January 9, 2026 • 13 mins
Sure sounds like the Boston Celtics knew that the Toronto Raptors would apply as much pressure as possible to the 3-point line Friday night. The Celtics said go ahead, and took advantage of Toronto’s defense by producing 39 layups, 62 points in the paint, and 19 free throw attempts. The keys to it all were Payton Pritchard and Jaylen Brown, who became the first Celtics duo in nearly 40 years to put up at least 25 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds on the same night.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
The sound Off will be boosted on the Boston Celtics
using a new brand of basketball to take down the
Toronto Raptors Friday night, one twenty five to one seventeen
at TD Garden. And now this victory sets up an
opportunity for Boston tomorrow night to sweep a back to
back here at TED Garden. Tomorrow night, as many of
(00:27):
you likely know, they will play host to the Alien
Victor Winbonyama and the red hot San Antonio Spurs right
here at TED Garden at eight o'clock. So the Celtics
have a chance to win both of these games in
two nights. Here at TD Garden, we will have a
pregame show streaming live on all the Celtics social platforms.
Make sure you tune in six fifty pm. Mark it
(00:50):
down myself and Sean Grandy right here from the Boston
Celtics studio. But for now, this is the SoundOff postgame
podcast presented by Xfinity Mobile. And this one's gonna be quick,
all right. We're not taking fan questions tonight. We got
to get out of here, get prep for tomorrow. Tomorrow's
the big one. But as we said, the Boston Celtics
(01:10):
used a different brand of basketball to win this game.
We all know Missoula ball, right. When you hear that,
you think three pointers, Well, tonight was a different type
of basketball. This was not about three pointers. This was
not about raw shot margin. Let's talk about the numbers.
(01:31):
As we said, the Celtics are known for taking three pointers.
They lead the league in most made three pointers per
game this season. Tonight, Toronto crushed the Celtics in three
point attempts, like crush them. It wasn't even close. Forty
seven to twenty eight. The Boston Celtics lost the three
point shooting attempt category by nineteen. Okay, that's number one.
(01:57):
Then they lost the overall shot march ninety two to
eighty seven, which we hear Joe Misula preach about quite
often that that is a very important stat. I will
note this that after the game, Joe Missoula said, we
did not lose the shot margin because you have to
count free throws in there. The Celtics took nineteen free throws.
I believe it was yep, nineteen free throws in Toronto
(02:20):
took only ten. So in his mind and in the
math that the Boston Celtics carry after games. They did
win the shot margin, but the raw shot margin they lost,
So they get crushed in three point attempts, they lose
the raw field goals shot margin, and yet the Celtics
still pretty much control this game, led by double figures
for the majority of the second half, and really it
(02:42):
just felt like they were gonna pull away at some point.
They were the better team tonight. It was just a
matter of when and by how much they were gonna
pull ahead. They wind up winning, like I said, by
eight points. But it was interesting to see this team
use that different brand of basketball to win this game,
and that different brand of a bat basketball tonight was
getting to the paint and getting to the free throw line.
(03:05):
One other number that Joe Missoula highlighted after this game
is that the Celtics took thirty nine layups tonight. I'm
not quite sure where that stacks up officially in terms
of the ranking of all of their games that they
played this season, but thirty nine layups has got to
be toward the top, and it's because they made it
a point in their game plan to try to take
(03:26):
layups against an aggressive, perimeter oriented Toronto Raptors defense, and
they did they got into the paint, they wound up scoring.
How many points was it in the paint, I'll tell
you right now, sixty two points in the paint. Again,
not quite sure exactly where that ranks the season, but
it's got to be up there for the Boston Celtics
and maybe top five or ten throughout the season. Additionally,
(03:49):
as I said, they got to the free throw line
for nineteen attempts. Mainly that was Jalen Brown who took
thirteen of those and made twelve of them. So tonight,
the recipe for success and the brand of basketball was
not taking and making a ton of threes. It was
taking and making a ton of layups, shots in the paint,
and getting to the free throw line. And Jalen Brown
(04:12):
was the guy who got to the free throw line.
Peyton Pritchard was the guy who was shooting in the
mid range, and then there were a bunch of guys
who were shooting layups throughout this game. That's the only
way you're gonna attempt thirty nine of them on one night.
The Celtics shot fifty to fifty to ninety in this game.
You hear often about the number of a game or
a season for players that you shoot for fifty forty ninety.
(04:34):
That's fifty percent from the field, forty percent from three
point range, and ninety percent for the free throw line.
