April 6, 2025 • 23 mins
Two home games, two blowout wins. That’s what the Boston Celtics’ latest homestand looked like. The second win came Sunday night over the Washington Wizards, and it was in dominant fashion thanks to an extreme level of balance and production from the entire roster. Luke Kornet shined with yet another double-double. Payton Pritchard poured in 20 points off the bench. Boston controlled the glass and also racked up 24 3-pointers. It was a night of brilliance from the Celtics, and we’re sounding off on it all right here.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Sound off with me folks on the Boston Celtics going
two for two on this homestand in blowout wins.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
They did it Friday night against the Phoenix Suns, and
they did it again on Sunday evening as they hosted
the Washington Wizards. This was a one twenty four to
ninety win the Boston had going into the bag going
away from the very tip. They opened up with an
eight to zero run and they coasted to the finish
line with a runaway win.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I appreciate you guys.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Tuning in on YouTube, listening on your favorite podcast platforms.
Please make sure to subscribe, make sure that you send
in your comments every night. I can't wait to take
them for the next games coming up Tuesday and Wednesday
when the Celtics are on the road.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
All right back to tonight's game.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
This game had a little bit of everything for the
Boston Celtics. When you're talking about positivity, and all we
want right now as we had toward the postseason, is
positivity for the Boston Celtics. So let's go down the
list of a few great things that the Celtics can
take away from this win and what we saw on
the court tonight. We saw some Luke chance for Luke
(01:13):
Cornett throughout the game. He was awesome yet again tonight
long in his second double double in his last four games.
We're going to dive into him a little bit deeper
when we take some fan commentary later in the episode.
The Celtics were bombing threes away all night long tonight.
In the game, they connect on twenty four of their
fifty two to three pointers. That's better than forty six
(01:33):
percent from the field. Let me just point this out.
The Wizards couldn't even shoot better than forty one percent
from the field that includes two pointers. So the Celtics
were on fire from long distance. We had some great
Baylor Shireman minutes, and we've been getting that relatively consistently
over the course of the last few weeks.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Right like we.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Started out this season not really knowing what Baylor Shireman
was going to be. Now we're starting to see the
talent that Brad Stevens and his staff saw out of
Baylor Shireman while he was at Creighton, and he is
starting to make a real impact when he's out there
on the court.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
The Celtics have.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Gotten deeper as the season has gone on because Baylor
Shireman is showing that he can be a rotational player.
Right now, he's probably around number nine, number ten, number
eleven on the roster in terms of rotation. But it's
great to have a rookie like that who can shoot
the lights out, who can pass and read a defense,
who can defend a little bit out there, and he
(02:32):
plays with some fire. So it's great to have that
player being added to the rotation and knowing that Joe
Mizzula can rely on him when the going gets tough
and he needs to bring someone in off the bench
to maybe change things up a little bit throughout a
long playoff run. And trust me, that will happen because
there's going to be times when the Celtics needs someone
else to shake things up in the rotation. So great
(02:55):
minutes from Baylor Shireman, including a fifty second stretch where
he caned a three pointer from the right corner, then
on the next possession gets a steal, goes up with
the no look behind the back pass to Drew Holliday
for a layup at the rim, and then seconds after
that drills another three pointer from the right wing. You'll
love to see it. He did not look like this.
(03:15):
At the start of the season, the confidence wasn't there.
The understanding of what the Celtics were trying to do
on the court wasn't there. It's all there now. Baylor
Shireman is playing at a very high level for the Celtics.
You'll love to see it. So what else happened in
this game? Total domination by Boston's bench. The final count
forty two points. Excuse me, fifty three points from the
(03:39):
bench for the Celtics, eighteen from the bench for the
Washington Wizards.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Let's do some quick math right now.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
That's a thirty five point advantage for Boston's reserves in
this game. Fifty three points in the game for Boston's bench,
twenty of them coming from Peyton Pritchett, who was on
fire throughout this game. He hit four three pointers, so
did Sam Howser. Derek White made five of his own.
Getting back to the three pointers. Coming throughout this game,
the Celtics were on fire from distance. They made twenty
(04:08):
four to three pointers. That has double the amount that
the Washington Wizards made. And by the way, Washington only
attempted seven fewer, so that number wasn't that different. But
the makes were what was different. This Boston team just
has so much skill from distance. It's no wonder why
they are gonna run away with the record for most
three pointers ever made by a single team in NBA history.
(04:29):
The record is already set. Boston did that in the
last game, and now they're just going away from that record,
and they're going to continue to set a new one
as this season. The rest of the season unfolds with
five games left. What else happened in this game? Absolute
control of the glass for the Boston Celtics. They set
a season high tonight in offensive rebounds. That's twenty five
(04:51):
offensive rebounds for the Celtics, many of them coming from
Luke Cornett, who grabbed nine offensive rebounds.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
On his own.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Let's put that into context. Okay, for the Washington Wizards,
there was only one player on the entire team who
grabbed more than nine total rebounds. Luke Cornett grabbed nine
at the offensive end on his own, and all of
those offensive rebounds led to thirty two second chance points.
