April 4, 2025 • 18 mins
Payton Pritchard made the record-setting 3-pointer that gave the Boston Celtics the most 3-point makes in a single season in NBA history. That was just a part of a blowout win over the Phoenix Suns, despite Devin Booker’s best efforts. We’re sounding off on the bounce-back win that featured a superstar night from Jaylen Brown, a balanced attack from the reserves like Pritchard and Luke Kornet, and strong defense at the other end.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Noun off would be poked.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
On Friday night, Geno time showing up at TD Garden. Yes,
the Celtics got back into the win columns, and they
did it in resounding fashion. They win by twenty points
over the Phoenix Suns to sweep the season series against
the Sun's team that certainly is not living up to
expectations this season. That team is fighting for a playoff
(00:28):
spot and just to get into the play in Meanwhile,
the Boston Celtics are sitting very comfortable in that number
two seed in the East. It looks like they're going
to be locked into that position heading into the NBA playoffs.
And listen, this game was needed, this bounce back was needed.
Tonight against Phoenix. The Boston Celtics look like themselves. They
(00:48):
look like the team that we've seen all season long,
outside of that little stretch from mid December to mid January.
This is the team tonight that controls the of the game.
This is the team that makes the other team adjust
to them. This is the team that can make a
run to the NBA Finals. Now, this also is not
(01:11):
the team that we saw on Wednesday night. Wednesday night,
when this team came back for its first home game
following a six game road trip, all of which, by
the way, the Boston Celtics won all six of those
games on the road trip. But that team that played
Wednesday night, it looked tired, It looked exhausted, it looked
mentally drained. It simply did not look like itself. And
(01:32):
so you fast forward forty eight hours and you want
to see that's a critical part of championship caliber teams
is being able to flush those ugly games down the
drain and then flip a switch and get right back
to who you really are at your core in your
next game. That's what Boston did tonight. We're not even
gonna remember what happened Wednesday night because the Celtics got
(01:55):
back on track during this game, and a lot of
people out there, you know, the Celtics are up by
twenty plus points during the fourth quarter, a lot of
people are wondering, why does Joe Mizoula have Jason Tatum
check him back in with five or six minutes left?
Why is Jalen Brown out there? Derek why Drew Holliday?
Why are these guys out on the court? I had
a hunch, and Joe mizula confirmed it after the game.
(02:18):
The reason is because he wants to get these guys
extended minutes together down the stretch of the season. And
I don't think they're gonna wind up playing all together
in a whole lot of games the rest of the season,
so this is not a lot of time to do it.
Time is of the essence, and he's trying to get
these core players on the court together. Let me tell
(02:39):
you this, if you didn't see this, you didn't know this.
You didn't see it when I sent it out on
X earlier tonight during the game, this was only the
twenty third game that Boston starters have played.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Together this year.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Think about that, we're almost eighty games into the season.
This is the twenty third game that the Celtics starters
have played together. That's just incredible to think about that
for this season, that the Celtics are where they are
on the verge of winning sixty games and their starters
have only played twenty three games together this season and
(03:13):
that includes tonight. So to the point of what Joe
Missoula is getting at, he wants to get those guys
a good amount of time on the court together to
catch their rhythm together. As the playoffs come around and
get closer and closer at the same time, he's going
to have to figure out how to do that all
while getting these guys some rest and making sure that
they are one hundred percent or as close to it
(03:35):
as they can be heading into the postseason. I got
a feeling that's why he was running these guys tonight
late in the game, and even though it was a blowout,
and he's now going to have to choose over these
final six games of the season, how he's going to
mix and match that. What Knights is he going to
try to do that, What nights is he going to
try to get these guys some rest and make sure
that everyone is good.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
The last thing you want is an injury.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
And by the way, tonight Christas Porzingis got pretty close
to an injury. He got crushed on his nose, wound
up heading out of the game. He was questionable to return.
He did not check back into the game. Looks like
he's fine. He left the court smiling. He returned to
the court smiling, so it looks like he's gonna be okay.
But that could have wound up being a broken nose.
That could have wound up being a broken orbital bone
(04:18):
anything like that. Thank goodness that didn't happen, but you
never know when something like that can happen. So again,
Joe Mizoula is gonna have to kind of balance what
he's doing with these lineups and getting these starters run
together and also protecting them and making sure that everyone's
good for the postseason. But a great bounce back win tonight,
and Jalen Brown was at the forefront of it all.
