The Boston Celtics desperately needed a get-right performance, and perhaps they got it Sunday as they welcomed the Orlando Magic to TD Garden.
The Magic, who entered Sunday having lost nine of their previous 10 games, allowed the Celtics to climb back to .500 following a 112-96 victory. Jaylen Brown scored 34 points while the team hit 23 triples in the win. Sunday’s win came after arguably the worst stretch of the season for the Celtics, who undoubtedly have had their fair share of worst-stretch-of-the-season nominees.
The Celtics, as they’ve done in minimal sample sizes before this season, seemed to rally. And perhaps it was because of Boston’s team meeting held Friday night after a loss to the Sacramento Kings. Celtics guard Marcus Smart revealed what said-meeting included while speaking with reporters after Sunday’s win.
“We were focusing on what we want this season to be for, what we want to leave behind this season. Do we just want to be a team that they talk about ‘Well, they just gave up’ or this or that? We have enough time to turn it around, and it’s all on us,” Smart told reporters during his postgame video press conference. “We understand we haven’t been playing to the criteria that we expected and others expected us. We are a young team, and we’re learning. The big thing, the biggest thing about growth, is about understanding and accepting the faults that you are wrong for yourself, individually, and as a team. I think the talks that we had, we did that.
“We just tried to sit down and figure it out and just listen to one another and what we need to help not ourselves, but the team with,” Smart continued. “Individually and everybody, try to put everybody in the right position to succeed, and we came out, and it showed tonight. That’s what we got to continue to keep doing.”
Smart expressed how everyone on the team was down with how the team had been playing, as many of the Celtics’ fans likely were, as well.
“We just really self-reflected on each other and asked each other, like I said, how we want to end the season, how we want to be remembered this season. Everybody agreed this is a bad feeling, it’s an ugly feel that we’re feeling and we don’t want to feel like this. We don’t want to look back on the season and be like, ‘Damn, we could have did this, did this.’ We still have time, the margin for it is closing, but we still have time to fix it. And that’s what we’re trying to do. We all came together and we all agreed we want to evolve as a team, continue to learn and continue to make each other better.”
We’ll see if it was truly a rallying cry which brought the Celtics together, or if it was just a bad Eastern Conference opponent, when they take the road for a four-game road trip starting Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Here are some other notes from Celtics-Magic:
— Brown scored a game-high 34 points after hitting 10 of the team’s 3-pointers. Ironically, though, it was not the best he’s felt this season.
“No, I think that’s the most I think I shot all year. And I guess based off the statistics, I made the most. But there were other games where I felt like I missed a lot less. I think I still missed like eight threes tonight that should have went down, that were open. But, if you’re open, shoot the ball.”
Brown finished just one 3-pointer behind Smart for the franchise record in a single game (11). He had a humorous response to that, as you may expect.
“I wish somebody did tell me that I would have fired up at least five, six more to make sure I beat Marcus,” Brown joked.
— Brown criticized the Celtics after Friday’s game for falling apart when times got tough in the fourth quarter. That wasn’t the same Sunday, and while Brown’s late-game shooting was a big reason why, he still seemed happy with Boston’s crunch-time response.
“Orlando, they got rolling in that fourth quarter. They cut that lead down. That’s a part of the game. That’s a part of life where adversity comes, just continue to stay the course, play good basketball. We were able to push the lead back out. … We didn’t feel the pressure, we just keep playing. That’s what we got to do more.”
— Brad Stevens and Brown both did want to pump the brakes a bit when it came to too much optimism, though. After all, the Celtics have played well in single games this season but have struggled mightily when it comes to consistency. They remain a .500 club, after all.
“Our defense structurally is improving. I’m encouraged by that, but I’m not too ready to compliment us all that much,” Stevens told reporters.
Brown added: “Today isn’t something to be too excited about, but it’s a small victory for us. So, I’ll take it.”
— Ball movement was equally as crucial as the Celtics got back to their sharing ways with 27 assists on 40 baskets. There were several impressive possessions, like one that featured an extra pass from Kemba Walker as the Celtics went inside out to Aaron Nesmith, who hit a 3-pointer to put Boston up 23 points late in the third quarter.
“It feels good to win and have a good shooting night, of course, but I like how we played today,” Brown said. “I thought we had some good ball movement, and it was just contagious. Got to find a way to maintain that.”