So twenty five offensive rebounds thirty two second chance points.
(05:20):
It's gonna be hard to beat any team when you're
giving up that many offensive rebounds and win it's to
a team that's as skilled and smart and connected as
the Boston Celtics, you got no shot, Okay. So that's
another thing that happened for the Boston Celtics. And then,
last but not least, we saw and we heard some
we want Marcus chance going on in the crowd tonight.
(05:42):
That was for Marcus Smart. I don't know why he
didn't play in this game. I thought we were gonna
see him. He just played in Washington's previous game that
they had before tonight's visit to TD Garden. I thought
that he was gonna get out there and play. They
chose not to play him in this game. But he
was getting some love from the crowd. I saw him
out on the court warm ups. He was kind of
grabbing rebounds, dishing out passes to his teammates. They put
(06:04):
him up on the jumbo tron and the crowd erupted,
started cheering, clapping, cheering out Marcus Smart. All he was
doing was rebounding for his teammates during warm ups before
the opening tip. But that's how much Celtics fans love
this guy. That's how much they miss him. He deserved
that love. And then as the fourth quarter was unwinding.
The crowd was just saying, come on, give us a
(06:26):
few minutes of Marcus Smart. They didn't give it to them,
but it was good to see him in the building
and great to see him getting that love from all
of his fans who are going to be fans of
him forever. I actually saw a fan in the crowd
tonight who was wearing a Marcus Smart Grizzlies jersey, which
really tells you just how much they love Marcus Smart
here in Boston. They're buying his jersey of his time
(06:48):
with other teams. So Marcus, we love you, glad to
have you back. Unfortunately we didn't get to see on
the court tonight, but we wish you the best the
rest of the season and in the offseason. So a
ton of great stuff from the Celtics tonight. You'll love
to see it. Shireman stands out, Peyton Pritchard stands out
with his shooting and his scoring. Twenty points off the bench,
Luke Cornett unbelievable again. The bench scoring was just dominant.
(07:12):
The rebounding on the offensive glass dominant. You can say
dominant about basically everything the Celtics did tonight because they
were rolling, and they are rolling. They have won what
is it? They swept the six game trip. They lost one,
but then they come back and they dominate their next
two before they head out on the road. Now, so
great homestand from the Celtics. It was brief, only two games,
(07:36):
but they got both of them in runaway fashion. Excellent
performance from the Celtics tonight. All right, let's get into
some comments from our fans. First up, we've got Danny
Celtics Luke Cornett's ridiculous impact that he is making right now.
Then we've got faith over fear on what this win
has them thinking about the NBA playoffs coming up in
just less than a couple weeks.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Lastly, we've got Bradley McClellan with a bold prediction about
those looming NBA playoffs that are starting up soon. So
let's get into our first one here, Danny Celtics, you're
on the clock, all right. Before we get into Danny
Celtics's comment here on X, I just want to remind
you guys, after every single Celtics game that's home, that's
(08:20):
a way we have episodes of sound Off They're coming
out for home games on YouTube for all games that
are going out on all of your favorite podcast platforms,
so make sure to give them a listen and make
sure to send in your commentary. After every game, I'll
send out a tweet on X. All you gotta do
is reply, and I take a few for every single
game to plug them into into this podcast. So I
(08:42):
appreciate you listening take part in it. Moving forward, all right,
Danny Celtics says, what does he have to say here
about Luke Cornett. Luke Cornett is a monster. Luke Cornett
was a monster tonight, finishes the game with thirteen points,
fourteen rebounds, three assists, was affecting a game at the rim,
at both ends of the court. And I got to
(09:03):
tell you this crazy, crazy stat about our guy, Luke Cornett.
All Right, He's got two double doubles in his last
four games. Okay, one of them in which he grabbed
a career high sixteen rebounds. Tonight he grabs fourteen, including
nine at the offensive end. So two double doubles. Luke
Cornett has logged in his last four games. Prior to that,
(09:27):
he had played three hundred and forty five games in
his career prior to these last four games, he had
four double doubles in all of those games. So let
me repeat that just so we can all internalize what
Luke Cornett is doing right now. Luke Cornett has two
double doubles in his last four games. In the prior
(09:49):
three hundred and forty five games of his entire career,
he only had four double doubles. So that just tells
you how impactful he is playing right now for the Celtics.
He's dominating the glass. He is rolling to the rim
as a rim threat and a vertical threat for all
of the guards and wings who are ball handling and
(10:10):
putting pressure on the defense. Luke Cornette is finishing at
the rim. He's playing with soft hands at both ends
of the court. He is impacting the game as much
as any backup big in the league. Right now, Luke
Cornett has been awesome and right now he is reaching
heights that he has never played at is in his
(10:31):
entire career. And that's just evidence by that stat of
two double doubles in his last four games, both of
which had monster rebounding totals of sixteen and fourteen, and
then prior to that, in his three hundred and forty
five career games before that only.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Four double doubles.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
So just Luke Cornett continues to get better and better
and better, and it's happening at the perfect time of year.
