-deserved love to Malcolm Brogdon in this slot.

With the Celtics down two starters and battling foul trouble all night, Brogdon came off the bench to provide the team with one of his most explosive offensive games of the season. He scored 26 points on only 15 shots to lead all reserves in the game. Brogdon shot 8-for-15 from the field overall, 3-for-7 from long distance, and 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. His 26 points were 10 more than any other reserve scored during the contest.

Brogdon added in six rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot to round out his excellent performance. And what might be the most important stat of all is the fact that Boston outscored Los Angeles by 11 points during his 39-plus minutes of action, giving him the top plus/minus rating on the team.

"He was in the zone tonight and he did a great job of just executing."

- Joe Mazzulla on Jaylen Brown's outstanding performance

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Keys to the Game: Celtics 125, Lakers 121 (OT)

Few games are won or lost at the free-throw line. One of those rare instances just so happened to occur Thursday night at TD Garden.

New York made its free throws during the final 30 seconds, and Boston did not. Sometimes, it’s as simple as that.

Julius Randle made two shots from the stripe with 21.2 seconds left in overtime to push the Knicks ahead by one point, at 118-117. This was after he drew a foul on Robert Williams on a drive to the basket.

Just seconds later, Jaylen Brown had an opportunity to return the favor after he was fouled on a jumper from outside the right elbow. Unfortunately, Brown missed both attempts, and New York grabbed the rebound.

R.J. Barrett hauled in the rebound and was fouled with 5.7 seconds left. He went to the free-throw line and calmly sank both of his attempts to make it a three-point game.

Boston still had time for a game-tying shot attempt, but it was unable to muster up a very good look at the basket. Jayson Tatum fired off a shot from distance while fading to his left on the left wing and his shot missed off the back of the iron.

With that, the Knicks had escaped with a victory, all thanks to free throws.

Robert Williams’ impact is felt each night regardless of his numbers. Thursday night, he impacted the game at a high level&nbsp;and&nbsp;put up strong numbers.

Williams recorded 12 boards to go along with eight points, two assists, one steal and one blocked shot during a season-high 36 minutes of playing time. Five of those rebounds were grabbed at the offensive end, which helped the C’s to record 21 second-chance points in the game. He also made four of his five shots.

What’s most telling about Williams’ impact on the game is that he finished the contest as a plus-21 in the plus/minus category, meaning that Boston outscored New York by 21 points while he was on the floor. To put that number into perspective, no other member of the team finished with a plus/minus rating better than plus-six.

It’s a breath of fresh air to see Williams not only playing at a high level, but also logging high minute totals less than a week after he hyperextended his surgically-repaired left knee. It’s obvious that Williams no longer has a minute restriction, and he’s certainly taking advantage.

"I'm a better basketball player than I played today, and those two missed free throws kinda embodied the whole game for me."

- Jaylen Brown on missing two free throws that could have won the game

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Keys to the Game: Knicks 120, Celtics 117 (OT)

Tuesday’s matchup with Miami came down to the wire. The key stretch of the game, however, occurred well before crunch time.

Boston went scoreless from the 8:46 mark of the fourth quarter to the 2:20 mark, which led to the disappearance of its 10-point lead. While the C’s went cold, the Heat, well… they got hot. Miami rattled off 15 consecutive points to take a five-point lead with 3:42 left in the game.

The Celtics managed to score only eight points down the stretch and were never able to regain a lead before falling 98-95.

Miami shot 6-for-9 from the field during its 15-0 run, which included three 3-pointers. Boston, meanwhile, missed 10 consecutive shots and committed a turnover during the run.

Still, the C’s had a shot to win it during the final minute. They tied the game up at 95-95 with 42.6 seconds left. They also had 20.4 seconds left on the clock with a chance to tie or take the lead after Bam Adebayo made a jumper to give Miami a two-point advantage.

Boston opted not to call a timeout, and instead chose to play for the final shot for either the tie or the win. That plan did not work out, as the Heat swarmed Jayson Tatum and forced him into a turnover with 1.2 seconds left to seal the Celtics’ defeat.&nbsp;

Jayson Tatum threatened to log the first 30-point triple-double of his career Tuesday night in Miami. He fell a few assists shy while carrying Boston’s offensive load.

Tatum finished the contest with a game-high 31 points to go along with team-best marks of 14 rebounds and seven assists. Yet again, he shot the ball well, making nine of his 18 shot attempts. Yet again, he feasted at the free-throw line, where he made 11 of his game-high 14 attempts.