The Celtics went fifty to fifty ninety tonight, fifty plus
percent from the field, fifty plus percent from actually exactly
fifty percent from three point range, and then right on
ninety percent from the free throw line. So they used
(04:54):
this new brand of basketball number one, but then number two,
they excelled within it. So that really says something to
me about a team that they can come into a game,
they can recognize exactly what that other team is going
to try to do to slow them down, and they
come back with a totally different type of basketball and
they excel within it. That's the type of stuff you
(05:17):
got to be able to do in a playoff series.
That's the type of stuff you got to be able
to do to win a playoff series. In the Boston
Celtics tonight and throughout the season, but tonight, mainly and
most recently have shown that they can do that at
a very high level. So props to them for being
able to pull that off. Talked a little bit about
(05:38):
Peyton Pritchell. I think we got to talk a little
bit more about him, because he was just fantastic. Tonight
finishes this game with twenty seven points, eight assists, five rebounds,
and really his handles were on display throughout this game.
It was so much fun to watch, and I'm marvel
at what this guy brings to the table with the
(05:59):
way that the ball is just attached to his hands
like it's on a string. To me, other than Kyrie Irving,
he is the best ball handler in the history of
the Boston Celtics. Like he's not thinking when he's dribbling.
That thing is just going wherever he wants it to go.
And there aren't many people in the world who can
do that at that level. Some of these drives to
(06:22):
the basket, finishes in the paint, so much control, in
poise and skill that he brings to the table to
complete these plays and to score for the Celtics. And
after this game, Joe Mizoula one other point that he
made specifically about Peyton Pritchard was that he said he
(06:43):
knows when to keep his dribble, and so when you
add that skill with what Joe was mentioning of that
mental and basketball IQ, you get a player who can
really tear an opposing team apart, and that's exactly what
Peyton Pritchard did tonight from three point range. Okay made
(07:04):
three to five from distance, but then from inside the
arc nine for fourteen. For this guy's what six foot one,
six foot two at best. This guy his ability to
handle the basketball, read the defense, create space as an
undersized guard truly is incredible. One of the marvels that
(07:26):
we've got going on this season in the NBA. I
think you're one cut your mobile bill in half and
save sixty five dollars a month for your first year
with Expinity Mobile. In addition to Peyton, we've also got
(07:48):
to highlight Jalen Brown, who we already talked about. Took
thirteen free throws tonight to lead the game. That's three
more free throw attempts than the entire Toronto Raptors team attempted.
So when you're outperforming an entire team on the other
side of the ball in a category, you're doing pretty well.
And Jalen Brown did pretty well tonight. As I said,
(08:09):
took thirteen, made twelve of them, was fantastic in getting
to the basket and getting to the free throw line.
And the favorite part about this is that not only
did he shoot twelve for thirteen from the line, but
as he stood at that line, he heard MVP Chance,
MVP MVP raining down upon him throughout this game. Last
(08:33):
game that happened, unfortunately in the fourth quarter he missed
a couple free throws. Tonight, he was not missing. He
was making them all And I actually saw him on
the court yesterday. He was the only player on the
court during a lockout day, went into the aurback center,
was taking free throws yesterday, working on them, and then
it winds up showing up in this game tonight. But
how gratifying does it have to feel for Jalen Brown
(08:57):
to be the one who is standing the free throw
line on a nightly basis for the Boston Celtics at
TD Garden having MVP chants raining down upon him. It's
not to say that there's any jealousy or anything like that,
but he has seen for years that the most consistent
person receiving that type of treatment has been Jason Tatum.
(09:19):
And granted, Jason Tatum has earned it, but how gratifying
does it have to be for Jalen Brown to now
be the guy who is getting that type of love
and that type of appreciation verbally loud every night from
thousands and thousands of Celtics fans at TD Garden. I
(09:39):
know he knows that the fan base here loves him.
How could they not. He's the longest tenured Celtic Finals MVP,
Eastern Conference Finals MVP, multi time All Star All NBA.
They love him. And by the way, that's not to
mention all of the incredible impact that he makes off
the court in the Boston area. He knows that they
(10:02):
love him, but it's got to feel good to hear
that on the court as you're standing at the free
throw line. It has to. And I am so excited
for him that he is being able to experience that,
and he's not able to experience he is earning that
experience this season, as we saw today bumped up to
(10:24):
number three on the NBA dot Com MVP Ladder. Awesome
for him. He has earned it. He's been unbelievable this
season and he has been the main reason why the
Celtics are what they are this season, and what they
are is a team that has far surpassed external expectations
(10:45):
from start to where we are right now, almost halfway
through the season. Now, one other thing I want to mention.