(04:39):
From the very start of this game. A lot of
people question whether he should be playing right now because
he is dealing with some knee soreness that he has
been very public about and he's acknowledged well. Yet he
proved you tonight that he's just fine. Okay, thirty one
points in the game, six buckets in the paint at
the rim during this contest. That's the biggest thing to me,
(05:01):
not just settling, not just taking three pointers, although he
did connect on a good amount of three pointers tonight,
but he was driving to the basket and connecting on
buckets at the rim. That's what you want to see
out of Jalen Brown. That's how he sets the tone,
that's how he impacts the game first and foremost, and
then everything from the mid range and then the three
point range follow after that, and that's what happened tonight.
(05:23):
So great to see Jalen playing not only great, but
playing strong in getting to the rim.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Tonight.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
His thirty one point game was the first time he's
gotten to thirty one or surpassed thirty points actually in
almost a month. It was March eighth, was the last
time that happened. It was against the Los Angeles Lakers
right here at TD Garden. So it's great to see
him surpass that thirty point barrier, and then the way
he did it was what really stands out. It wasn't
(05:51):
just chucking shots from deep okay, he was getting to
the rim, putting pressure on the defense and not only
getting there but finishing at the rim. That's a big
deal to be the cee Jalen Brown getting back to
being comfortable doing that as he's dealing with some of
this knee soreness. So that's great as a whole for
the Celtics balance across the board, everyone who played more
(06:11):
than two minutes scored in this game, and that really
that was the top nine and that top nine played
the first thirty eight or sorry, forty six minutes of
this game together. There were no one else checked in.
It was the top nine that played in this game
for the majority of the game until those final couple
of minutes when Joe took the main players out.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
But that was great to see.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
All of them get run and then all of them
be involved in all of them score.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Everyone contributed.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
This was a balanced attack and the Celtics wound up
shooting above fifty percent during this game, almost fifty two
percent from the field, thirty six percent from distance.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Not exactly you.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Know, lighting it up, but pretty quality, especially during the
first couple of quarters.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
That first half. The team was on fire.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
But when you look at it, the Celtics scored twenty
nine points in each of the fourth quarters, so the
offense was humming enough during all four quarters to really
be picking apart Phoenix's defense. Twenty nine points a quarter
is pretty darn good, and they actually surpassed that number
in a couple of the quarters. So great offense, and
then at the defensive end of the court, you loved
(07:15):
what you saw the other night, just didn't look like
the Celtics had the energy to defend at a high level. Likewise,
at the other end of the court, they didn't have
the energy to run quality offense with movement and passing
and screening and all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
We just didn't see it Wednesday night. But tonight the
defense was great. I mean.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Devin Booker was the only guy. He scored thirty seven
points for Phoenix. No one else scored more than twelve,
I mean, and many of those points were actually scored
late in the game. Royce O'Neill connected on a couple
three pointers to get his point total up to twelve.
But it was nothing outside of Devin Booker during this game,
and that includes Jason Tatum, his best friend, Bradley Beal.
(07:58):
He only scored one point in the game thirty minutes.
Only scored one point, so the Celtics did a great
job shutting him down, held him to oh of seven.
Devin Booker, as I said, a great performance from him.
He hit some tough shots, but he shot fifteen to
twenty nine from the field for thirty seven points. He
had a great game, but the Celtics kept everyone else
(08:18):
in check. So great to see out of the defense
as well as the offense. Playing two way basketball, at
this time of the year is important, especially as the
playoffs rolled around. All right, let's dive into a couple
comments from our fans tonight. First up we got oh look,
it's Brian with some observations on a few different Celtics
players tonight. And then next up we've got quapped Kay
(08:39):
wapt we all know him on social media, big time
Celtics fan. He's got a comment on the Celtics offense
looking like a juggernaut right now. So let's dive into
the first one here. This is coming in from Oh look,
it's Brian, all right. As I said, first up is
oh look it's Brian. Longtime listener, longtime commenter. I appreciate.
