The Boston Celtics bounced back with a 138-129 win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday night. They played three of their most impressive quarters of the season, followed by a disastrous fourth, nearly letting a 26-point lead get away from them.
Here's what stood out:
The energy has shifted (for three quarters, at least)
No one seemed more frustrated with the Celtics’ lack of effort and focus in Friday’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets than Jaylen Brown. Brown challenged his teammates, as well as himself, during his postgame media availability with a blunt message.
“Come ready to play, or don't come at all. We’ve gotta come ready to play. We just went through the motions today.”
Brown’s message surely resonated. They came ready to play against the Magic on Sunday, to say the least.
Boston set the tone with an explosive first half, scoring a season-high 80 points behind some excellent shooting. They blew the game open with a 48-point second quarter, which was capped off with a Payton Pritchard buzzer-beater.
Their increase in effort was evident, too. Boston generally seemed to be more focused defensively, and it showed (for most of the game). The fourth quarter got a bit dicey. Orlando managed to cut a 26-point lead down to just six, but the Cs locked in enough to get across the finish line with a victory.
It's pretty remarkable that the Celtics just can't seem to play an entire 48 minutes this season. There's always some sort of lapse somewhere along the way.
Josh Minott has returned
More specifically, Josh Minott has returned as a small-ball center. The Celtics were left with next to no choice (thought it was weird that Joe Mazzulla omitted Luka Garza from the rotation) but to turn to Minott (and Chris Boucher) once Neemias Queta left the game with a left ankle sprain.
The lineup with Minott playing the center spot was huge in Boston’s dominant second quarter. The former Memphis Tiger scored four straight baskets at one point, showing a real sense of how to space the floor from the dunker’s spot. His athleticism allows him to rise up quickly in traffic for easy buckets.
It’ll be interesting to see if Boston utilizes him more in that role going forward.
It never hurts when his three-ball is falling, either.
Minott finished the game with 16 points, seven rebounds, and a block on 7-8 from the field, and 2-3 from beyond the arc.
Welcome back, Sam Hauser
Sam Hauser was 7-42 from beyond the three-point line in November before Sunday’s meeting with the Magic. Shooting slumps happen. Even to players of Hauser’s caliber, which makes it all the more sweet when a performance like his in this game happens.
The Wisconsin native lit the Magic up from long range, sinking four of his five attempts from distance. He finished the night with 14 points on 5-8 from the field and 4-7 from three.
Hauser’s still contributed even without a reliable shot this season by hustling after rebounds and holding his own on defense. Once the shot begins to fall regularly, he could be a real difference-maker for the Cs.
Anfernee Simons stock rising?
The same can be said for Anfernee Simons, the dynamic scoring guard the Cs acquired in exchange for Jrue Holiday this summer. Simons has had a few impressive moments, but hasn’t sustained any true success in Boston.
We might be getting our first glimpse at what that looks like.
After a strong showing in Friday’s loss to the Nets, the 26-year-old came out of the gates firing against Orlando. He poured in eight first-quarter points to get himself going, then carried the momentum forward en route to a 23-point night.