We talked about Peyton Pritchard, we talked about Jalen Brown.
Dick Lepe obviously the statistician for NBC's Sports Boston. He's
been doing it for decades. He came out with a
pretty interesting stat after this game. If you did not
(11:05):
see it on X, I'm gonna tell it to you
right now. This is the first time in thirty nine years,
almost four decades, that two players on the Celtics in
the same game have compiled twenty five points, seven assists,
and five rebounds in the same game. And those are
minimum numbers. So again, to repeat from Dicklpe at NBC
(11:29):
Sports Boston, this was the first time in thirty nine years,
almost four decades, that two members of the Boston Celtics
on the same night have totaled at least twenty seven points,
excuse me, at least twenty five points, at least seven assists,
and at least five rebounds. Tonight it was Peyton Pritchard
(11:51):
and Jalen Brown. Pretty incredible stuff. Now, Peyton Pritchard's got
his name in a couple of different interesting stats with teammates.
Now he's the only time. I'm him and Derek White
are the only players in Celtics history to score forty
plus on the same night for the Boston Celtics. So
Peyton Pritchard likes to stick his neck out and get
into some interesting stats of being a teammate and putting
(12:12):
up big numbers with a teammate on the same night tonight.
That was a big reason why the Boston Celtics won
this game one twenty five to one seventeen. And as
I said, they have now set themselves up with an
opportunity to sweep this double back to back here at
TD Garden this weekend Friday night against the Toronto Raptors.
(12:33):
Check mark tomorrow night, Saturday night, eight o'clock tip off
against Victor Wembanyama and his loaded up and coming San
Antonio Spurs. Owing. By the way, don't forget the one
and only Luke Cornett, who I got to see in
the hallway tonight, said hello, he's the best. We love him.
We're happy that he's having great success out there in
San Antonio. But he'll be back as well, and who knows,
(12:55):
maybe he'll get a little bit of a tribute video
up on the Jumbo Tron. We'll have to wait. See
you tomorrow night again at six fifty pm. Sean Grandy
and myself will be right here in the studio, right
here at this desk, previewing this prime time eight o'clock
tip off matchup at TD Gardens. I'm Mark Tamiko. I
appreciate you tuning in or giving us a listen, and
(13:15):
I'll see you again Saturday night.
The sound Off will be boosted on the Boston Celtics
using a new brand of basketball to take down the
Toronto Raptors Friday night, one twenty five to one seventeen
at TD Garden. And now this victory sets up an
opportunity for Boston tomorrow night to sweep a back to
back here at TED Garden. Tomorrow night, as many of
(00:27):
you likely know, they will play host to the Alien
Victor Winbonyama and the red hot San Antonio Spurs right
here at TED Garden at eight o'clock. So the Celtics
have a chance to win both of these games in
two nights. Here at TD Garden, we will have a
pregame show streaming live on all the Celtics social platforms.
Make sure you tune in six fifty pm. Mark it
(00:50):
down myself and Sean Grandy right here from the Boston
Celtics studio. But for now, this is the SoundOff postgame
podcast presented by Xfinity Mobile. And this one's gonna be quick,
all right. We're not taking fan questions tonight. We got
to get out of here, get prep for tomorrow. Tomorrow's
the big one. But as we said, the Boston Celtics
(01:10):
used a different brand of basketball to win this game.
We all know Missoula ball, right. When you hear that,
you think three pointers, Well, tonight was a different type
of basketball. This was not about three pointers. This was
not about raw shot margin. Let's talk about the numbers.
(01:31):
As we said, the Celtics are known for taking three pointers.
They lead the league in most made three pointers per
game this season. Tonight, Toronto crushed the Celtics in three
point attempts, like crush them. It wasn't even close. Forty
seven to twenty eight. The Boston Celtics lost the three
point shooting attempt category by nineteen. Okay, that's number one.
(01:57):
Then they lost the overall shot march ninety two to
eighty seven, which we hear Joe Misula preach about quite
often that that is a very important stat. I will
note this that after the game, Joe Missoula said, we
did not lose the shot margin because you have to
count free throws in there. The Celtics took nineteen free throws.