The Celtics have so much more depth in the front
court than anyone thought before this season, and he just
continues to roll. So great to see out of Luke Cornett.
As you said, Danny, Celtics, he is a monster. Yeah,
(11:07):
he's playing like a monster right now that no other
team wants to see.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
All right.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Next up on the list for our fan commentary is
faith over fear, and they have to say, play our
playoff games like this. Boy, would we all love that?
Let's go over the numbers again tonight. The Celtics shoot
forty nine percent from the field. They have seven players
score between eleven and twenty points. No one scored more
(11:36):
than twenty. Pretty incredible balance out of the Celtics forty
six plus percent from three point range, dominant on the glass,
sixty two rebounds to thirty two for the Washington Wizards.
They out rebounded them by thirty thirty more rebounds in
the game for the Celtics. Dominant on the glass and
(11:58):
the assists thirty three assists on forty eight made baskets.
That just tells you the level of connectivity on this team.
And oh, by the way, this all happened with the
Celtics missing forty percent of their starting lineup, including one
of the five best players in the NBA in Jason Tatum.
The Celtics are deep, The Celtics are strong, The Celtics
(12:21):
are skilled. The Celtics are playing with the highest level
of IQ that you could have in basketball. The way
that they are picking defenses apart and defending at the
other end of the court, they look great. And if
they do play at this level in the playoffs, as
Faith over Fear is asking, play our playoff games like this,
it's gonna be tough to beat the Celtics, and we're
(12:42):
gonna talk about that in our next comment here from
our fans. But just an all around excellent game from
the Celtics, and you'll love to see it happening. At
this time of year, there aren't that many more games
on the schedule, let alone games where you're going to
see the top of the rotation playing in games. At
(13:03):
some point, Joe Mizzoula is almost certain to take a
bunch of those starters out of the lineup. Maybe just
give it as an all reserves night. It's a stay
ready group night. Maybe it's two of those. Maybe it's
three of those. And I mean judging by tonight's game
with Peyton Pritchard going off, Baylor Schiman playing at a
high level, Sam Houser scoring eighteen off the bench and
(13:25):
drilling three pointers, grabbing eight rebounds, Luke Cornett playing an
excellent game, Tory Craig being a contributor. You love to
see at the energy that he an effort that he
brings to the table. It really reminds me of last
year's number twelve, and that was oshae Berseett. Every time
he steps on the floor, you see effort and energy
(13:45):
and that can change a game. So he might have
his number called in the playoffs, But at some point
I do think that Joe Mizula might lean on those
guys to give the starters some rest for a couple
of games. But for right now, man is playing at
a high level. That one low night on Wednesday, when
the Celtics lost the game coming off the road trip,
(14:06):
I just think they were tired. They looked exhausted, both
physically and mentally. But man, have they rebounded to put
together a couple of dominant performances here on Friday and
Sunday as they head into next week's schedule. All Right,
As I said, that last comment from Faith over Fear,
perfect segue into this comment here from Bradley McClellan, which
(14:28):
is a bold statement regarding the NBA playoffs starting in
a couple weeks. All Right, here it is no one
is beating Boston in a seven game series, and there's
no qualifier there about just the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Bradley is making this.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Comment about the playoffs period that includes all the Juggernauts
out west.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Okay, so what do we all think of this? All right?
Say it in the comments.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Do you think anyone can beat the Boston Celtics in
a seven game series? I'll tell you what I think,
but I want to read what you think in the
comments below. In the meantime, here's what I think. I
think the Boston Celtics are trending up at the perfect
time of year. I think if you could ask Joe
Missoula how a season could go, I think he would
(15:20):
tell you this is basically.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Exactly how I would want it to go.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
All of my key players have gotten rest throughout the season,
and they're likely going to get more. There was a
stretch of struggles right in the middle of the season,
the dolgrums of the season from December to late January.
That's the hardest time of the year for these guys
to get amped up for games, and the Celtics struggled,
but they came back from it, and ever since that
(15:44):
time at the end of January, they've been getting better
and better and better, and they've been getting healthier, in healthier,
in healthier, and now as they get toward the postseason,
they might be playing the best basketball of the entire season.
Now does that mean that no one can beat them
in a seven game series. I wouldn't go that far.
(16:08):
There's a lot that can happen in a playoff series.
There's a lot that can happen in a playoff run.
Someone could pick up technicals and not be able to
play in a game. Someone could get injured and be
out for a game or two, or a series. That
could happen on either side. You could run into a
team that's just a buzz so on playing excellent basketball.
And let me just tell you, in the Eastern Conference.
(16:29):
There are multiple teams that I would point out as
incredibly dangerous that can knock off any other team in
the East. The Cavs might win sixty five games this year,
like that's that's better than the Celtics were last year.
You remember how good the Celtics were when they won
that championship. Cleveland has been better during the regular season.
(16:52):
They've got sixty two wins right now, and they've got
games left on the schedule. So let's not con our
chickens in two O their hats. There also the New
York Knicks, who the Celtics play on Tuesday Night.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
By the way, that team is deep. It's talented.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
It has been able to stay the course all the
while it's best player has been sidelined in Jalen Brunson.