(09:01):
And here's the comment. Luke has been coming into his
own lately. Love seeing it. He's the other big green
monster of Boston. How fitting that the expected six man
of the year hits the record breaking three. Congrats on
the new shoe deal. That's obviously to Peyton Pritchard. And
then lastly JB going energy shifter tonight, great late clock
(09:23):
three off the tip ball.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
All right, let's start out.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
With the commentary on Luke Cornett, who has been arguably
one of the best backup big men in the NBA
this season. Now, a lot of people will take that
and be like, what are you talking about?
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Are you crazy? No, I'm not crazy.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
This guy is reliable and consistent and he brings the
same thing to the Celtics every single night. It doesn't
matter if the stats are there, It matters that the
consistency is there, the reliability is there when you are
surrounded by great players, all star level players, superstar level players,
(10:01):
Hall of Fame level players, and the Celtics have at
least four of them in the starting lineup, and then
Derek White. We'll see what happens the rest of his career,
but excuse me, not in the starting lineup in the
top five. KP is not quite there yet either, but
Al Horford definitely is coming off the bench. When you've
got four Hall of Famers in your top six or
(10:22):
seven players, you've just got to play your role, and
you've got to play it at a high level. As
Brad Stevens used to say, be a superstar in your role.
Luke Cornett is that he's been doing it all season long,
and man, these last couple months, he's really been coming
on and being incredible. Incredibly impactful tonight. He finishes with
(10:42):
twelve points and four rebounds, and it just seems like
he's in the right spot at the right time all
the time, whether it's setting a screen, grabbing a rebound,
tipping a ball out, catching an alley up, finishing a
backhanded aliup.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
It was like almost a reverse dunk, but it was
a thrunk. He kind of threw it in.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
But even with a little grace and athleticism there with
Luke Cornett off the catch on the alu. But he
really has just improved so much in his career and
now he's turned himself into one of the most reliable
and important big men in the NBA. He's been great
off the bench for the Celtics, and I'm telling you
right now they would not be title contenders without him
(11:22):
and with him, man, they've got a nice rotation of
big men to use during the postseason to play all
sorts of lineups. They can play double big, they can
go one big, all sorts of things that Joe Missoula
has at his disposal right now.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
As a Celtics approach the postseason.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Next comment was about Peyton Pritchard hitting the record setting
three pointer Yes, Peyton Pritchard the sixth Man of the Year,
He's got to win the award. I don't think there's
really an argument against it. He is the one who
can the three pointer to make sure that the Boston
Celtics have the most three pointers ever made in NBA
history by any team in a single season. That happened
(12:01):
tonight against the Phoenix Suns, and Peyton Pritchard was the
guy to make the shot.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
It did feel pretty fitting.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I feel like it had to be either him or
Derek White, who was the other marksman on the team
and actually just recently set the record for most three
pointers made by a single player in a single season
in Celtics history. I felt like it had to be
one of those guys, and it did wind up being
one of those guys. With Peyton pritches so great for him.
It was a really cool moment. Awesome to see that
(12:28):
the Celtics are doing what they've always done for their
entire history since nineteen forty six.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
All this team does.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Is right history, and tonight they rewrote history in the
NBA by setting the new record for most three pointers
made by a single team in NBA history. And by
the way They still have six games left, so they're
gonna blow past this number that was set tonight. They're
gonna make another I don't know, six games times ten.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Let's say sixty.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
At least sixty more threes this season, so it's not
even gonna be close. They are gonna run away from
this record. It might be sixty eighty. Who knows how
many they're gonna make over these final six games. So
awesome to see. Congrats to Peyton Pritchard on the new
shoe deal and also congrats on making this big shot
and making history tonight at TD Garden. Last comment here
(13:18):
from Oh look, it's Brian jb going energy shifter tonight.
Great late clock three off the tip ball. That was awesome.
When he made that, I was like, Okay, it's the
Celtics Knight and it's Jalen Browns night. He's gonna have
a big one. And it wound up being the case
thirty one points and the Celtics kind of win this
game running away.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
That shot.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Kind of felt like when Peyton Pritchard made the buzzer
beater at the end of the first half in the
finals game against the Dallas Mavericks. Once he made that
you knew they were gonna win. They did. Felt the
exact same tonight, not quite as much juice behind it.
But once he made that shot, you're like, Okay, that's it.