I believe it was yep, nineteen free throws in Toronto
(02:20):
took only ten. So in his mind and in the
math that the Boston Celtics carry after games. They did
win the shot margin, but the raw shot margin they lost,
So they get crushed in three point attempts, they lose
the raw field goals shot margin, and yet the Celtics
still pretty much control this game, led by double figures
for the majority of the second half, and really it
(02:42):
just felt like they were gonna pull away at some point.
They were the better team tonight. It was just a
matter of when and by how much they were gonna
pull ahead. They wind up winning, like I said, by
eight points. But it was interesting to see this team
use that different brand of basketball to win this game,
and that different brand of a bat basketball tonight was
getting to the paint and getting to the free throw line.
(03:05):
One other number that Joe Missoula highlighted after this game
is that the Celtics took thirty nine layups tonight. I'm
not quite sure where that stacks up officially in terms
of the ranking of all of their games that they
played this season, but thirty nine layups has got to
be toward the top, and it's because they made it
a point in their game plan to try to take
(03:26):
layups against an aggressive, perimeter oriented Toronto Raptors defense, and
they did they got into the paint, they wound up scoring.
How many points was it in the paint, I'll tell
you right now, sixty two points in the paint. Again,
not quite sure exactly where that ranks the season, but
it's got to be up there for the Boston Celtics
and maybe top five or ten throughout the season. Additionally,
(03:49):
as I said, they got to the free throw line
for nineteen attempts. Mainly that was Jalen Brown who took
thirteen of those and made twelve of them. So tonight,
the recipe for success and the brand of basketball was
not taking and making a ton of threes. It was
taking and making a ton of layups, shots in the paint,
and getting to the free throw line. And Jalen Brown
(04:12):
was the guy who got to the free throw line.
Peyton Pritchard was the guy who was shooting in the
mid range, and then there were a bunch of guys
who were shooting layups throughout this game. That's the only
way you're gonna attempt thirty nine of them on one night.
The Celtics shot fifty to fifty to ninety in this game.
You hear often about the number of a game or
a season for players that you shoot for fifty forty ninety.
(04:34):
That's fifty percent from the field, forty percent from three
point range, and ninety percent for the free throw line.
The Celtics went fifty to fifty ninety tonight, fifty plus
percent from the field, fifty plus percent from actually exactly
fifty percent from three point range, and then right on
ninety percent from the free throw line. So they used
(04:54):
this new brand of basketball number one, but then number two,
they excelled within it. So that really says something to
me about a team that they can come into a game,
they can recognize exactly what that other team is going
to try to do to slow them down, and they
come back with a totally different type of basketball and
they excel within it. That's the type of stuff you
(05:17):
got to be able to do in a playoff series.
That's the type of stuff you got to be able
to do to win a playoff series. In the Boston
Celtics tonight and throughout the season, but tonight, mainly and
most recently have shown that they can do that at
a very high level. So props to them for being
able to pull that off. Talked a little bit about
(05:38):
Peyton Pritchell. I think we got to talk a little
bit more about him, because he was just fantastic. Tonight
finishes this game with twenty seven points, eight assists, five rebounds,
and really his handles were on display throughout this game.
It was so much fun to watch, and I'm marvel
at what this guy brings to the table with the
(05:59):
way that the ball is just attached to his hands
like it's on a string. To me, other than Kyrie Irving,
he is the best ball handler in the history of
the Boston Celtics. Like he's not thinking when he's dribbling.
That thing is just going wherever he wants it to go.
And there aren't many people in the world who can
do that at that level. Some of these drives to
(06:22):
the basket, finishes in the paint, so much control, in
poise and skill that he brings to the table to
complete these plays and to score for the Celtics. And
after this game, Joe Mizoula one other point that he
made specifically about Peyton Pritchard was that he said he
(06:43):
knows when to keep his dribble, and so when you
add that skill with what Joe was mentioning of that
mental and basketball IQ, you get a player who can
really tear an opposing team apart, and that's exactly what
Peyton Pritchard did tonight from three point range. Okay made
(07:04):
three to five from distance, but then from inside the
arc nine for fourteen. For this guy's what six foot one,
six foot two at best. This guy his ability to
handle the basketball, read the defense, create space as an
undersized guard truly is incredible. One of the marvels that
(07:26):
we've got going on this season in the NBA. I
think you're one cut your mobile bill in half and
save sixty five dollars a month for your first year
with Expinity Mobile. In addition to Peyton, we've also got
(07:48):
to highlight Jalen Brown, who we already talked about. Took
thirteen free throws tonight to lead the game. That's three
more free throw attempts than the entire Toronto Raptors team attempted.