He came back tonight look great. I wouldn't write them off.
That team is talented. It's built to try to compete
with the Celtics. With all that wing talent plus a scorer,
plus a big man in cat I mean, that team's
(17:28):
gonna be tough.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
You keep going.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
The Pacers have been hot since the All Star break.
That team is trending, just like the Celtics trending up
at just the right time of the year. And I'm
never gonna overlook a team that's led by Janasntetkunpo. We
don't know what's gonna happen with Dame Lillard, but I
don't care. Janas, on to Tokunpo, is the level of
player that can win games in a playoff series all
(17:50):
by himself, just like we've seen Jimmy Butler do in
the past in the Eastern Conference. Giannis is that great.
He can do it too. Let's not overlook that pesky
team and the Detroit Pistons, who knows what they're gonna do.
But I would take those other four teams at the top,
the Calves, the Knicks, the Pacers, and the Bucks like
none of those series are going to be a cakewalk.
(18:12):
If the Celtics advance to the point to play any
of them, it's gonna be tough to get out of
the Eastern Conference. And that doesn't even talk about the
level of getting to the finals and playing against whatever
team winds up getting out of that slug fest out West.
I said to Harris Rubinstein tonight, one of our writers
(18:34):
and contact producers in for the Celtics. I said to him,
he was sitting next to me at the game. I said,
I think a lot of people are overlooking the Oklahoma
City Thunder.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
This Thunder team has zero weaknesses. Zero. Okay, they have
an MVP leading the way who can score.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
They've got great defense, they've got linked, they've got size,
they've got big men, they've got skill, they've got everything
would want. Depth, bunch of guys who can come in
and contribute. That team has everything that you would want
to win a championship. They, in my mind, are one
of the best teams that we have seen top to
(19:14):
bottom in the last fifteen to twenty years in the NBA.
So I think a Celtics Thunder finals would be like,
oh Lord, would that be great basketball? Two incredible teams,
But they got to get there. The Houston Rockets could
come out of the West. They just crushed the Thunder
the other night. That's a tough, physical team with a
(19:36):
bunch of skills. The Lakers are up to the third
seed in the in the Western Conference. They've got two
of the greatest basketball players in highest level basketball players
and skilled basketball players in the history of the game
in Luca and Lebron and a bunch of talent around
those guys. They defend, they can shoot the three. Then
(19:56):
you look at the Denver Nuggets, Oh, no, big deal.
They've just got one of the best players and most
dominant forces in the history of the league. And Nikola Jokic,
who could win MVP every single year. You have to
build your entire defense around just trying to slow him down.
That team has won a championship. They could do it
(20:17):
again if they go on a run. They've got the
talent to do it. You can talk about the Golden
State Warriors who now have Jimmy Butler to go along
with Draymond Green and Steph Curry and the rest of
the talent, length and size and skill on that team. Like, man,
whatever team gets out of the West, like, kudos to you,
it is going to be tough. But for the Celtics
(20:38):
if they happen to get out of the East, which
is going to be much more difficult. I think here,
Bradley McClellan, I think it's going to be much more
difficult than you think. If the Celtics can get out
of the East, then you have to beat one of
those teams that comes out of the West. So just
saying blanket comment, no one is beating Boston in a
seven game series. I think there's a lot of teams
(21:00):
that could beat Boston in a seven game series. That
doesn't mean I would pick them, but I think there's
a lot of teams that are capable of doing it
if the stars aligned. So let's not count our chickens
until they're hatched. As I just said earlier in the episode,
let's slow down a little bit. I will say, when
the Celtics are playing like this, they're going to be
very difficult to beat in a seven game series. But
(21:23):
let's not get ahead of ourselves. We've got a lot
of basketball to play. We've got a long playoff run
hopefully ahead of us. Let's slow down, let's not get
overly confident, and let's take every game one at a time.
Just as Joe Mizzoula is probably telling his guys right
now in the locker room. After this game, as I said,
the Boston Celtics are off tomorrow on Monday.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
It's a travel day, a short one.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
They're heading down to New York and they're gonna take
on the Knicks on the first night of a back
to back down in New York. Now watch that game. Okay,
I don't know who's gonna play on either side. There's
not much to play for for either of these teams.
They're pretty much locked into their seats right now. The
Celtics are going to be the number two seed in
the East, and it's almost certain at this point, if
it isn't already guaranteed, that the Knicks are going to
(22:07):
be the number three seed in the So not a
lot to play for for either side. I'm gonna be
interested to see if they play their guys and give
any extra tape to the other team that they can
watch in case they both advance to the second round
and meet each other in the second round of the
Eastern Conference playoffs. But it's gonna be a fun game
Tuesday night, no matter who plays. Both of these teams
trending in a right direction, playing really good basketball right now.