"I love what he's done. I think he's given great ball pressure. I think he's given great detail and physicality on the defensive end, and I think he's generating good looks for us at the offensive end."

- Joe Mazzulla on Payton Pritchard's recent stretch of play

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Keys to the Game: Heat 98, Celtics 95

The Celtics were without two starters and their sixth man entering Monday’s matchup with Orlando. They lost a third starter for a four-minute stretch of the third quarter, and that brief absence was all Orlando needed to take control of the game.

Jayson Tatum canned a 3-pointer from the right wing with 6:58 remaining in the third period to give the Celtics a 68-66 lead. This was after they had previously fallen behind by as many as 14 points, and that shot felt as if it had turned the game into Boston’s favor. But it was the next turn that prevented such a scenario from becoming reality.

Right after Tatum canned that triple, he planted his left foot and turned over his right shoulder to trot back on defense. As he twisted his body, though, he seemingly tweaked something in his right abdominal area. He purposely fouled Gary Harris at the other end of the court, checked himself out of the game, and went straight back to the locker room to be examined.

Orlando took full advantage of Tatum’s absence by immediately rattling off a 10-0 run and a 20-5 run overall over the next four-plus minutes. The Magic made seven consecutive field goals to account for the run, while Boston shot a woeful 2-for-10.

Tatum reappeared from the locker room shortly thereafter and re-entered the game with 2:04 remaining in the third quarter. However, Orlando had already built confidence and momentum and rode those waves to the finish line while maintaining a lead for the remainder of the night.

This Key Player performance didn’t ignite a Celtics win, but it was a welcomed sign that could impact the team in a positive way moving forward.

Sam Hauser finally got his shooting rhythm back after a brutal stretch of shooting that dated back to late-November. He came off Boston’s bench to score 13 points on nine shots, which included three makes on six attempts from beyond the arc.

This contest marks the first instance of 2023 in which Hauser made multiple 3-pointers while making at least half of his attempts. He had accomplished that feat a whopping 10 times by the end of November, and this marks just the third instance since.

With Boston battling the injury bug right now, with the return dates of Marcus Smart, Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams still unknown, the team needs as many reserves to step up their game as possible. Hauser certainly did that Monday night while compiling 13 points, two rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot, and Boston will be hoping for more of the same moving forward.

"Credit to Orlando. They played hard. They played physical. They played with an edge the entire game."

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Keys to the Game: Magic 113, Celtics 98

After pouring in 20 points and 10 rebounds Thursday night against the Warriors, Al Horford said that he “really wanted to win” that game against Golden State.

He must have really wanted to win Saturday night against Toronto, too.

Horford single-handedly sealed Boston’s improbable victory over the Raptors by winning four key plays during the final 10 seconds of the contest.

First, with Boston leading 106-104 and with 14.1 seconds left in regulation, Horford defended Pascal Siakam to perfection as Siakam drove to the basket for a potential game-tying shot. Horford forced a jump ball on his shot contest, and that came after he saved Jaylen Brown by switching onto Siakam following a failed attempt at a steal by Brown.

Horford and Siakam rose up for the jump ball with 8.6 seconds left and Horford won the tip, but no player from either team was able to control the ball. Horford stuck his hands in and wound up wrapped up with Toronto’s Scottie Barnes, which led to yet another jump ball with 6.1 seconds left. Horford won that tip, too, which allowed the Celtics to call for a timeout with 3.8 seconds remaining.

The Celtics should have sealed the game at that point, but they needed one more big play from Horford after they failed to safely inbound the ball coming out of the timeout. Grant Williams was called for an offensive foul before the ball was inbounded, which gave Toronto one last shot at the tie or the win.

Toronto again called Siakam’s name, and yet again, Horford provided perfect help defense that wound up securing the victory. As Siakam crossed halfcourt, Horford joined Brown for a double-team and they wound up popping the ball loose from Siakam’s hands, and right into Horford’s.

Horford ran away with the ball while dribbling the clock out, and then he raced right off of the court and into Boston’s locker room to celebrate the incredible win.

Payton Pritchard scored the fourth-most points on the team Saturday night in Toronto, yet he finds himself in our Key Player section. That’s because without his hot shooting during the fourth quarter, Boston’s winning streak would have been snapped.

Pritchard canned not one, not two, not three, but four 3-pointers during the fourth quarter to propel the Celtics to their second straight comeback victory.

The first 3-pointer arrived just 63 seconds into the fourth quarter and provided Boston with its first lead since the second quarter.

The second triple arrived at the 8:13 mark of the fourth to double Boston’s lead from three up to six.

The third came at the 5:53 mark to extend the Celtics’ advantage out to eight.

