Capped Off With A 54 Point Win, 2024 Was One Of The Best Years The Celtics Have Had This Century

Winslow Townson. Getty Images.

First off, welcome everyone to 2025. Crazy to think we're already at the midway point of the decade when to my brain it feels like 2020 just happened. Even crazier that coming up in March it'll be 10 years that you've been coming here after a Celts game and we've gone through it together. That, is especially crazy and I am forever grateful. 

It also serves as a nice reminder that I think is always good to hear, and one that I think a lot of people need to hear at this moment in time when it comes to the NBA Champion Boston Celtics.

We are currently witnessing one of the greatest Celtics Eras in franchise history.

Make no mistake, I did not stutter. 

While you can argue where they'll ultimately end up in Celtics history, what is objectively a fact is that for the last calendar year, few Celtics teams have ever had a better run than what this group accomplished. That's not my homerism talking, those are simply the facts of our reality

I would just like to take a moment to remind you what era makes up 2 of the top 4 and 3 of the 7 overall in this list. Let me help you

Brian Babineau. Getty Images.

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also, as always, shoutout Isaiah.

Given their title, the 2024 Celtics are easily the second most impressive team on that list. That 2008 team is one of the best teams in NBA history, they accomplished the mission and had the entire league in hell. Sounds pretty familiar right? Again, that's not me talking, that's Grande's graphic. 

Yes, there are going to be moments when they play horrendous basketball and lose games they shouldn't. Welcome to the NBA in 2024. But do not let that distract you from appreciating what you are witnessing. 

At no point this century has any era of Celtics basketball been as successful and as dominant as the Jays Era. That is an objective fact. For some of you reading this blog, that is literally your entire life. Shit, it's been the most successful era of my life and I'm from the times before there was internet. 

What do we know? We know that when the 2024 Celtics play to their standard, there is not a team on planet Earth that can beat them 4 out of 7 times. Last night's 50 burger was an example of what that can look like. 

Last season, the Celtics led the NBA in 50 point wins (and 20, and 30, and 40), setting an NBA record with 3. This season, they are tied for the most 50 point wins in the season (1). When this team is locked in, they have a truly overwhelming ability to bury their opponent. A relentless force on both ends of the floor, it's a tough task for anyone to overcome, let alone one of the worst teams in the Raptors who give up like 150 points a night. 

But if I'm supposed to give a shit who these wins are coming against, sorry, I don't. I need the Celts to get back in the business of stacking Ws, regardless of who the name is on the schedule. An 8-6 month of December is pretty fucking gross, so it's time to lock in and use this momentum to get 2025 off to a much better start. 

Before we do that though, let's relive the fun.

The Good

- It doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to understand why the Celts looked so much better on both ends in this win. With the return of Jrue Holiday back into the lineup, all of a sudden the Boston Celtics started to look and play like the Boston Celtics

A++ return performance and honestly that might not even be doing him justice. If you want to talk about a player's impact, what Jrue did on both ends of the floor in this game was not only exactly what was needed, but it was a reminder of what this team is capable of.

Right off the bat, I loved the way he guarded. The ball pressure was back, the energy to fight through screens and stay in front was back, and with it came the return of the type of physical perimeter defense that this team needs to play with in order to be successful. Everyone has talked about being better and more locked in defensively, well I care about actions more than words and it wasn't really surprising that the return of one of their best overall defenders had the defense looking MUCH better.

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What Holiday brought defensively was more than enough to earn all the praise in the world, but that's the beauty of him as a player. He also has the talent to give you a hell of an offensive performance as well, which is exactly what this was.

An efficient 5-8 (4-5) with 4 AST and 0 TOs and a +25 in his 25 minutes, the only negative I can say about Jrue offensively was that maybe he was a little too unselfish at times. There were a few possessions he passed up a floater/layup to kick the ball out and spark ball movement, and while I do love that mindset, it's also OK to ya know, just take the layup. 

His going 4-5 from deep also felt pretty important because let's face it. The Celts have been complete dogshit from behind the line for the entire month of December. So just to see a guy take and make multiple 3s almost felt like that was what broke the seal. Then came the Pritchard and Hauser 3s. Then Tatum woke up in the 2nd half and he started to bury his 3s. But given this game started with everyone missing every shot they took, it felt like Jrue's makes provided the collective "exhale", and from there they were off an running. 

- Right there with him though was Payton Pritchard. A man who was truly put on this earth to play Mazzulla Ball. Not only that, but a player who you know is pissed off because he hasn't really been playing his best during this slump, and if we know one thing about Payton Pritchard it's that you're not going to keep him down for long

Another game with at least 5 3PM, Payton Pritchard leads the NBA in games with at least that many 3PM. Not just for bench players, but all players. Pick anyone you want in the entire NBA, they have fewer 5 3PM games than Payton Pritchard. 