(22:31):
So Tuesday night, Celtics Knicks down in New York at MSG,
and that's the Celtics first game of a back to
back on the road. So make sure, like I said,
respond to my tweet with your comments after the game
on Tuesday night. I'm gonna take a few plug them
into the show and you'll be able to find it
on all.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Podcast platforms Tuesday night. I'll see you then. Until then,
have a great shot.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Few week
Sound off with me folks on the Boston Celtics going
two for two on this homestand in blowout wins.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
They did it Friday night against the Phoenix Suns, and
they did it again on Sunday evening as they hosted
the Washington Wizards. This was a one twenty four to
ninety win the Boston had going into the bag going
away from the very tip. They opened up with an
eight to zero run and they coasted to the finish
line with a runaway win.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I appreciate you guys.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Tuning in on YouTube, listening on your favorite podcast platforms.
Please make sure to subscribe, make sure that you send
in your comments every night. I can't wait to take
them for the next games coming up Tuesday and Wednesday
when the Celtics are on the road.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
All right back to tonight's game.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
This game had a little bit of everything for the
Boston Celtics. When you're talking about positivity, and all we
want right now as we had toward the postseason, is
positivity for the Boston Celtics. So let's go down the
list of a few great things that the Celtics can
take away from this win and what we saw on
the court tonight. We saw some Luke chance for Luke
(01:13):
Cornett throughout the game. He was awesome yet again tonight
long in his second double double in his last four games.
We're going to dive into him a little bit deeper
when we take some fan commentary later in the episode.
The Celtics were bombing threes away all night long tonight.
In the game, they connect on twenty four of their
fifty two to three pointers. That's better than forty six
(01:33):
percent from the field. Let me just point this out.
The Wizards couldn't even shoot better than forty one percent
from the field that includes two pointers. So the Celtics
were on fire from long distance. We had some great
Baylor Shireman minutes, and we've been getting that relatively consistently
over the course of the last few weeks.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Right like we.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Started out this season not really knowing what Baylor Shireman
was going to be. Now we're starting to see the
talent that Brad Stevens and his staff saw out of
Baylor Shireman while he was at Creighton, and he is
starting to make a real impact when he's out there
on the court.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
The Celtics have.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Gotten deeper as the season has gone on because Baylor
Shireman is showing that he can be a rotational player.
Right now, he's probably around number nine, number ten, number
eleven on the roster in terms of rotation. But it's
great to have a rookie like that who can shoot
the lights out, who can pass and read a defense,
who can defend a little bit out there, and he
(02:32):
plays with some fire. So it's great to have that
player being added to the rotation and knowing that Joe
Mizzula can rely on him when the going gets tough
and he needs to bring someone in off the bench
to maybe change things up a little bit throughout a
long playoff run. And trust me, that will happen because
there's going to be times when the Celtics needs someone
else to shake things up in the rotation. So great
(02:55):
minutes from Baylor Shireman, including a fifty second stretch where
he caned a three pointer from the right corner, then
on the next possession gets a steal, goes up with
the no look behind the back pass to Drew Holliday
for a layup at the rim, and then seconds after
that drills another three pointer from the right wing. You'll
love to see it. He did not look like this.
(03:15):
At the start of the season, the confidence wasn't there.
The understanding of what the Celtics were trying to do
on the court wasn't there. It's all there now. Baylor
Shireman is playing at a very high level for the Celtics.
You'll love to see it. So what else happened in
this game? Total domination by Boston's bench. The final count
forty two points. Excuse me, fifty three points from the
(03:39):
bench for the Celtics, eighteen from the bench for the
Washington Wizards.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Let's do some quick math right now.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
That's a thirty five point advantage for Boston's reserves in
this game. Fifty three points in the game for Boston's bench,
twenty of them coming from Peyton Pritchett, who was on
fire throughout this game. He hit four three pointers, so
did Sam Howser. Derek White made five of his own.
Getting back to the three pointers. Coming throughout this game,
the Celtics were on fire from distance. They made twenty
(04:08):
four to three pointers. That has double the amount that
the Washington Wizards made. And by the way, Washington only
attempted seven fewer, so that number wasn't that different. But
the makes were what was different. This Boston team just
has so much skill from distance. It's no wonder why
they are gonna run away with the record for most
three pointers ever made by a single team in NBA history.
(04:29):
The record is already set. Boston did that in the
last game, and now they're just going away from that record,
and they're going to continue to set a new one
as this season. The rest of the season unfolds with
five games left. What else happened in this game? Absolute
control of the glass for the Boston Celtics. They set
a season high tonight in offensive rebounds. That's twenty five
(04:51):
offensive rebounds for the Celtics, many of them coming from
Luke Cornett, who grabbed nine offensive rebounds.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
On his own.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Let's put that into context. Okay, for the Washington Wizards,
there was only one player on the entire team who
grabbed more than nine total rebounds. Luke Cornett grabbed nine
at the offensive end on his own, and all of
those offensive rebounds led to thirty two second chance points.
So twenty five offensive rebounds thirty two second chance points.