And after a quick Toronto comeback, the fourth and final make from long distance – which stood as the game-winner – arrived with 1:30 left on the clock to break a 103-103 tie.

Pritchard finished the contest with 12 points, two rebounds, two assists and one steal. The Celtics outscored Toronto by 19 points during his nearly 26 minutes of action, giving him the top plus/minus rating of the game by a large margin.

"We trust ourselves, no matter what people say about us."

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Keys to the Game: Celtics 106, Raptors 104

Jaylen Brown was ice cold to start Thursday’s matchup against the defending champs. As the old adage says, however: It’s not how you start – it’s how you finish.

Brown finished red-hot, canning four of his final six shots of the game, including the biggest one of them all with 18.1 seconds left in regulation to tie the game.

Boston trailed by three points after Stephen Curry dropped in a layup with 28 seconds left on the clock. The Celtics quickly advanced the ball up the court off the make, which allowed them to catch Golden State’s defense a bit off guard.

Marcus Smart immediately dribbled into a pick-and-pop with Malcolm Brogdon, and as he rose up into the air beyond the 3-point line on the left wing, he found Brown flaring to the right wing. Brown, who had missed his first three 3-pointers of the night, caught the ball in rhythm and drilled the triple to tie the game with 18.1 seconds remaining. That shot not only tied the game, but it sent the TD Garden crowd into hysteria.

It was a courageous shot from Brown as well. It must be noted that he fired it up after opening the game 0-for-3 from beyond the arc. Yet he maintained confidence in himself, and he delivered in perfect form.

Brown went on to make two of Boston’s first three shots of overtime, and that second make was followed up by back-to-back 3-pointers from Al Horford and Jayson Tatum. That 8-0 spurt pushed Boston ahead 118-111 with 1:26 left in overtime, and the C’s held on by the skin of their teeth for a momentous 121-118 victory.

Jayson Tatum did some Herculean stuff Thursday night at TD Garden. Not only dd he put up the game’s most impressive box score line – by far – but he also did it while not taking a break. Literally.

Tatum checked out of the game at the 7:07 mark of the first quarter and came back at the start of the second. He did not check out the rest of the night, which means he played the final 41 minutes in consecutive fashion while leading his team to victory.

Joe Mazzulla couldn’t take Tatum out because Tatum was contributing to the game in so many different ways. The superstar forward compiled a game-high 34 points, a game-high and career-high 19 rebounds, six assists, and a game-high tying three assists.

Twenty-one of those points and 11 of those rebounds were logged during the second half and overtime alone, as the Celtics erased what was at one moment an 11-point Golden State lead.

The Celtics needed everything Jayson Tatum had Thursday night – and he gave it to them.

"I came out here and I wanted to win. I wanted to win really bad."

- Al Horford on taking down the defending champs

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Keys to the Game: Celtics 121, Warriors 118

Unlike Saturday's matchup with the Hornets, when Boston didn't take control of the game until the second half, the C's owned Monday afternoon's rematch from the first quarter on.

Boston led for the majority of the opening frame and used a 10-0 run late in the period to take a 29-19 lead. While this game never turned into a blowout, and did get close for a brief stretch during the fourth quarter, that early run established the tenor of the game and Boston's victory never truly felt as if it was in jeopardy the rest of the way.

Three players combined to score 10 points during the run, which was bookended by 3-pointers. Marcus Smart hit the first triple before Jayson Tatum put home two buckets at the rim. Malcolm Brogdon then capped the spurt with a 3-pointer of his own off a pass from Grant Williams.

Charlotte did climb to within two points on multiple occasions during the fourth quarter, but the Celtics responded each time with key plays to extend the lead and eventually polish off a 130-118 win.

Well, Jayson Tatum didn't leave us much of a choice here. That's what happens when you drop a 51-piece on the road.

Tatum eclipsed the 40-point mark with 3:59 to go and somehow added 11 more to his total from that moment on. That's thanks in large part to his back-to-back-to-back 3s from the 2:01 mark of the fourth to the 38-second mark. That final triple accounted for Boston's final points of the night and brought the entire building to its feet.

It's obvious that 51 points pops off the stat sheet, but what's even more impressive is the manner in which Tatum scored those points. He required only 23 shot attempts, and that's because he canned seven of his 12 shots from long distance, and all 14 of his free throws. This is the most efficient 50-point performance in the NBA this season in terms of field goal attempts.

Tatum rounded out his box score with a team-best nine rebounds to go along with five assists.

"Just how together we're playing on both ends. We're really getting almost any shot we want every time down the floor."