It might not be fair, but given how the Celts are constructed, Payton Pritchard pretty much can't have an off night. Not while Hauser is still working his way out of his slump. For things to work, Payton has to provide consistent scoring off the bench. Without that offense, the defense becomes more of an issue. Not that Payton can't defend, but that teams will target him and sometimes it's just a size thing. His shot making is what counterbalances that.

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After his little 3 game skid, Pritchard is back to 53/62% with 5.0 3PM over his last two games. A cool 20/5/3.5 off the bench in 25 minutes a night. Much more like the 6MOY we've seen all season and very different from the guy who score more than 7 points in that awful 3 game stretch. 

Pritchard's transition 3PA is such a weapon because as a defender you HAVE to be worried about it. That changes how you defend the break and it forces them to make a choice. Their instinct says get back to the rim, but Mazzulla Ball says this 3PA is going right in your eyeball if you give even a sliver of space which puts them in a bit of a pickle. If you choose the rim when Payton Pritchard has the ball in transition, god bless you. You have lost. 

- I will give pretty much anything to get this version of Sam Hauser the rest of the season. Nothing crazy, just the same old Hauser we've seen grow into one of the best shooters on the planet

It's hard to describe the joy I feel when I see both Payton and Hauser do nothing but bury 3s that don't even come close to touching the rim. Their makes are as pure as pure gets. How do you know when Hauser is locked in? Shit like this

When the Celts are playing to their standard, that doesn't just mean the Jays doing their thing, or the defense, or the ball movement. It also means the shooters are knocking down their looks. They are serving their purpose of helping space the floor for the two best players to operate. That is how the Celtics become overwhelming. When you think you've done everything right and one of Pritchard or Hauser STILL drills a 3PM. It's deflating for the defense, and then on the next possession congratulations here's Jayson Tatum. Good luck! 

So while it feels like the Celts are in this awful rut, is it a cop out to say really all it is was guys just not hitting open looks? Payton uncharacteristically struggled, Derrick and Hauser the same thing, Al's still going through it. But I wouldn't exactly call it surprising that once all those guys (minus Al) stopped missing every shot they took, the Celts got back to winning by 50. 

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That's sort of the whole point of why you should not panic or freak out over the course of an 82 game schedule. We know that this team at their standard is a wagon. 

- Like Jrue Holiday, I thought Derrick White was fantastic in this game and lord knows he really needed a performance like this. I'm not sure anyone has been playing more CTE level basketball in the month of December than Derrick, so it was great to see him getting back to his normal self and completely take over games on both ends

Best rim protecting guard in the NBA and I'm not sure how close it is. He and SGA are tied for the league lead among guards (37), but SGA isn't blocking players/centers at the rim like this if that makes any sense. It remains insane that I have the same level of confidence in Derrick White making a play at the rim as I do in Kristaps Porzingis and that dude is 7'3. It's also why I get so annoyed when White is called for fouls when he goes straight up on contests. Refs just assume that defender is going to foul in that spot, and I beg them to watch just 5 seconds of Derrick White defense.

Add in the perfect 3-3 from deep, and given how poorly I thought White played on both ends in the loss to the Pacers, he was that good on both ends in this game. Sure the competition wasn't anywhere close, but who cares. I just want to see the execution and everyone 1 through 5 getting back to how they should be playing on both ends of the floor. A big part of that is solid guard play, and that's exactly what the Stock Exchange provided.

- It felt like everyone really needed a classic Mazzulla Ball Experience. The players, the fans, everyone watching at home etc. It was nice to have a quick reminder of just how unstoppable that system can be, especially if you are very bad at defense. It was a little suspect for the first 6 minutes, but over the next 3.5 quarters the Celts put up 123 points and were never really challenged.

A lead as high as 56, 1 lead change and 0 tires, 125 points on 54/51% with 22 3PM and 29 AST while also winning the rebounding battle, points in the paint battle, fastbreak points battle, 2nd chance points battle and turnover battle, it's hard to win more categories than that in an NBA game.

Their 71 points allowed was their lowest in over a decade. The Raptors only had one quarter above 20 points, and while I think we an all acknowledge that any other team in the NBA with a pulse is providing a much harder challenge, that doesn't mean the Celts weren't executing on all cylinders in this win. This is what they are capable of when they do not play like assholes, pretty good right? 

- Celts are now 12-1 when they make at least 20 3s in a game. They've now done it in 39% of their games this season, which seems like maybe the approach is working. Who knows though, because remember they lost a few games last week. 

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- I'm trying very hard to remain calm when it comes to Jordan Walsh, but with every opportunity he seems to be making it harder and harder to stay rational. 

I mean, you see it. I'm not going to say it out loud but I know you see it too. We all see it. 