(05:20):
It's gonna be hard to beat any team when you're
giving up that many offensive rebounds and win it's to
a team that's as skilled and smart and connected as
the Boston Celtics, you got no shot, Okay. So that's
another thing that happened for the Boston Celtics. And then,
last but not least, we saw and we heard some
we want Marcus chance going on in the crowd tonight.
(05:42):
That was for Marcus Smart. I don't know why he
didn't play in this game. I thought we were gonna
see him. He just played in Washington's previous game that
they had before tonight's visit to TD Garden. I thought
that he was gonna get out there and play. They
chose not to play him in this game. But he
was getting some love from the crowd. I saw him
out on the court warm ups. He was kind of
grabbing rebounds, dishing out passes to his teammates. They put
(06:04):
him up on the jumbo tron and the crowd erupted,
started cheering, clapping, cheering out Marcus Smart. All he was
doing was rebounding for his teammates during warm ups before
the opening tip. But that's how much Celtics fans love
this guy. That's how much they miss him. He deserved
that love. And then as the fourth quarter was unwinding.
The crowd was just saying, come on, give us a
(06:26):
few minutes of Marcus Smart. They didn't give it to them,
but it was good to see him in the building
and great to see him getting that love from all
of his fans who are going to be fans of
him forever. I actually saw a fan in the crowd
tonight who was wearing a Marcus Smart Grizzlies jersey, which
really tells you just how much they love Marcus Smart
here in Boston. They're buying his jersey of his time
(06:48):
with other teams. So Marcus, we love you, glad to
have you back. Unfortunately we didn't get to see on
the court tonight, but we wish you the best the
rest of the season and in the offseason. So a
ton of great stuff from the Celtics tonight. You'll love
to see it. Shireman stands out, Peyton Pritchard stands out
with his shooting and his scoring. Twenty points off the bench,
Luke Cornett unbelievable again. The bench scoring was just dominant.
(07:12):
The rebounding on the offensive glass dominant. You can say
dominant about basically everything the Celtics did tonight because they
were rolling, and they are rolling. They have won what
is it? They swept the six game trip. They lost one,
but then they come back and they dominate their next
two before they head out on the road. Now, so
great homestand from the Celtics. It was brief, only two games,
(07:36):
but they got both of them in runaway fashion. Excellent
performance from the Celtics tonight. All right, let's get into
some comments from our fans. First up, we've got Danny
Celtics Luke Cornett's ridiculous impact that he is making right now.
Then we've got faith over fear on what this win
has them thinking about the NBA playoffs coming up in
just less than a couple weeks.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Lastly, we've got Bradley McClellan with a bold prediction about
those looming NBA playoffs that are starting up soon. So
let's get into our first one here, Danny Celtics, you're
on the clock, all right. Before we get into Danny
Celtics's comment here on X, I just want to remind
you guys, after every single Celtics game that's home, that's
(08:20):
a way we have episodes of sound Off They're coming
out for home games on YouTube for all games that
are going out on all of your favorite podcast platforms,
so make sure to give them a listen and make
sure to send in your commentary. After every game, I'll
send out a tweet on X. All you gotta do
is reply, and I take a few for every single
game to plug them into into this podcast. So I
(08:42):
appreciate you listening take part in it. Moving forward, all right,
Danny Celtics says, what does he have to say here
about Luke Cornett. Luke Cornett is a monster. Luke Cornett
was a monster tonight, finishes the game with thirteen points,
fourteen rebounds, three assists, was affecting a game at the rim,
at both ends of the court. And I got to
(09:03):
tell you this crazy, crazy stat about our guy, Luke Cornett.
All Right, He's got two double doubles in his last
four games. Okay, one of them in which he grabbed
a career high sixteen rebounds. Tonight he grabs fourteen, including
nine at the offensive end. So two double doubles. Luke
Cornett has logged in his last four games. Prior to that,
(09:27):
he had played three hundred and forty five games in
his career prior to these last four games, he had
four double doubles in all of those games. So let
me repeat that just so we can all internalize what
Luke Cornett is doing right now. Luke Cornett has two
double doubles in his last four games. In the prior
(09:49):
three hundred and forty five games of his entire career,
he only had four double doubles. So that just tells
you how impactful he is playing right now for the Celtics.
He's dominating the glass. He is rolling to the rim
as a rim threat and a vertical threat for all
of the guards and wings who are ball handling and
(10:10):
putting pressure on the defense. Luke Cornette is finishing at
the rim. He's playing with soft hands at both ends
of the court. He is impacting the game as much
as any backup big in the league. Right now, Luke
Cornett has been awesome and right now he is reaching
heights that he has never played at is in his
(10:31):
entire career. And that's just evidence by that stat of
two double doubles in his last four games, both of
which had monster rebounding totals of sixteen and fourteen, and
then prior to that, in his three hundred and forty
five career games before that only.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Four double doubles.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
So just Luke Cornett continues to get better and better
and better, and it's happening at the perfect time of year.
The Celtics have so much more depth in the front
court than anyone thought before this season, and he just
continues to roll. So great to see out of Luke Cornett.