Call the dogs off. It's the Celtics night. That's exactly
what happened. JB had a great night. We already touched
(13:57):
on that. So great to see him getting to the rim,
scoring thirty plus points and making that pretty cool shot early.
I believe that was in the early in the first quarter.
So thanks for the comments. Oh look, it's Brian. Look
forward to seeing more of you the rest of the season.
Now let's get into our next one. All right, next up,
we've got quapped and here's the comment. Celtics offense was
(14:18):
like a juggernaut. The Jays are both locked in. Kp
is playing the best ball of the season and Prichard
and Luke holding it down off the bench. Don't forget
big Al by the way, mister consistency, what I said
earlier about Luke Cornett being consistent. He is learning from
the man who is a model of consistency, and that
(14:39):
is Al Horford, So don't forget about him. But yes,
the Boston Celtics offense looked like a juggernaut tonight, which
is what they've looked like basically all season long. Outside
of that slump when Derek White wasn't shooting well, the
Jays weren't playing.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
All so well.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Whatever, Let's forget that that even happened in December and January,
because that's not who this team has been for the
majority of this season. They have been a juggernaut offensively,
one of the greatest offensive teams in NBA history, and
they're gonna continue to be that, I guarantee it as
we head toward the postseason and as we get through
the postseason. Tonight you just had a really good look
(15:14):
as to why.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Okay, You've got.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Jalen Brown attacking the rim and scoring from the perimeter.
Jason Tatum scores from all three levels, Christas Porzingiz scores
from all three levels, and as a matchup nightmare. When
anyone small gets switched on to him, he's just gonna
post up and shoot right over them, just like we
saw in the NBA Finals last year. Derek White, we
know that he can shoot from all over the court,
one of the best catch and shoot three point shooters
(15:38):
in the league, and by the way. The best clutch
three point shooter in the league. Drew Holliday didn't have
a big night tonight, but he scored four points, only
had a couple assists. Not a big deal. We know
that he can score at the rim. You just keep
going down the list. Peyton Pritchard, He's a marksman, one
of the best scorers and shooters in the NBA coming
off the bench. Luke Cornett again, as we just talked about,
(16:01):
twelve points, he's been a real rim threat on those
pick and rolls, getting too the rim. The big the
ball handlers are seeing just how valuable it is to
have someone like that rolling off of those screens. When
someone like Jason Tatum or Jalen Brown or Derek White
Garner's attention on those screens, when they've got the ball
(16:21):
in their hands, they know they can just flip it
up and they've got a seven footer that's gonna catch
it high and finish high. And that's exactly what Luke
Cornett is doing. Al Horford consistent as always in Sam
Howse are one of the best three point shooters in
the NBA. This team when everyone is clicking, and really
even when not everyone is clicking. When you've got eighty
percent of that group of nine players are shooting the
(16:43):
ball well and playing well, they're almost unstoppable. They really are,
because you've just got so much skill, You've got so much.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
High basketball IQ. It's hard to make.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
The Celtics make mistakes, and tonight we saw the only
seven turnovers and they shoot almost fifty two percent from
the field. It doesn't get much better than that when
it comes to the game of basketball. So this is
a juggernaut of an offense. Hopefully this continues as we
go through the rest of the season and the playoffs.
I expect it to because this is who the Celtics
(17:17):
have been for the majority of the past two seasons
and it is the same group of players as we've
seen last season. They're going to do it again this season.
They have been doing it again, and man do they
have so much skill and they're just so smart. There's
no way to take away their strengths because they have
so many strengths, and everyone is totally willing to say, Okay,
(17:38):
it's not my night, I'll get it over to this guy,
it's his night because of the way this team is
defending us. So just another example, tonight of the Boston Celtics,
just picking apart a defense to the tune of one
hundred and twenty three points on fifty two percent shooting
in everyone in the top nine scoring and six of
those guys scoring in double fis an excellent night from
(18:01):
the Boston Celtics. We said it the other night on
sound Off. We needed the Celtics to bounce back tonight
against Phoenix, and they did it in Geno fashion. Gino
was up on the JumboTron. Everyone was dancing, having a
good time. That's exactly what you want on a Friday night.
