The Boston Celtics played to their ceiling Sunday and the Golden State Warriors didn’t come anywhere close to matching it.
Even without Kristaps Porzingis, the Celtics embarrassed the Warriors with a 140-88 beatdown at TD Garden.
The victory arguably was Boston’s most impressive in its 11-game winning streak and the Celtics peeled back the curtain following the contest, showing what head coach Joe Mazzulla highlighted to the team in the locker room.
“The level of mindset that we played with the entire game, in games like that I always appreciate the guys that have to play when it’s a lead and you kept that mindset and that physicality up. I think that’s the most important thing,” Mazzulla said. “Luke (Kornet), I appreciated your effort. I thought you were great. I thought you changed the game. … And then for our team, two questions are like if we play as a team and maintain our humility, what are the possibilities? And if we don’t play as a team and we don’t keep our humility, what are the consequences? And that’s the balance that we have to understand.
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“But tonight we saw who we are at our absolute best.”
It’s interesting that Mazzulla singled out Kornet in his postgame remarks to the team. Kornet didn’t have a star performance — that belonged to Jaylen Brown after he punished the Warriors for an odd defensive strategy — as the 7-foot-1 center totaled two points, three rebounds and a block in 11 minutes. But Kornet made an impact as a rim protector and was on the floor the entirety of Boston’s 23-1 run to close the first quarter.
The Celtics clearly showed what they are capable of when they are playing at their peak, but the real question is can they bottle that up for when they need it the most?
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And that answer won’t come until June.
Featured image via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
