What Joe Mazzulla Told Celtics Before Explosive Win Over Kings

The Boston Celtics were off to a sluggish start to their four-game West Coast road trip after squandering a chances-filled overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors.

On Wednesday night, the Celtics bounced back with a loud response.

Boston, without Jayson Tatum, little brothered the Sacramento Kings, pouring on an offensive clinic that turned a tight first-half battle into a non-contest by the end of the third quarter. Both teams went 3-pointer for 3-pointer, tying an NBA record 28 made by halftime, but the Celtics sped away as soon as the third frame began, perhaps applying a pregame message from head coach Joe Mazzulla before crushing the Kings in a 144-119 victory.

“I just told them to keep perspective,” Mazzulla told reporters, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “It’s very important that us as a team and a locker room are on the same page about what we’re doing well, what we’re not doing well, what type of team we are. It’s all about perspective. Many people can make up a lot of reasons as to why we lose a game, but we know what our standard is, we know what the game plan, we know when we execute it and when we don’t.”

Boston had more than enough contributors on the offensive end, racking up five 20-point-plus scorers — Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard — by night’s end. That comes as no surprise considering the offense was so stellar that the Celtics drained a season-best 22 total 3-pointers on a 52.4% rate — the second-best this season.

It was the first time that five Celtics scored 20-plus since 1987.

“Offensively, we found the right balance of attacking in transition and executing in the half-court,” Mazzulla explained. “And that’s the key against teams like that is the balance. You have to run with them a little bit, get easy baskets and you gotta execute. And I thought our guys found that balance.”

However, it wasn’t just the offense that made Boston’s spotless performance. The Celtics also got very involved and very busy on the other end of the floor.

Boston recorded 10 blocks — six credited to Porzingis — and six steals, applying too much pressure on both sides of the ball for Sacramento to handle. A 39-point runaway third quarter proved to be the decider, burying any chance at life for the Kings.

Pounding 144 points on Sacramento marked the second-highest scoring total in a game by the Celtics this season and also kept Boston atop the Eastern Conference at 21-6.