Great way to go into the weekend. But the Celtics
work is not done. They will be back on the
(18:22):
teed Garden court at six o'clock Sunday night. They've got
Marcus Smart, Malcolm Brogden and the Washington Wizards coming to
town looking to close out the weekend.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
And this homestand with a win.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
So I appreciate you guys watching, listening, commenting, and I
hope you do the same Sunday.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Have a great weekend and I'll see you Monday.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Never Hick
Noun off would be poked.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
On Friday night, Geno time showing up at TD Garden. Yes,
the Celtics got back into the win columns, and they
did it in resounding fashion. They win by twenty points
over the Phoenix Suns to sweep the season series against
the Sun's team that certainly is not living up to
expectations this season. That team is fighting for a playoff
(00:28):
spot and just to get into the play in Meanwhile,
the Boston Celtics are sitting very comfortable in that number
two seed in the East. It looks like they're going
to be locked into that position heading into the NBA playoffs.
And listen, this game was needed, this bounce back was needed.
Tonight against Phoenix. The Boston Celtics look like themselves. They
(00:48):
look like the team that we've seen all season long,
outside of that little stretch from mid December to mid January.
This is the team tonight that controls the of the game.
This is the team that makes the other team adjust
to them. This is the team that can make a
run to the NBA Finals. Now, this also is not
(01:11):
the team that we saw on Wednesday night. Wednesday night,
when this team came back for its first home game
following a six game road trip, all of which, by
the way, the Boston Celtics won all six of those
games on the road trip. But that team that played
Wednesday night, it looked tired, It looked exhausted, it looked
mentally drained. It simply did not look like itself. And
(01:32):
so you fast forward forty eight hours and you want
to see that's a critical part of championship caliber teams
is being able to flush those ugly games down the
drain and then flip a switch and get right back
to who you really are at your core in your
next game. That's what Boston did tonight. We're not even
gonna remember what happened Wednesday night because the Celtics got
(01:55):
back on track during this game, and a lot of
people out there, you know, the Celtics are up by
twenty plus points during the fourth quarter, a lot of
people are wondering, why does Joe Mizoula have Jason Tatum
check him back in with five or six minutes left?
Why is Jalen Brown out there? Derek why Drew Holliday?
Why are these guys out on the court? I had
a hunch, and Joe mizula confirmed it after the game.
(02:18):
The reason is because he wants to get these guys
extended minutes together down the stretch of the season. And
I don't think they're gonna wind up playing all together
in a whole lot of games the rest of the season,
so this is not a lot of time to do it.
Time is of the essence, and he's trying to get
these core players on the court together. Let me tell
(02:39):
you this, if you didn't see this, you didn't know this.
You didn't see it when I sent it out on
X earlier tonight during the game, this was only the
twenty third game that Boston starters have played.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Together this year.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Think about that, we're almost eighty games into the season.
This is the twenty third game that the Celtics starters
have played together. That's just incredible to think about that
for this season, that the Celtics are where they are
on the verge of winning sixty games and their starters
have only played twenty three games together this season and
(03:13):
that includes tonight. So to the point of what Joe
Missoula is getting at, he wants to get those guys
a good amount of time on the court together to
catch their rhythm together. As the playoffs come around and
get closer and closer at the same time, he's going
to have to figure out how to do that all
while getting these guys some rest and making sure that
they are one hundred percent or as close to it
(03:35):
as they can be heading into the postseason. I got
a feeling that's why he was running these guys tonight
late in the game, and even though it was a blowout,
and he's now going to have to choose over these
final six games of the season, how he's going to
mix and match that. What Knights is he going to
try to do that, What nights is he going to
try to get these guys some rest and make sure
that everyone is good.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
The last thing you want is an injury.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
And by the way, tonight Christas Porzingis got pretty close
to an injury. He got crushed on his nose, wound
up heading out of the game. He was questionable to return.
He did not check back into the game. Looks like
he's fine. He left the court smiling. He returned to
the court smiling, so it looks like he's gonna be okay.
But that could have wound up being a broken nose.
That could have wound up being a broken orbital bone
(04:18):
anything like that. Thank goodness that didn't happen, but you
never know when something like that can happen. So again,
Joe Mizoula is gonna have to kind of balance what
he's doing with these lineups and getting these starters run
together and also protecting them and making sure that everyone's
good for the postseason. But a great bounce back win tonight,
and Jalen Brown was at the forefront of it all.
