Brown leads Celtics to statement win over Cavs

Boston Celtics

Wednesday’s win said quite a bit about this team, even if the individual bullet points were things we already knew.

The Celtics built a double-digit lead early and held onto it throughout most of the second half en route to a massive 125-105 win over the Cavaliers. 

Here are the takeaways.

That was an impressive, important win

The Celtics have a brutally difficult start to the season, especially for a team with so much change, and they were in real danger of digging themselves a nasty hole after they lost a winnable game against the 76ers in the opener. Losing to the Knicks and Pistons weren’t problematic results in a vacuum, but with two three-games-in-four-nights stretches and contests against championship contenders on the horizon, the Celtics had a chance to go winless or 1-6 in their first seven games. 

Wednesday’s game changed that. Now if Boston wins one (or both) of their next two games, they could escape their tough stretch at 3-4 or even (dare we even write it?) 4-3 before a promising stretch of opponents opens up. 

But set aside the record talk, since it’s so early in the season. Wednesday’s win said quite a bit about this team, even if the individual bullet points were things we already knew. Of course the Celtics can win if they make 3-pointers, and of course they can win if they mitigate (albeit not eliminate) the damage done on the offensive glass. 

But seeing those things in practice against a better team is a reminder that the Celtics – for all of the myriad problems with their Island-of-Misfit-Toys roster – still do have a lot of really good players, and good players can win games against great teams even if the roster construction isn’t perfect. 

Last year’s team knew exactly who they needed to be right at the start of the season and were able to play with an identity for 82 games plus the playoffs. 

This year’s group has a lot of holes, and they are still figuring themselves out, but if they can pull together an identity that maximizes the talent they have on the roster, they could be competitive against contenders far more frequently.

“We have to leverage our strengths, and we’re starting to really see what those strengths are, and it’s a credit to them buying in and doing it” Joe Mazzulla told reporters after the game. 

“So five games in, we’ve got 77 left, we’ve got to do it every night. 

Jaylen Brown was full-stop brilliant

One player who is repeatedly proving himself more than ready for his new role is Jaylen Brown, who scored 30 efficient points on 12-for-20 shooting. Brown shot 4-for-9 from 3-point range, including two straight at the end of the second quarter that pushed the lead to 15 going into the break. 

According to Mazzulla, Brown wouldn’t classify this as a new role. 

“I think that’s what outside people are saying,” Mazzulla said. “He’s not saying that. He’s saying ‘I have to play my game and do what the team needs me to do to win.’”

Fair enough, but from an outside perspective on Brown, what the team needs him to do has shifted, even if Brown’s stated objectives are the same. The Celtics now need him to be the load-bearing pillar every night, even when teams are focusing on him entirely, which is a lot different than playing next to Jayson Tatum.

So far, Brown has been up for the challenge. He scored 41 against the Pistons in the loss – one of the few bright spots in an otherwise ugly game – and he stepped up again on Wednesday. The Celtics’ racecar identity suits Brown perfectly, and he has done a nice job of looking for his shot without trying to dominate possession too thoroughly. Brown’s brilliance also has been crucial as Derrick White continues to struggle in his own new role. 

“At the end of the day, it’s your job to come out, have fun and play ball,” Brown said. “I feel like I’m one of the best at that, so just coming out and just playing. That’s it.”

Sam Hauser’s fiery start

Hauser came off the bench on Wednesday as Josh Minott got his second straight start following Monday’s 15-point outing in the starting lineup against the Pelicans.

Immediately after entering the game, Hauser got into one of the famous grooves that have made him such a valuable contributor over the last few years. He buried his first 3-point attempt on his first possession off the bench, which is always concerning for an opponent, and sure enough, he hit his second attempt on the next possession as well. On Hauser’s third possession, he hit his third three, and after letting Anfernee Simons have a turn with a triple, Hauser hit his fourth two possessions later with one of his patented no-dip spot-up jumpers. 

