Celtics’ Magical Season: Joe Mazzulla drops truth bomb on Celtics’ narrow win over Kings, Celtics’ depth is a major weapon in their search for…..
The Celtics’ bench unit was able to survive the Kings’ comeback bid.
Okay, the Boston Celtics are just messing around now. In their game against the Sacramento Kings, Boston dominated the first three quarters. They went into the fourth quarter up 84-72, with them holding a lead as big as 25 at one point. Sensing an opportunity to get some rest, Joe Mazzulla elected to bench his starters.
On the other hand, Mike Brown continued to play his starters. Slowly but surely, the Kings caught up to the Celtics. Instead of flinching and bringing in the regular starters to close out the game… Mazzulla elected to keep his bench in. The bench rewarded him greatly, earning the win over the Sacramento starters.
“This is fun,” Mazzulla said afterward. “This is awesome. Couldn’t simulate a better environment of stress, pressure, chaos. It’s a perfect environment to execute. That’s why when those guys are in, you hold them to the same standard you hold everybody else to. I thought they did a great job just making plays.”
“All those guys have played a significant role in winning games the entire season,” Mazzulla said. “When guys have been injured, they stepped up. Everybody on that floor has started a game for us this year, I think, or played significant, significant minutes. So it’s just a testament to them. And whoever is on the floor, I always feel like we have a chance to win.”
The Celtics relied on heroics from Xavier Tillman, Payton Pritchard, and Kristaps Porzingis to secure the win. Pritchard paced the team with 23 points, while KP dropped a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. As for Tillman… his final shot in the fourth quarter proved to be the game-winner.
Celtics’ magical season
This win is a perfect showing of just how good the Celtics have been this season. While the West is currently being contested by three teams, Boston has taken full control of the East. They’ve just been consistently great this season, for a multitude of reasons. The biggest reason, though, is their astronomically deep bench.
Yes, their starting lineup is pretty damn stacked. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown being flanked by Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, and Al Horford is a solid lineup. But then, they have Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and Tillman coming off the bench. The result is a pretty well=rounded team that’s able to deal with every problem thrown at them. Their win over the Kings shows that they’re pretty damn capable in their own right.
After a decade of being the bridesmaid in various ways, the Celtics are looking to finally capture that elusive NBA championship. They’ve been contenders for the last few years, but always fell short at different moments. With a much-improved starting lineup backed up by some amazing players, is this the season they finally win it all? Based on their current performance, they sure have a good shot at the Larry O’Brien trophy.
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