The Celtics are making a mockery of the NBA early this season
BOSTON -- Well, it looks like the Celtics aren't having any trouble finding chemistry with each other after some significant changes were made to the roster in the offseason. Through four games, they've become so good that they're almost unwatchable.
Of course, anyone who relishes a Celtics victory has enjoyed watching the whole season, and particularly the last 96 minutes of basketball. But the most recent display from Boston kind of made a mockery of the league. And the sport. And definitely the Indiana Pacers.
The Celtics led 44-27 at the end of the first quarter, they held a ridiculous 75-54 lead at halftime, and they stretched it to an absurd 109-71 lead after three quarters.
With the starters resting and the bench emptied, the Celtics managed to score more points in the fourth quarter -- 46 -- than they had in any of the previous three. The end result was a comical 155-104 final score over the Pacers, who had actually entered the game with a winning record. It might take them a while to shake this one off.
For those hoping to witness some competitive NBA basketball, the events that played out on the TD Garden floor were a tough scene.
"It's just who they are. It's just them," head coach Joe Mazzulla said after his team improved to 4-0. "They're aware of it. They've been around a long time. They communicate with each other. And then, it's kind of the standard that they set for themselves. Even in the 8-minute mark [of the third quarter] to about 6 or 4 when they came out, I thought we were competing, making multiple efforts. And like, that is a testament to the toughness that you have to have to handle the things that go on in the NBA. So we have to have the humility to understand that it went well for us, and we've just gotta be ready for the times that it doesn't."
Zero starters played more than 27 minutes, with Jayson Tatum leading the way with 30 points, followed by Derrick White (18), Jaylen Brown (16), Jrue Holiday (15) and Kristaps Porzingis (13). The five starters shot 57 percent from the field and 55 percent from 3-point range, while Sam Hauser (17 points), Payton Pritchard (15) and Dalano Banton (11) inflicted damage off the bench.
The 155-point total was the second-highest in Celtics history and the most points the Celtics have scored in a game since Feb. 27, 1959. None of the current Celtics' parents had been born the last time the team scored 155 points. (A 24-year-old Tom Heinsohn led the team with 43 points over the Minneapolis Lakers that night, by the way.)
The 51-point margin of victory was -- amazingly -- only the third-largest in Celtics history. Though you have a short memory if you didn't know that, because they beat the Kings by 53 points two seasons ago, and they beat the Bulls by 56 points in December of 2018.
The Celtics' game recap notes that it's the first time the team has scored 75 first-half points in back-to-back games, as the team was coming off a blowout victory over Washington on Monday night. The season is young, but the Celtics are one of just two undefeated teams at 4-0 (Dallas is the other), and they lead the league with 127 points per game. (Atlanta is second, at 122.8.) They're also allowing the eighth-fewest points per game, at 106.5, and their league-leading average point differential of plus-20.5 -- yes, plus 20.5 -- is more than eight points better than the next-best team.
They rank second in the NBA in field-goal percentage, just a tenth of a point behind league-leading Devner, they're fifth in 3-point percentage, and they lead the league in rebounding.
They'll hit some adversity and lose some games at some point. Probably. Mazzulla warned about that with his postgame comments.
But for now, the Boston Celtics are just bulldozing their way through the start of this season.
