Jaylen Brown scores 37, Celtics run away from Suns: 8 takeaways
The Celtics now have 52 wins, and they maintained their 9.5-game lead over the Bucks.Ā
The Celtics beat the Suns by double digits for the second time in less than a week, rolling to a 127-112 victory.
Here are the takeaways.
1. The Celtics played their third game in four nights against a playoff team in the Western Conference with a ton of talent. Less than 48 hours before tipoff, they were in the Mountain time zone. If they lost to the Suns, a credible case could have been built that it was a schedule loss.
Instead, they blew out the Suns in the fourth quarter, even with Devin Booker back in the lineup after he missed their matchup. The Celtics now have 52 wins, and they maintained their 9.5-game lead over the Bucks.
“I really liked the mindset of our group tonight,” Al Horford said. “Just understanding what was in front of us. It’s a long season. Sometimes this kind of happens in the schedule, and for us to find a way to compete and battle, I felt like we did that all night.”
2. One of the most impressive aspects of Jaylen Brown’s game is the wide variety of ways he scores. He finished with 37 points on Thursday, shooting 5-for-9 from 3-point range. He hit a tough turnaround jumper over Royce O’Neal. He got into the paint and used his strength to finish through contact multiple times. He missed a triple late in the fourth, then picked off the Suns’ outlet pass after they rebounded it and packed a one-handed dunk on Grayson Allen.
Brown is playing some of the basketball of his eight-year career over the last few weeks, and he has played some pretty good basketball.
“I think this whole season, I just feel like I’ve improved in a lot of stuff that I needed to work on,” Brown said. “Just overall, just improve my mentality, but attack my weaknesses. I feel like some of the stuff that you could say about me last year, you can’t say about me this year. I’m excited to go to the playoffs and keep on improving the same thing.”
3. In the aftermath of Brown’s dunk on Allen, the Suns called timeout, and O’Neal attempted a 3-pointer in front of the Celtics’ bench. Joe Mazzulla leapt out to contest it.
Mazzulla – who has instructed his assistant coaches to contest shooters attempting shots after the whistle – tried to brush off the incident despite numerous questions from reporters. He noted that O’Neal has been struggling to shoot the ball recently (0-for-7 overall, 0-for-5 from deep), adding that the Celtics don’t want to give an opponent an opportunity to catch a rhythm in front of their bench.
“There’s a dead ball. I did it last year. We’ve done it multiple times,” Mazzulla said. “I mean, I don’t care. At the end of the day, it’s about the mindset and approach that we bring in. It’s within the rules of the game.”
Mazzulla said that he has had “strong conversations” with his staff when they have failed to contest a shooter in front of the bench.
“If we’re going to hold our team to the standard, then hold the staff to the same thing,” Mazzulla said. “So there’s been times where we’ve missed it and I’ve held the staff accountable to it, and you’ve got to do the best job you can of not doing it.”
Both Brown and Jayson Tatum chalked it up to Mazzulla being himself.
“Joe sets the tone, just coming and being prepared first,” Brown said. “He’s diligent and he allows us to be who we are. So we’ve been very well-coached, we’ve been disciplined, and we haven’t had too many lapses this season. I feel like we’ve been a focused team, a smarter team. And some of that stuff, like, that’s coaching. That adds up.”
4. Jrue Holiday had an odd stat line – nine points on 3-for-5 shooting and zero rebounds, but 10 assists with zero turnovers. His best one may have been a pick-and-roll with Luke Kornet in the first quarter, when Kornet slipped down the line with his hands high, and Holiday laced a pass between two defenders directly into Kornet’s pocket.
“I think it was just him continuing to grow as a player and finding ways to affect the game,” Mazzulla said. “He’s much more decisive in early transition, he has his reads, he knows what he’s looking for. … It’s just him understanding what his reads are and where he can be super aggressive, and he’s getting better and better at that.”
5. The first quarter appeared to be setting up a showdown between Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum. Durant scored 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting, hurting the Celtics from the mid-range. Tatum shot 6-for-8 from the field and made two 3-pointers, scoring 14 points.
But Tatum and Durant were relatively quiet the rest of the way, dealing with increased defensive attention. Tatum finished with 26 points (10-for-18), while Durant scored just five points in the final three frames.
“I don’t know how we did it,” Al Horford said. “[Durant] torched us just four games ago, so credit to JT, JB, Jrue, the guys that were guarding him, just made it tough on him. I don’t know. That’s impressive.”
6. With Kristaps Porzingis sidelined again, Horford started and tied his career-high for 3-pointers made in a game, shooting 6-for-10 from behind the arc. He finished with 24 points and – well-rested after a night off against the Jazz – he looked spry.
“We have so much love and respect for Al and the things that he’s accomplished in this league,” Tatum said. “We understand how valuable he is to our team. His presence on and off the court. His voice, the way he goes about his job every single day, showing up, being there for us, the ultimate teammate. Somebody we’re really lucky to have.”
7. Porzingis, incidentally, worked out with his teammates prior to the game. Mazzulla said he is progressing.
“I don’t think it’s long term, but I think we just kind of see how he is day to day,” Mazzulla said. “But he’s getting steps, feeling good, and he’s out there working today with the guys.”
8. After scoring 37 points, Brown exchanged jerseys with star Arsenal striker Bukayo Saka, who sat in the front row at TD Garden.
Saka had a little extra time during his busy Premier League schedule: Arsenal’s game against Chelsea this weekend was postponed after Chelsea made the FA Cup quarter finals.
9. In case you were concerned about their playoff chances, the Celtics clinched a spot with Thursday’s win. Their magic number to clinch the Eastern Conference is now seven (with the Bucks).
10. The Celtics have now won four games in a row and 15 of their last 17. They will look to extend that winning streak on Sunday against the Wizards. The game tips off in Washington at 6 p.m.
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