To silence any noise from anyone who started doubting them after back-to-back losses, the Boston Celtics made a statement on Friday night. Boston completed a complete annihilation of the Pacers with a resounding 142-105 victory.
The Celtics won every single quarter, highlighted by scoring 39 points in both the first and fourth quarters. Boston’s most recent dominating performance came after losses to the Orlando Magic and a Christmas Day defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Even though the Magic are a playoff team and the 76ers have tons of talent and high expectations, no loss is acceptable for the defending champions, and losing multiple games in a row is unheard of in Boston this season.
Of course, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla downplayed any thought of his team being extra motivated to respond following consecutive losses after the win over the Pacers.
“Where our guys are motivated is to just stay even-keeled. This doesn’t really matter, just as much as the last game we lost doesn’t matter, because we have a game in 48 hours,” said Mazzulla.
But the play of his team told a different story and sent a message, whether intentional or unintentional, nonetheless.
The Celtics shot 51.6% from the field as a team and connected on 23-of-57 three-point attempts, good enough for 40.4%.
Jaylen Brown was the star of the night, much the same way he was en route to winning the NBA Finals MVP in June. Brown scored a season-high 44 points in 37 minutes. He also added five rebounds and three assists.
Jayson Tatum posted a double-double of 22 points, 13 rebounds and four assists as well. Payton Prichard even contributed 18 points of his own, as the Celtics flex their depth against the same Pacers team they beat in the Eastern Conference Finals this past postseason.
With the win, the Celtics are now 23-8 on the season. However, Boston’s mini losing streak coupled with the Cavaliers’ entering Friday night riding a five-game win streak and the Celtics sit 3.5 games back for the East’s No. 1 seed.
Based on already knowing how to win a championship and performances like a 37-point beat down of Indiana, there’s no one around NBA circles who should ever doubt that the Celtics can dominate on any given night and are a favorite to win another NBA title.