(04:39):
From the very start of this game. A lot of
people question whether he should be playing right now because
he is dealing with some knee soreness that he has
been very public about and he's acknowledged well. Yet he
proved you tonight that he's just fine. Okay, thirty one
points in the game, six buckets in the paint at
the rim during this contest. That's the biggest thing to me,
(05:01):
not just settling, not just taking three pointers, although he
did connect on a good amount of three pointers tonight,
but he was driving to the basket and connecting on
buckets at the rim. That's what you want to see
out of Jalen Brown. That's how he sets the tone,
that's how he impacts the game first and foremost, and
then everything from the mid range and then the three
point range follow after that, and that's what happened tonight.
(05:23):
So great to see Jalen playing not only great, but
playing strong in getting to the rim.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Tonight.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
His thirty one point game was the first time he's
gotten to thirty one or surpassed thirty points actually in
almost a month. It was March eighth, was the last
time that happened. It was against the Los Angeles Lakers
right here at TD Garden. So it's great to see
him surpass that thirty point barrier, and then the way
he did it was what really stands out. It wasn't
(05:51):
just chucking shots from deep okay, he was getting to
the rim, putting pressure on the defense and not only
getting there but finishing at the rim. That's a big
deal to be the cee Jalen Brown getting back to
being comfortable doing that as he's dealing with some of
this knee soreness. So that's great as a whole for
the Celtics balance across the board, everyone who played more
(06:11):
than two minutes scored in this game, and that really
that was the top nine and that top nine played
the first thirty eight or sorry, forty six minutes of
this game together. There were no one else checked in.
It was the top nine that played in this game
for the majority of the game until those final couple
of minutes when Joe took the main players out.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
But that was great to see.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
All of them get run and then all of them
be involved in all of them score.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Everyone contributed.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
This was a balanced attack and the Celtics wound up
shooting above fifty percent during this game, almost fifty two
percent from the field, thirty six percent from distance.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Not exactly you.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Know, lighting it up, but pretty quality, especially during the
first couple of quarters.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
That first half. The team was on fire.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
But when you look at it, the Celtics scored twenty
nine points in each of the fourth quarters, so the
offense was humming enough during all four quarters to really
be picking apart Phoenix's defense. Twenty nine points a quarter
is pretty darn good, and they actually surpassed that number
in a couple of the quarters. So great offense, and
then at the defensive end of the court, you loved
(07:15):
what you saw the other night, just didn't look like
the Celtics had the energy to defend at a high level. Likewise,
at the other end of the court, they didn't have
the energy to run quality offense with movement and passing
and screening and all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
We just didn't see it Wednesday night. But tonight the
defense was great. I mean.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Devin Booker was the only guy. He scored thirty seven
points for Phoenix. No one else scored more than twelve,
I mean, and many of those points were actually scored
late in the game. Royce O'Neill connected on a couple
three pointers to get his point total up to twelve.
But it was nothing outside of Devin Booker during this game,
and that includes Jason Tatum, his best friend, Bradley Beal.
(07:58):
He only scored one point in the game thirty minutes.
Only scored one point, so the Celtics did a great
job shutting him down, held him to oh of seven.
Devin Booker, as I said, a great performance from him.
He hit some tough shots, but he shot fifteen to
twenty nine from the field for thirty seven points. He
had a great game, but the Celtics kept everyone else
(08:18):
in check. So great to see out of the defense
as well as the offense. Playing two way basketball, at
this time of the year is important, especially as the
playoffs rolled around. All right, let's dive into a couple
comments from our fans tonight. First up we got oh look,
it's Brian with some observations on a few different Celtics
players tonight. And then next up we've got quapped Kay
(08:39):
wapt we all know him on social media, big time
Celtics fan. He's got a comment on the Celtics offense
looking like a juggernaut right now. So let's dive into
the first one here. This is coming in from Oh look,
it's Brian, all right. As I said, first up is
oh look it's Brian. Longtime listener, longtime commenter. I appreciate.
(09:01):
And here's the comment. Luke has been coming into his
own lately. Love seeing it. He's the other big green
monster of Boston. How fitting that the expected six man
of the year hits the record breaking three. Congrats on
the new shoe deal. That's obviously to Peyton Pritchard. And
then lastly JB going energy shifter tonight, great late clock
(09:23):
three off the tip ball.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
All right, let's start out.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
With the commentary on Luke Cornett, who has been arguably
one of the best backup big men in the NBA
this season. Now, a lot of people will take that
and be like, what are you talking about?
