Celtics Have Begun Flipping Script On Previous Early-Season Weakness

The Boston Celtics appear to have figured out one of their biggest hurdles that began snowballing into a legitimate early-season concern: scoring in the third quarter.

Whether it'd be on the reserve unit or the starters, the Celtics early on developed a much-deserved stigma surrounding their ability to close out games. More specifically, their ability to follow up a first half by not limping into the fourth quarter needing to play catch-up, turning should-be wins into head-scratching losses.

Boston had averaged an NBA-worst 25.3 points in the third quarter on just 42.2% shooting from the field -- also a league-worst mark at the time. Just eight games ago, that very weighing anchor dragged the Celtics to elimination during their NBA In-Season Tournament quarterfinal loss to the Pacers.

In the third frame of Boston's battle with Indiana, the second following its season-high 155-point offensive clinic performance on Nov. 1, the Celtics flopped. They scored a measly 23 points to 37 from the Pacers, showing minimal fight and plenty of willingness to accept wherever Indiana intended to direct the contest.

Fast forward to late December and that's changed.

Most recently, the Celtics demolished the Clippers in Los Angeles with a 145-108 victory on Saturday night, making the second 144-plus-point performance from Boston's offense amid a four-game road trip on the West Coast.

"We've been playing the right way," Tatum said postgame, per NBC Sports Boston. "We've just been shooting the ball really well. I think we continue to create advantages and everybody on the court can shoot. It's hard to help against us and guard guys one-on-one. We create a lot of problems."

Twice in the last two games, Boston took the floor without a key starter. First, on Wednesday, the Celtics took on the Sacramento Kings without Jayson Tatum. Then amid their second-straight blowout win over the Clippers, Kristaps Porzingis was ruled unavailable beforehand.

That proved to not matter a bit, however. The Celtics shot 13-of-24 from the field in the third frame in LA, piling onto a lost Clippers team that, without Kawhi Leonard, stood no chance against Boston's also short-handed squad.

Since falling to the Pacers and blowing their chances of competing for an In-Season Tournament title out in Las Vegas, the previous third-quarter woes have gone out the window. The C's have gotten to work, averaging 32.8 points in the third frame through their last eight games since being eliminated by Indiana, going 7-1 through the stretch to still sit atop the Eastern Conference.

That urgency, as expected with a roster as talented as Boston's, has made it strikingly easier to reach the finish line routinely against opponents, even in bullying a select view with nearly record-setting scoring outputs.

The sigh of relief that not only preserving leads, but adding on, removes from the starting unit cannot be understated. It adds a much-needed sense of trust within head coach Joe Mazzulla to lean on Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and company to perform up to par with the expectations set from Opening Night.

If an established component of Boston's still unestablished identity, there's no telling what new heights the new-look Celtics could reach amid their journey toward Banner 18.