Despite losing their first game of the season, the Boston Celtics had another week of elite basketball. Their offense stayed hot, scoring over 115 points in all but one game this past week. Though the defense is still much to be desired, the team chemistry is still evident, with multiple guys contributing to the team's now 6-1 record.
Prichard's Breakout Leads Boston Past Bucks
Final Score: Celtics 119-Bucks 108
The Celtics kept their undefeated streak alive on October 28th against a talented but struggling Milwaukee Bucks team. The team started cold, but by the end of the game, Boston's offense was very efficient, shooting 49.4% from the field and 38.3% from three-point range.
Jaylen Brown led the team with 30 points on 10/19 shooting, but the real star of the game was Guard Payton Pritchard. Pritchard's breakout game came at the perfect time for Boston. With the team struggling early offensively, the 6'2" guard from Oregon entered the game and shot the lights out. He scored 28 points on 10/14 from the field, while also hitting eight of his twelve threes.
This kind of production was exactly what the team was hoping for when they signed Pritchard to a multi-year extension last season. Pritchard's offensive potential is through the roof, which Boston will have to lean on throughout the season if they want to make a push in the playoffs again.
Boston Force OT, but Lose in Indiana
Final Score: Pacers 135-Celtics 132
In what was a thrilling game in Indiana, Boston's comeback efforts fell just short, losing their first game of the young season. Boston's offense finally came back down to Earth in terms of efficiency, with the team only shooting 40.4% from the field and 33.3% from three.
With that said, the most concerning part of the game was Boston's defensive efforts. The team was too lazy on the defensive end, which caused them to fall as far as 24 points behind. The Pacers got too many open shots, and Head Coach Joe Mazzulla was unable to adjust their defensive game plan to account for Indiana's shooting.
Though it wasn't Boston's best effort, you have to acknowledge the fight they showed at the end of the game. Usually, when a team is down 24 points with 8 minutes to go, coaches will wave the towel and sub in their bench players. However, Joe Mazzulla isn't like most coaches. Mazzulla is known to rarely give up on games, no matter how much the team is down by. So, he kept the starters in an attempt to make a comeback. Running a lineup of Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Neemias Queta, Boston was able to cut down the Pacers' lead significantly in basically no time at all. The Celtics forced overtime but came up short when star forward Pascal Siakam hit a clutch three-pointer to end the hopes of a win.
Even if it wasn't the outcome they wanted, Boston showed a lot of heart, sending the message that they would not give up. Their defense needs major work, but knowing their defensive potential, the concern should not be too high just yet.
Boston Win Back-To-Back Games in Charlotte
Final Score (11/1): Celtics 124-Hornets 109
Final Score (11/2): Celtics 113-Hornets 103
The Celtics shook off their first loss of the season right away, stealing two games in a row from the Charlotte Hornets on the road. Though Charlotte put up a surprisingly good fight, the talent up and down the Celtics' lineup was too much for Charlotte to handle.
The first game was pretty close throughout, with Charlotte and Boston trading blows through the first three quarters. In the fourth, however, the Hornets had an all-time meltdown. Multiple flagrant fouls were called, while forward and former Celtic Grant Williams, along with forward Miles Bridges, were both ejected from the game. Even head coach Charles Lee, who was on Boston's coaching staff last year, received a technical foul. What was a close game all of a sudden grew into a big Celtics lead within the last two minutes of regulation, thus clinching the win for Boston.
The second game was not as close, but still showed signs of competition. Led by Tatum's 29 points as well as Pritchard's 22 points, Boston never really wavered throughout the contest. Center Luke Kornet also did a fantastic job filling in for Al Horford (rest), scoring 19 points and hitting all of his shot attempts.
The biggest issue that arose from these two games was an injury to Jaylen Brown. After suffering an apparent hip injury in the first game against Charlotte, Brown missed the second game against Charlotte, and will miss Boston's game on Monday night against the Hawks. Though the severity of Brown's injury is currently unknown, fans can only hope that he doesn't miss extended time.
Stay tuned for more Celtics content, and be sure to check out fansonlysportz.com for more sports media content posted daily.
Catch you next time!
-Matt Hylen
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