What I will say is the more I watch Jordan Walsh play, the more I see a player who is continuing on an upward trajectory. We've gone from "just don't screw up" to legitimate intrigue. I see a player now who believes he belongs on an NBA basketball court, and honestly, that's a huge part of the challenge mentally. He's so young and so inexperienced, it was like he didn't want to get in the way and was out there just running around.

Now? He's aggressive as hell defensively and holding his own against real NBA talent. Offensively he's putting the ball on the floor and attacking. He's stepping into open jumpers and is taking (and making) them with confidence. It feels like we are watching the development plan unfold before our eyes with Walsh, which has me thinking dangerous things for 2026 and beyond. This really does feel like a rotation wing in the making. 

At the very least, I think he's earned the run anytime the Celts are shorthanded and guys need to slide up a spot in the rotation. 

- Shoutout to the deep bench for not shitting their pants and screwing with the point differential. Dare I say that's starting to look like a thing of the past? A 35-18 4th quarter to close with not a single starter playing even one second, that was nice to see. Things were at +37 heading into the final quarter, and as we all know there have been stretches where these 30 point leads end up being like 17 point wins because the deep bench is a disaster.

So for it to go the other way and for that group to extend the lead, what a way to close out 2024. Mazzulla Ball is contagious as hell, so maybe that shouldn't have been that much of a surprise.

- Everything about Jayson Tatum's second half ruled. The first half, well that was a disaster. But his 3rd quarter was as close to perfect as you could possibly get 

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For a guy who started 2-7 (0-4) with 5 points in the first half, to finish 6-13 (4-9) and 23/8/3 was the most Jayson Tatum thing of all time. It was very obvious that once he saw one drop it was going to get him going, and immediately after he made his first pullup 3PA of the 3rd quarter it was on.

We've seen this exact performance a billion times when it comes to Tatum, and the way he can just completely take over a game in a single quarter is special stuff. A good mix of 3PA and plays to the rim (11 FTA) and a team best +38 in his 29 minutes, if you're looking for a main reason the Celts won the 3rd quarter 45-18 and blew this game open, it is that man above.

Now, as we embark on this 4 game West Coast trip I'm going to have to ask Tatum to not take entire halfs off. I am willing to allow this because it was the Raptors and he woke up in the 3rd to put them to sleep, but I'm going to need a full 48 minutes from here on out.

- Drew Peterson combo guard? I'm just noticing. 

The Bad

- I'm not sure where else to put the first 6 minutes of this game. How is this even possible against the worst defense in the NBA?

All I ask of this team is to just be normal. You don't have to overachieve, you don't have to never miss. Just shoot your averages! I feel like that should be a baseline expectation in a game like this, so to start 1-11 and score just 2 points in half a quarter to open the game is very, very bad.

I think we all know that against any other team, this is most likely a 14-2 start or something whereas the Raptors were just 1-8 during the same stretch. Either way, the process was good in terms of generating open looks but the execution? That took a while to show up.

- Serious question, what the hell is going on with this team from the FT line? Another 9-15 in this game (60%), with Tatum missing 4 by himself. What the hell even is that? He's now under 80% for the season and shot just 75% over the last 5 games. Jaylen Brown has been even worse, shooting just 67% in the month of December and 65% over the last 5 games.

As a team, the Celts have dropped to just 23rd in the NBA in FT% in December, and if you look at their last 10 games they're 29th (!!!!!!) at just 73.9% (5-5).

That is a sentence I should never, ever be typing when talking about this team's FT shooting. We saw it come back to bite them in pretty much every loss this month, which is why I stress so much about the importance of taking care of your shit at the line. Giving away points and it being your best players that do it is unacceptable.

The Ugly

- There's not much to complain about in a 54 point win, but I have to put the shooting of Al Horford somewhere. After his 2-12 (1-10) outing against the Pacers, he backed that up with an 0-7 (0-6) last night. This shooting rut has been brutal, especially with how important Al's spacing is with no KP. Teams are going to stop guarding him and dare him to come through which is going to clog everything up, and right now he's going through it. His 3s aren't even really all that close, and the tough part is they're all pretty much wide open.

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During these last 2 games:

"open" 3PA: 0-2

"wide open" 3PA: 1-14

All 16 of his 3PA have been open or wide open, with an overwhelming majority being wide open. 1-14? That can't happen.

I'm also not even sure how uch of this is even his fault. This hasn't exactly been the intended role for Al given how much he's starting. His minutes (27.7) are up slightly from last season, when I think the goal was for those numbers to be going in the opposite direction at this stage.

If you were interested in a challenge, we're about to get it. You see the Cavs have handled their West Coast trip, winning in DEN/GS/LAL so far. Now, it's the Celts turn with a MIN/HOU/OKC/DEN, with MIN/HOU being a B2B. There aren't many this year, but this is definitely a measuring stick stretch. No bad team, short rest, travel, this is where we see the first true mental toughness test of the year. Let's hope 2025 looks a whole lot like 2024.