Celtics' best win of the year showed fans exactly why they're championship material

While you had your head buried in your phone (as we all have this week), wondering what the next big NBA trade is going to be, the Boston Celtics just put together their best win of the season. They went into Toyota Center to take on the 31-17, fourth-place Houston Rockets and took care of business.

“It’s a credit to the guys for coming out on a back-to-back against a great team,” Joe Mazzulla explained postgame. “The mindset that they were able to play with, the physicality, and the execution.”

Wait, there’s more.

Boston’s 114-93 victory, their fourth straight, by the way, came without Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, and Anfernee Simons (or Nikola Vucevic, who isn’t technically on the team yet). They rolled out a starting lineup of Derrick White, Neemias Queta, Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza, and Ron Harper Jr, who made his first-career start, and got to work.

After a shaky start from both sides, the Celtics took control going into halftime with a strong close to the second quarter. Truthfully, this is probably where they won this game. Their 11-5 run over the final 3:30 set them up for a strong second half. There are endless examples that prove the importance of closing quarters, and Boston delivered in those moments in Houston.

Once they came out of halftime, it was a wrap. White caught fire in the third for 14 loud points, and the Celtics stretched their lead more and more. The cherry on top was Rockets, and former Celtics, head coach Ime Udoka picking up a pair of technicals in the closing seconds of the frame, and getting himself ejected.

There were so many things that made this win feel special

Whether it was Harper Jr.’s impressive debut as a starter, White’s re-emergence, Payton Pritchard’s second-straight heater since returning to the bench, or the combined excellence of Neemias Queta and Luka Garza in the wake of the Vucevic trade, there were so many different things that made this victory feel special.

Who could’ve predicted that Ron Harper Jr., in his first-ever start, would look like he’s been playing in the rotation all season long? Within the first two minutes of the game, he’d already fought for a pair of tough rebounds to set the tone for a strong outing. Not to mention that his feel for the game was on point with passes like this one.

He finished with a near double-double, logging 11 points, nine rebounds, and three assists on an efficient 4-8 from the field.

Meanwhile, Pritchard looked as comfortable as ever off the bench again in this one. With Simons all but traded to Chicago, it feels like this is going to be Pritchard’s role for the rest of the year.

He’s delivered the message, loud and clear, that the change isn’t going to be a problem. The reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year poured in a loud 27 points off the bench to go along with seven assists.

Speaking of change, it feels like both Queta and Garza will see some shift in role once the 35-year-old former All-Star arrives in Boston. Whether that means fewer minutes, a move to the bench for Queta, who’s started all season, or even the complete removal of Garza from the rotation (which feels less likely by the day), the frontcourt rotation has some uncertainty around it.

Neither man looked bothered in the slightest. If anything, they looked motivated. Queta hit the glass hard, totalling 19 rebounds in this one, while Garza continued his inspired stretch of scoring with 19 points. 

More than anything, it was the lack of expectations that made this win sweet. Once the Celtics announced that Brown and Hauser were out, against Houston, most fans would’ve been happy to just keep the game close. The Rockets, remember, were responsible for probably the worst loss of Boston’s season back in November. On Wednesday, they were on the wrong end of what may have been Boston’s best win.

Of course, to Mazzulla, the win only means as much as the team makes of it.

“It depends on how we handle film tomorrow, and the game the next day,” he replied when asked if this was a special moment in the 82-game season. “We could just throw it all away. So, I’ll let you know every 24 hours.”

The mindset, the depth, the execution, the will to compete against a team that smoked them a few months ago -- it all should have Celtics fans feeling like this team could special.