So when you're outperforming an entire team on the other
side of the ball in a category, you're doing pretty well.
And Jalen Brown did pretty well tonight. As I said,
(08:09):
took thirteen, made twelve of them, was fantastic in getting
to the basket and getting to the free throw line.
And the favorite part about this is that not only
did he shoot twelve for thirteen from the line, but
as he stood at that line, he heard MVP Chance,
MVP MVP raining down upon him throughout this game. Last
(08:33):
game that happened, unfortunately in the fourth quarter he missed
a couple free throws. Tonight, he was not missing. He
was making them all And I actually saw him on
the court yesterday. He was the only player on the
court during a lockout day, went into the aurback center,
was taking free throws yesterday, working on them, and then
it winds up showing up in this game tonight. But
how gratifying does it have to feel for Jalen Brown
(08:57):
to be the one who is standing the free throw
line on a nightly basis for the Boston Celtics at
TD Garden having MVP chants raining down upon him. It's
not to say that there's any jealousy or anything like that,
but he has seen for years that the most consistent
person receiving that type of treatment has been Jason Tatum.
(09:19):
And granted, Jason Tatum has earned it, but how gratifying
does it have to be for Jalen Brown to now
be the guy who is getting that type of love
and that type of appreciation verbally loud every night from
thousands and thousands of Celtics fans at TD Garden. I
(09:39):
know he knows that the fan base here loves him.
How could they not. He's the longest tenured Celtic Finals MVP,
Eastern Conference Finals MVP, multi time All Star All NBA.
They love him. And by the way, that's not to
mention all of the incredible impact that he makes off
the court in the Boston area. He knows that they
(10:02):
love him, but it's got to feel good to hear
that on the court as you're standing at the free
throw line. It has to. And I am so excited
for him that he is being able to experience that,
and he's not able to experience he is earning that
experience this season, as we saw today bumped up to
(10:24):
number three on the NBA dot Com MVP Ladder. Awesome
for him. He has earned it. He's been unbelievable this
season and he has been the main reason why the
Celtics are what they are this season, and what they
are is a team that has far surpassed external expectations
(10:45):
from start to where we are right now, almost halfway
through the season. Now, one other thing I want to mention.
We talked about Peyton Pritchard, we talked about Jalen Brown.
Dick Lepe obviously the statistician for NBC's Sports Boston. He's
been doing it for decades. He came out with a
pretty interesting stat after this game. If you did not
(11:05):
see it on X, I'm gonna tell it to you
right now. This is the first time in thirty nine years,
almost four decades, that two players on the Celtics in
the same game have compiled twenty five points, seven assists,
and five rebounds in the same game. And those are
minimum numbers. So again, to repeat from Dicklpe at NBC
(11:29):
Sports Boston, this was the first time in thirty nine years,
almost four decades, that two members of the Boston Celtics
on the same night have totaled at least twenty seven points,
excuse me, at least twenty five points, at least seven assists,
and at least five rebounds. Tonight it was Peyton Pritchard
(11:51):
and Jalen Brown. Pretty incredible stuff. Now, Peyton Pritchard's got
his name in a couple of different interesting stats with teammates.
Now he's the only time. I'm him and Derek White
are the only players in Celtics history to score forty
plus on the same night for the Boston Celtics. So
Peyton Pritchard likes to stick his neck out and get
into some interesting stats of being a teammate and putting
(12:12):
up big numbers with a teammate on the same night tonight.
That was a big reason why the Boston Celtics won
this game one twenty five to one seventeen. And as
I said, they have now set themselves up with an
opportunity to sweep this double back to back here at
TD Garden this weekend Friday night against the Toronto Raptors.
(12:33):
Check mark tomorrow night, Saturday night, eight o'clock tip off
against Victor Wembanyama and his loaded up and coming San
Antonio Spurs. Owing. By the way, don't forget the one
and only Luke Cornett, who I got to see in
the hallway tonight, said hello, he's the best. We love him.
We're happy that he's having great success out there in
San Antonio. But he'll be back as well, and who knows,
(12:55):
maybe he'll get a little bit of a tribute video
up on the Jumbo Tron. We'll have to wait. See
you tomorrow night again at six fifty pm. Sean Grandy
and myself will be right here in the studio, right
here at this desk, previewing this prime time eight o'clock
tip off matchup at TD Gardens. I'm Mark Tamiko. I
appreciate you tuning in or giving us a listen, and
(13:15):
I'll see you again Saturday night.
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