Celtics close 2023 with a blowout victory over the Spurs: 8 takeaways
The Celtics enter the new calendar year with the best record in the NBA.
The Celtics closed the calendar year in style, crushing the San Antonio Spurs 134-101.
Here are the takeaways.
1. The Celtics threatened to break the game open multiple times in the first half, but the Spurs stayed within striking distance (barely), trailing by 12 going into the break.
In the third quarter, however, the Celtics hit the gas and never looked back, while the Spurs stalled out badly. The Celtics outscored the Spurs 40-23 in the period, getting out into transition and moving the ball quickly. Importantly, the Celtics also took care of the ball, finishing with just 10 turnovers to go with 29 assists.
Sometimes, the best teams simply make basketball look like a lot of fun, and the Celtics looked like they were having a blast in the second half.
2. The Celtics demolished a ragged Spurs defense that doesn’t have a lot of juice. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum got to their spots and scored comfortably. The Celtics’ pick-and-roll created opportunities all over the floor, both with the starters and with the second unit. Derrick White looked like an All-Star. Sam Hauser found open space with ease and got to the rim for a two-handed slam in the fourth quarter that sent the NBC Sports Boston broadcast into hysterics. The Celtics moved the ball and got open 3-pointers. They looked to run after every Spurs miss, and they crushed mismatches and cross-matches.
The Spurs are a bad team with a lot of young talent, and this year’s Celtics team has done a really good job taking care of business against bad young teams.
3. Kristaps Porzingis missed all seven of the 3-pointers he attempted, but the Spurs didn’t have an answer for his post-up opportunities. Good defenses struggle to deal with the Celtics since coming off Brown and Tatum isn’t an option, but pick-and-rolls with Porzingis elsewhere create nasty mismatches. The Spurs, again, are not a good defense, which made Porzingis an unsolvable equation. He finished with 14 points and shot 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in 29 minutes.
4. Jayson Tatum came off the bench near the end of the third quarter and very clearly had little intention of playing much more. The Celtics had already blown the game open, but Tatum buried a 3-pointer, got to the rim for a layup, and created a 2-for-1 opportunity with a mid-range jumper that pushed him to 25 points for the game.
Tatum did play for two more minutes to start the fourth, but he was quickly subbed out, and the Celtics cruised the rest of the way for a blowout victory. Tatum added six rebounds, two assists, and two blocks in 30 minutes.
5. At one point in the first half, Jaylen Brown got out in transition and elevated only to duck under a contest and lay the ball in. NBC Sports Boston broadcaster Drew Carter dropped an excellent one-liner in response, bellowing “The king of the jam goes jelly!” in reference to the Jelly Fam layups that went viral on social media in recent years.
The NBC Sports Boston broadcast was entertaining in the fourth with the game far out of reach. At one point, after Hauser appeared to have a steal and a breakaway, officials whistled the play dead due to a foul on Hauser. Brian Scalabrine, according to Carter, “made a scene” twirling his finger at Joe Mazzulla for a review. Per Carter, Mazzulla simply shook his head.
Brown, meanwhile, scored 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting, pitching in six boards, three assists, and two steals.
6. Derrick White submitted yet another efficient game: 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting in 25 minutes. After watching his ascent this season, Celtics fans will not be surprised to learn that White got a warm reception in his return to San Antonio — the former Spur greeted his former coach Gregg Popovich warmly, and even dapped up someone on the sideline waiting for a Spurs player to take a free-throw in the second half. White also drew chants of “White’s an All-Star” in the second half and during his post-game interview with Abby Chin, although — as noted by Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe, the person who started the chants was wearing a Paul Pierce jersey.
Still, White seems like the kind of player who leaves a positive impression on a city, even a few years after he leaves.
7. Victor Wembanyama showed both the promise and the journey left in his game. He scored 21 points on 8-for-16 shooting, buried three triples in the first half, and showed the wide variety of offensive options he could provide down the road. He was also easily muscled off his spot, and the Celtics found ways to score easily without Wembanyama — who leads the NBA in blocked shots — altering their looks.
The Spurs have a long way to go, but that’s okay: Their young star does too.
The good news? He can do stuff like this.
8. The Celtics finish the calendar year with a 1.5-game lead over the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference, and they have the best point differential in the NBA according to Cleaning the Glass. Over the last two weeks, they have the NBA’s best offensive rating by more than four points per 100 possessions, and wins in 10 of their last 11 games, as well as — of course — a perfect record at home. Even by the standards of a team with championship aspirations, the Celtics couldn’t have ended 2023 on a much higher note.
They will start 2024 with a showdown against the Thunder in Oklahoma City. At 21-9, the Thunder have the second-best record in the Western Conference.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com