At times last season, the Celtics did not show up against inferior opponents. They came into games assuming they would roll over the competition, sometimes when they were without their stars. That lack of focus showed at points in the playoffs.
But the Celtics arrived to training camp with a changed mindset. They have proven this season that they aren’t overlooking anybody, and they have continued to show that deep into March – even when there is almost nothing left for them to play for before the playoffs.
For a second consecutive night, the Celtics took care of business against the basement of the NBA. A night after they mopped the Wizards in the nation’s capital, the Celtics ran away from the Pistons with a 119-94 victory at TD Garden.
Derrick White secured his first career triple-double with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, Jaylen Brown scored 31 points, while Payton Pritchard added 23 and Kristaps Porzingis had 20 as the Celtics grabbed their sixth consecutive win.
With a 54-14 record, they are a season-high 40 games above .500, and they have done so by taking care of business against teams they should. They improved to 26-1 against teams below .500 this season, a significant improvement from last season’s 24-10 mark and a testament to their questioned growth as a more mature group. It continues to be just as impressive now, maybe even more so, as the Celtics sit comfortably with a 10-game lead over the Bucks.
“They are self-motivated,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I think if you want to get to the level that we want to get to, there’s time for short-term motivational pockets, but the greatest strength of this team is the locker room and their character and the way that they play. We’ve had very few of those this year.”
The Celtics had very little trouble against the 12-win Pistons, taking control for most of the night and essentially sealing the game with a dominant 33-20 third quarter. Brown scored 14 of his 31 in the period and the Celtics went on a 19-4 run to close the quarter.
Porzingis – who returned after a five-game absence due to a hamstring strain – was on a minutes restriction and played just six minutes in the first half before playing 15 consecutive minutes to start the third quarter without a break. He looked unbothered by the hamstring as he recorded a chase-down block and flew in for an offensive rebound during the Celtics’ third quarter stretch that led to a Brown bucket.
“It felt great. It felt great,” Porzingis said. “Yeah, just different because I had the minutes restriction. Just different spurts of playing. I barely played in the first and then in the second I had a longer stretch. Something unusual, but other than that it’s always good to be out there.”
White, with Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday both out, had the ball in his hands more on Monday night and made the most of it. During a long second quarter stretch, he led the second unit without Porzingis and Brown on the floor. The Celtics were plus-four in those minutes, and White went into halftime with 17 points – which included five 3-pointers – and seven assists.
The only drama came in the fourth quarter, when White realized he was two assists away from his first career triple-double. That’s when he went on a little bit of stat-hunting, which yielded mixed results. After getting his ninth assist on a Porzingis 3-pointer, White forced the issue and committed a pair of turnovers. His passes weren’t resulting in made shots.
Midway through the fourth quarter, after the Celtics called a timeout up by 26, it seemed like White’s triple-double chase was over. But he stayed in the game and on the first play out of the timeout, the Celtics created an action that resulted in a White pass to Pritchard, who made a 3-pointer to complete his teammate’s triple-double.
“I knew we were running an action to get him the ball,” Pritchard said. “Me and Svi (Mykhailiuk) were going to run a little two-man action. I knew one of us was going to get it. If I got it, I was going to let it fly. I’m just glad I made it. Got him the triple.”
There was a sense of relief from White, who always plays the right way and felt uncomfortable in playing for himself in his triple-double chase.
“It was weird,” White said. “I didn’t like it. And I didn’t play too good doing it. So I gotta not do that ever again. Hopefully.”
White earned himself a celebration during his postgame interview on NBC Sports Boston, when teammates showered him with water. Given everything White has done for the Celtics over his two-plus seasons in Boston, it was almost a surprise that this was his first career triple-double.
“I think it’s hard not to love him, no?” Porzingis said. “This guy just on and off the court is a unique human and unique player. I can go on and on and give compliments to D-White honestly about who he is. Everybody loves him here and it’s good always to see people like this getting recognition on the floor also. And that’s what he did tonight.”