As you said, Danny, Celtics, he is a monster. Yeah,
(11:07):
he's playing like a monster right now that no other
team wants to see.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
All right.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Next up on the list for our fan commentary is
faith over fear, and they have to say, play our
playoff games like this. Boy, would we all love that?
Let's go over the numbers again tonight. The Celtics shoot
forty nine percent from the field. They have seven players
score between eleven and twenty points. No one scored more
(11:36):
than twenty. Pretty incredible balance out of the Celtics forty
six plus percent from three point range, dominant on the glass,
sixty two rebounds to thirty two for the Washington Wizards.
They out rebounded them by thirty thirty more rebounds in
the game for the Celtics. Dominant on the glass and
(11:58):
the assists thirty three assists on forty eight made baskets.
That just tells you the level of connectivity on this team.
And oh, by the way, this all happened with the
Celtics missing forty percent of their starting lineup, including one
of the five best players in the NBA in Jason Tatum.
The Celtics are deep, The Celtics are strong, The Celtics
(12:21):
are skilled. The Celtics are playing with the highest level
of IQ that you could have in basketball. The way
that they are picking defenses apart and defending at the
other end of the court, they look great. And if
they do play at this level in the playoffs, as
Faith over Fear is asking, play our playoff games like this,
it's gonna be tough to beat the Celtics, and we're
(12:42):
gonna talk about that in our next comment here from
our fans. But just an all around excellent game from
the Celtics, and you'll love to see it happening. At
this time of year, there aren't that many more games
on the schedule, let alone games where you're going to
see the top of the rotation playing in games. At
(13:03):
some point, Joe Mizzoula is almost certain to take a
bunch of those starters out of the lineup. Maybe just
give it as an all reserves night. It's a stay
ready group night. Maybe it's two of those. Maybe it's
three of those. And I mean judging by tonight's game
with Peyton Pritchard going off, Baylor Schiman playing at a
high level, Sam Houser scoring eighteen off the bench and
(13:25):
drilling three pointers, grabbing eight rebounds, Luke Cornett playing an
excellent game, Tory Craig being a contributor. You love to
see at the energy that he an effort that he
brings to the table. It really reminds me of last
year's number twelve, and that was oshae Berseett. Every time
he steps on the floor, you see effort and energy
(13:45):
and that can change a game. So he might have
his number called in the playoffs, But at some point
I do think that Joe Mizula might lean on those
guys to give the starters some rest for a couple
of games. But for right now, man is playing at
a high level. That one low night on Wednesday, when
the Celtics lost the game coming off the road trip,
(14:06):
I just think they were tired. They looked exhausted, both
physically and mentally. But man, have they rebounded to put
together a couple of dominant performances here on Friday and
Sunday as they head into next week's schedule. All Right,
As I said, that last comment from Faith over Fear,
perfect segue into this comment here from Bradley McClellan, which
(14:28):
is a bold statement regarding the NBA playoffs starting in
a couple weeks. All Right, here it is no one
is beating Boston in a seven game series, and there's
no qualifier there about just the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Bradley is making this.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Comment about the playoffs period that includes all the Juggernauts
out west.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Okay, so what do we all think of this? All right?
Say it in the comments.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Do you think anyone can beat the Boston Celtics in
a seven game series? I'll tell you what I think,
but I want to read what you think in the
comments below. In the meantime, here's what I think. I
think the Boston Celtics are trending up at the perfect
time of year. I think if you could ask Joe
Missoula how a season could go, I think he would
(15:20):
tell you this is basically.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Exactly how I would want it to go.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
All of my key players have gotten rest throughout the season,
and they're likely going to get more. There was a
stretch of struggles right in the middle of the season,
the dolgrums of the season from December to late January.
That's the hardest time of the year for these guys
to get amped up for games, and the Celtics struggled,
but they came back from it, and ever since that
(15:44):
time at the end of January, they've been getting better
and better and better, and they've been getting healthier, in healthier,
in healthier, and now as they get toward the postseason,
they might be playing the best basketball of the entire season.
Now does that mean that no one can beat them
in a seven game series. I wouldn't go that far.
(16:08):
There's a lot that can happen in a playoff series.
There's a lot that can happen in a playoff run.
Someone could pick up technicals and not be able to
play in a game. Someone could get injured and be
out for a game or two, or a series. That
could happen on either side. You could run into a
team that's just a buzz so on playing excellent basketball.
And let me just tell you, in the Eastern Conference.
(16:29):
There are multiple teams that I would point out as
incredibly dangerous that can knock off any other team in
the East. The Cavs might win sixty five games this year,
like that's that's better than the Celtics were last year.
You remember how good the Celtics were when they won
that championship. Cleveland has been better during the regular season.
(16:52):
They've got sixty two wins right now, and they've got
games left on the schedule. So let's not con our
chickens in two O their hats. There also the New
York Knicks, who the Celtics play on Tuesday Night.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
By the way, that team is deep. It's talented.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
It has been able to stay the course all the
while it's best player has been sidelined in Jalen Brunson.
He came back tonight look great. I wouldn't write them off.