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Are you crazy? No, I'm not crazy.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
This guy is reliable and consistent and he brings the
same thing to the Celtics every single night. It doesn't
matter if the stats are there, It matters that the
consistency is there, the reliability is there when you are
surrounded by great players, all star level players, superstar level players,
(10:01):
Hall of Fame level players, and the Celtics have at
least four of them in the starting lineup, and then
Derek White. We'll see what happens the rest of his career,
but excuse me, not in the starting lineup in the
top five. KP is not quite there yet either, but
Al Horford definitely is coming off the bench. When you've
got four Hall of Famers in your top six or
(10:22):
seven players, you've just got to play your role, and
you've got to play it at a high level. As
Brad Stevens used to say, be a superstar in your role.
Luke Cornett is that he's been doing it all season long,
and man, these last couple months, he's really been coming
on and being incredible. Incredibly impactful tonight. He finishes with
(10:42):
twelve points and four rebounds, and it just seems like
he's in the right spot at the right time all
the time, whether it's setting a screen, grabbing a rebound,
tipping a ball out, catching an alley up, finishing a
backhanded aliup.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
It was like almost a reverse dunk, but it was
a thrunk. He kind of threw it in.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
But even with a little grace and athleticism there with
Luke Cornett off the catch on the alu. But he
really has just improved so much in his career and
now he's turned himself into one of the most reliable
and important big men in the NBA. He's been great
off the bench for the Celtics, and I'm telling you
right now they would not be title contenders without him
(11:22):
and with him, man, they've got a nice rotation of
big men to use during the postseason to play all
sorts of lineups. They can play double big, they can
go one big, all sorts of things that Joe Missoula
has at his disposal right now.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
As a Celtics approach the postseason.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Next comment was about Peyton Pritchard hitting the record setting
three pointer Yes, Peyton Pritchard the sixth Man of the Year,
He's got to win the award. I don't think there's
really an argument against it. He is the one who
can the three pointer to make sure that the Boston
Celtics have the most three pointers ever made in NBA
history by any team in a single season. That happened
(12:01):
tonight against the Phoenix Suns, and Peyton Pritchard was the
guy to make the shot.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
It did feel pretty fitting.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I feel like it had to be either him or
Derek White, who was the other marksman on the team
and actually just recently set the record for most three
pointers made by a single player in a single season
in Celtics history. I felt like it had to be
one of those guys, and it did wind up being
one of those guys. With Peyton pritches so great for him.
It was a really cool moment. Awesome to see that
(12:28):
the Celtics are doing what they've always done for their
entire history since nineteen forty six.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
All this team does.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Is right history, and tonight they rewrote history in the
NBA by setting the new record for most three pointers
made by a single team in NBA history. And by
the way They still have six games left, so they're
gonna blow past this number that was set tonight. They're
gonna make another I don't know, six games times ten.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Let's say sixty.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
At least sixty more threes this season, so it's not
even gonna be close. They are gonna run away from
this record. It might be sixty eighty. Who knows how
many they're gonna make over these final six games. So
awesome to see. Congrats to Peyton Pritchard on the new
shoe deal and also congrats on making this big shot
and making history tonight at TD Garden. Last comment here
(13:18):
from Oh look, it's Brian jb going energy shifter tonight.
Great late clock three off the tip ball. That was awesome.
When he made that, I was like, Okay, it's the
Celtics Knight and it's Jalen Browns night. He's gonna have
a big one. And it wound up being the case
thirty one points and the Celtics kind of win this
game running away.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
That shot.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Kind of felt like when Peyton Pritchard made the buzzer
beater at the end of the first half in the
finals game against the Dallas Mavericks. Once he made that
you knew they were gonna win. They did. Felt the
exact same tonight, not quite as much juice behind it.
But once he made that shot, you're like, Okay, that's it.
Call the dogs off. It's the Celtics night. That's exactly
what happened. JB had a great night. We already touched
(13:57):
on that. So great to see him getting to the rim,
scoring thirty plus points and making that pretty cool shot early.
I believe that was in the early in the first quarter.
So thanks for the comments. Oh look, it's Brian. Look
forward to seeing more of you the rest of the season.