When Hauser gets hot, he can change the trajectory of a game in a minuscule amount of time. He finished with 21 points in 21 minutes on 7-for-13 shooting (every attempt was a three), and his shooting set the tone for the Celtics’ big night, even if the scoreline took another quarter to catch up.

The Celtics gave up their third 42-point quarter of the season

Spurred by Hauser’s 3-point barrage, the Celtics managed to put up 40 points in the first quarter – an impressive offensive output that was undone by the third 42-point quarter they have surrendered this season. 

The Celtics were able to make up for it by continuing to bomb away from 3-point range in the second quarter, and Brown’s brilliance right before the half sent them into the break with a double-digit lead, but the box score was a stark reminder once again that the Celtics’ defense simply isn’t what it once was.

The Celtics held the Cavaliers off the offensive glass for a while

The Celtics were never going to be able to keep Cleveland off the offensive glass all evening, but they managed to mitigate the damage done by Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen for the first 24 minutes – somewhat incredibly, the Celtics were out-scoring the Cavaliers 16-3 on second-chance points at the half. 

The Cavaliers then roared back, outscoring the Celtics 17-7 in the second half to finish the game 23-20. Still, when Joe Mazzulla talks about the importance of offensive rebounding as a way to counteract struggles on the defensive glass, this is a perfect example: Second-chance points are a marginal stat. If the Celtics can win that margin, they can give themselves a great chance to win a game even if they struggle to keep opponents off the glass. 

“I just think it’s one of those things that you have to make the choice every day when you get up that you’re going to rebound on both ends of the floor,” Mazzulla said. “That’s just … when you wake up in the morning, you’ve got to just make that choice. So it’s not something that we figured out. […]

“It’s just one of those habits and disciplines that never goes away and you just constantly have to work on it.”

Josh Minott got his second start in a row

Have we mentioned yet that the Celtics have a bizarre roster?

Josh Minott got a DNP-CD against the Pistons. He then started against the Pelicans and scored 15 points, which earned him another starting nod Wednesday. 

In the process, Sam Hauser got just 21 minutes. Baylor Scheierman, meanwhile, played some limited minutes, while promising rookie Hugo González would have received a DNP-CD if the Celtics hadn’t forced garbage time. Chris Boucher was the only player on the 13-man active roster who didn’t log any playing time at all. 

For his part, Minott was excellent again – 11 points and a team-high 14 rebounds, as well as a pair of corner 3-pointers. The rebounding stats are the most eye-catching, but the made 3-pointers are incredibly important as well. If Minott can be a relatively reliable corner 3-point shooter with his size, length and defensive activity, he can likely remain a contributor long after Jayson Tatum returns to the roster, even if his starting role isn’t permanent. 

“We were all stars in high school and I’d say most of us were stars in college,” Minott said. “So you’ve got to understand that not everybody’s going to be a star. I’ve got no problem with that. I’ll go make y’all look good. Just rebound, defend, try and make the other teams’ good players not look as good, and y’all just continue to do what y’all do. 

“[I’m] just blessed to have a great group of guys around me. And y’all see it, man, they good. They good at basketball.”

Neemias Queta played well again too

Queta has an impressive ability to stuff the stat sheet – he finished with 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting, but he added 13 rebounds (five offensive), three assists, and three steals. He scored six of the Celtics’ 23 second-chance points. 

Derrick White and Payton Pritchard continued to struggle

Worth noting on a night when so much else was positive: White was 5-for-20 from the field, and Pritchard was 4-for-13 including 1-for-8 from deep. Both players are in much different roles – White’s spot-up shooting has plummeted now that he’s expected to score more off the bounce, while Pritchard is playing more consistently against first-unit competition – but the Celtics will need more from both, especially on nights when Sam Hauser doesn’t make seven 3-pointers.

What’s next

The Celtics now take a much friendlier 2-3 record into their first NBA Cup game of the season on Friday – a second showdown against the 76ers after Philadelphia nipped them in the season opener. After Friday’s game, the Celtics will take on the Rockets at TD Garden in their third game in four nights (for the second time in the young season) on Saturday.