That team is talented. It's built to try to compete
with the Celtics. With all that wing talent plus a scorer,
plus a big man in cat I mean, that team's
(17:28):
gonna be tough.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
You keep going.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
The Pacers have been hot since the All Star break.
That team is trending, just like the Celtics trending up
at just the right time of the year. And I'm
never gonna overlook a team that's led by Janasntetkunpo. We
don't know what's gonna happen with Dame Lillard, but I
don't care. Janas, on to Tokunpo, is the level of
player that can win games in a playoff series all
(17:50):
by himself, just like we've seen Jimmy Butler do in
the past in the Eastern Conference. Giannis is that great.
He can do it too. Let's not overlook that pesky
team and the Detroit Pistons, who knows what they're gonna do.
But I would take those other four teams at the top,
the Calves, the Knicks, the Pacers, and the Bucks like
none of those series are going to be a cakewalk.
(18:12):
If the Celtics advance to the point to play any
of them, it's gonna be tough to get out of
the Eastern Conference. And that doesn't even talk about the
level of getting to the finals and playing against whatever
team winds up getting out of that slug fest out West.
I said to Harris Rubinstein tonight, one of our writers
(18:34):
and contact producers in for the Celtics. I said to him,
he was sitting next to me at the game. I said,
I think a lot of people are overlooking the Oklahoma
City Thunder.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
This Thunder team has zero weaknesses. Zero. Okay, they have
an MVP leading the way who can score.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
They've got great defense, they've got linked, they've got size,
they've got big men, they've got skill, they've got everything
would want. Depth, bunch of guys who can come in
and contribute. That team has everything that you would want
to win a championship. They, in my mind, are one
of the best teams that we have seen top to
(19:14):
bottom in the last fifteen to twenty years in the NBA.
So I think a Celtics Thunder finals would be like,
oh Lord, would that be great basketball? Two incredible teams,
But they got to get there. The Houston Rockets could
come out of the West. They just crushed the Thunder
the other night. That's a tough, physical team with a
(19:36):
bunch of skills. The Lakers are up to the third
seed in the in the Western Conference. They've got two
of the greatest basketball players in highest level basketball players
and skilled basketball players in the history of the game
in Luca and Lebron and a bunch of talent around
those guys. They defend, they can shoot the three. Then
(19:56):
you look at the Denver Nuggets, Oh, no, big deal.
They've just got one of the best players and most
dominant forces in the history of the league. And Nikola Jokic,
who could win MVP every single year. You have to
build your entire defense around just trying to slow him down.
That team has won a championship. They could do it
(20:17):
again if they go on a run. They've got the
talent to do it. You can talk about the Golden
State Warriors who now have Jimmy Butler to go along
with Draymond Green and Steph Curry and the rest of
the talent, length and size and skill on that team. Like, man,
whatever team gets out of the West, like, kudos to you,
it is going to be tough. But for the Celtics
(20:38):
if they happen to get out of the East, which
is going to be much more difficult. I think here,
Bradley McClellan, I think it's going to be much more
difficult than you think. If the Celtics can get out
of the East, then you have to beat one of
those teams that comes out of the West. So just
saying blanket comment, no one is beating Boston in a
seven game series. I think there's a lot of teams
(21:00):
that could beat Boston in a seven game series. That
doesn't mean I would pick them, but I think there's
a lot of teams that are capable of doing it
if the stars aligned. So let's not count our chickens
until they're hatched. As I just said earlier in the episode,
let's slow down a little bit. I will say, when
the Celtics are playing like this, they're going to be
very difficult to beat in a seven game series. But
(21:23):
let's not get ahead of ourselves. We've got a lot
of basketball to play. We've got a long playoff run
hopefully ahead of us. Let's slow down, let's not get
overly confident, and let's take every game one at a time.
Just as Joe Mizzoula is probably telling his guys right
now in the locker room. After this game, as I said,
the Boston Celtics are off tomorrow on Monday.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
It's a travel day, a short one.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
They're heading down to New York and they're gonna take
on the Knicks on the first night of a back
to back down in New York. Now watch that game. Okay,
I don't know who's gonna play on either side. There's
not much to play for for either of these teams.
They're pretty much locked into their seats right now. The
Celtics are going to be the number two seed in
the East, and it's almost certain at this point, if
it isn't already guaranteed, that the Knicks are going to
(22:07):
be the number three seed in the So not a
lot to play for for either side. I'm gonna be
interested to see if they play their guys and give
any extra tape to the other team that they can
watch in case they both advance to the second round
and meet each other in the second round of the
Eastern Conference playoffs. But it's gonna be a fun game
Tuesday night, no matter who plays. Both of these teams
trending in a right direction, playing really good basketball right now.
(22:31):
So Tuesday night, Celtics Knicks down in New York at MSG,
and that's the Celtics first game of a back to
back on the road. So make sure, like I said,
respond to my tweet with your comments after the game
on Tuesday night. I'm gonna take a few plug them
into the show and you'll be able to find it
on all.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Podcast platforms Tuesday night. I'll see you then. Until then,
have a great shot.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Few week
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