Now let's get into our next one. All right, next up,
we've got quapped and here's the comment. Celtics offense was
(14:18):
like a juggernaut. The Jays are both locked in. Kp
is playing the best ball of the season and Prichard
and Luke holding it down off the bench. Don't forget
big Al by the way, mister consistency, what I said
earlier about Luke Cornett being consistent. He is learning from
the man who is a model of consistency, and that
(14:39):
is Al Horford, So don't forget about him. But yes,
the Boston Celtics offense looked like a juggernaut tonight, which
is what they've looked like basically all season long. Outside
of that slump when Derek White wasn't shooting well, the
Jays weren't playing.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
All so well.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Whatever, Let's forget that that even happened in December and January,
because that's not who this team has been for the
majority of this season. They have been a juggernaut offensively,
one of the greatest offensive teams in NBA history, and
they're gonna continue to be that, I guarantee it as
we head toward the postseason and as we get through
the postseason. Tonight you just had a really good look
(15:14):
as to why.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Okay, You've got.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Jalen Brown attacking the rim and scoring from the perimeter.
Jason Tatum scores from all three levels, Christas Porzingiz scores
from all three levels, and as a matchup nightmare. When
anyone small gets switched on to him, he's just gonna
post up and shoot right over them, just like we
saw in the NBA Finals last year. Derek White, we
know that he can shoot from all over the court,
one of the best catch and shoot three point shooters
(15:38):
in the league, and by the way. The best clutch
three point shooter in the league. Drew Holliday didn't have
a big night tonight, but he scored four points, only
had a couple assists. Not a big deal. We know
that he can score at the rim. You just keep
going down the list. Peyton Pritchard, He's a marksman, one
of the best scorers and shooters in the NBA coming
off the bench. Luke Cornett again, as we just talked about,
(16:01):
twelve points, he's been a real rim threat on those
pick and rolls, getting too the rim. The big the
ball handlers are seeing just how valuable it is to
have someone like that rolling off of those screens. When
someone like Jason Tatum or Jalen Brown or Derek White
Garner's attention on those screens, when they've got the ball
(16:21):
in their hands, they know they can just flip it
up and they've got a seven footer that's gonna catch
it high and finish high. And that's exactly what Luke
Cornett is doing. Al Horford consistent as always in Sam
Howse are one of the best three point shooters in
the NBA. This team when everyone is clicking, and really
even when not everyone is clicking. When you've got eighty
percent of that group of nine players are shooting the
(16:43):
ball well and playing well, they're almost unstoppable. They really are,
because you've just got so much skill, You've got so much.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
High basketball IQ. It's hard to make.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
The Celtics make mistakes, and tonight we saw the only
seven turnovers and they shoot almost fifty two percent from
the field. It doesn't get much better than that when
it comes to the game of basketball. So this is
a juggernaut of an offense. Hopefully this continues as we
go through the rest of the season and the playoffs.
I expect it to because this is who the Celtics
(17:17):
have been for the majority of the past two seasons
and it is the same group of players as we've
seen last season. They're going to do it again this season.
They have been doing it again, and man do they
have so much skill and they're just so smart. There's
no way to take away their strengths because they have
so many strengths, and everyone is totally willing to say, Okay,
(17:38):
it's not my night, I'll get it over to this guy,
it's his night because of the way this team is
defending us. So just another example, tonight of the Boston Celtics,
just picking apart a defense to the tune of one
hundred and twenty three points on fifty two percent shooting
in everyone in the top nine scoring and six of
those guys scoring in double fis an excellent night from
(18:01):
the Boston Celtics. We said it the other night on
sound Off. We needed the Celtics to bounce back tonight
against Phoenix, and they did it in Geno fashion. Gino
was up on the JumboTron. Everyone was dancing, having a
good time. That's exactly what you want on a Friday night.
Great way to go into the weekend. But the Celtics
work is not done. They will be back on the
(18:22):
teed Garden court at six o'clock Sunday night. They've got
Marcus Smart, Malcolm Brogden and the Washington Wizards coming to
town looking to close out the weekend.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
And this homestand with a win.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
So I appreciate you guys watching, listening, commenting, and I
hope you do the same Sunday.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Have a great weekend and I'll see you Monday.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Never Hick
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