The Celtics Kicked Off The New Year By Reminding The World That They Are One Of The Best Road Teams In NBA History

Thearon W. Henderson. Getty Images.

Throughout every season, I always stress how as fans, we often times need to take a second and appreciate what we are watching. With so many games in such a short time period, sometimes things can fall through the cracks that you may not be aware of. You're so caught up in the "next" game, or the eventual playoffs that you can sometimes lose sight of what's happening along the way.

For example, how many of you reading this blog are aware that you are watching one of the greatest road teams not just in Celtics history, but NBA history? 

I'll remind you, no team in the NBA has more road wins since Joe Mazzulla took over this team. The Celtics have 96 of those, with the next closest (OKC) sitting at 84. I'll also remind you that no team in the NBA has more road playoff wins since Joe Mazzulla took over, either. The Celtics have 15 of those, with the next closest (DEN) sitting at 11. 

So far this season, not only do the Celts have one of the best point differentials in franchise history with 3 of the top 5 being a Joe Mazzulla team, but we're also seeing the 2025-26 Celtics play at a 50 win pace on the road through their first 18 road games. They own the 4th highest differential (+108) in the NBA, trailing just OKC, HOU, and DEN (and my guess is they pass DEN here shortly). The next closest team in the East? The Pistons, at +80. 

We all acknowledge how insane this is right? Given what the roster lost this summer? And yet, you're still going to hear about how Joe Mazzulla "isn't a good coach" or whatever the fucking morons out there are still crying about. You'll be told Mazzulla isn't the COTY leader because other teams that were expected to be good, are good. Meanwhile, the Celtics woke up today just 3 losses back of the #1 seed in the East, are on a 53 win pace, and are one of the best road performers the league has ever seen.

Giphy Images.

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Yeah, it may help things when you're playing a Kings team that definitely stinks, but why is that my problem? Everyone else gets to play shitty teams too. We just saw what happened in the POR loss, anything is possible on any given night in the NBA. The Kings just beat the Rockets not too long ago. They've beaten the Wolves and Nuggets as well. Shit happens. 

Now that the Celts took care of their business, we're guaranteed a winning record for the longest trip of the year, regardless of what happens tomorrow against a red-hot Clippers team (W6). Would I very much prefer a 4-1 trip to 3-2? Duh. But the first objective was to make sure you ended this 5 game trip with a winning record. That box has now been checked. 

As we know, once you go out West, weird shit happens. I'd say for 75% of last night's game, that's exactly what we got. Let's begin.

The Good

- When thinking of who to kick us off with, it wasn't exactly as clear cut as you may think. So after running the numbers and going over the film, I'm going to go in a little different direction today. We're starting with the biggest reason the Celtics won this game and avoided what would have been another very embarrassing loss.

We're starting with the performance of the entire bench unit.

There have been a few of these games recently where the starters come out and are mostly "meh". Can't hit a shot, can't get a stop, not playing to the standard required to win, you know what I'm talking about. Then Joe will make a shift change, the bench will come in, and almost immediately everything flips. This was one of those games

For starters, just look at the differences in +/-. I know +/- can be a little weird at times and not always tell the true story of how a player played or a game went, but that is not the case here. Those numbers very much match the eye test and what we saw in this win.

When the Kings were unleashing their early magnet ball, it was the 2nd unit that not only took it on the chin, but also immediately responded with a magnet ball of their own. It started with Sam Hauser, who could not miss early

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When Hauser is on one of these heaters, he's truly incredible to watch. The ball doesn't even consider touching the rim, and the good news is it only takes 1 for Hauser to heat up like this. One of the more curious things we saw last night was the fact that Jordan Walsh only played 5 minutes, and Hauser's play was a huge reason why. When he's on this type of heater, you have to have him on the floor, especially when your opponent is shooting a magnet ball from deep.

I view the 4 spot on this roster as a position that is extremely fluid. Every night this is the spot where Joe is going to adjust based on his feel and how the games go. Between Hauser/Walsh/Minott/Hugo, it's going to be a constant rotation based on who has it going that night, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, it's exactly how that position should be treated to maximize this roster. 

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But it wasn't just Hauser. How about Luka Garza? This dude is legit bullying all of us into accepting the fact that he's now somehow a playable rotation big? The fuck did that happen?

Another +16 in his minutes, some of these finishes we're seeing from Garza as the roll man in P&R are starting to get silly. Hes showing great touch around the rim, and I'll have you know that so far this season Luka Garza ranks in the 94th percentile as the roll man in P&, averaging an insane 1.62 ppp while shooting 73.3% from the floor. How insane is that?

For comparison, last year Luke Kornet ranked in the 87th percentile, putting up 1.33 ppp on 67% shooting. 

I'm not saying Garza is at the current level of Kornet (yet), but what I am saying is that I am intrigued. The more he plays recently, the better both he and the team have been. That was NOT the case to start the year, but there's no denying that Luka has been fantastic as of late. 

When the 2nd unit needed shotmaking to help support Hauser, that's where Simons came in. He's another player that has been much more effective as of late, and his shotmaking in the first half was a big reason why the Celts were able to stay attached considering both Jaylen and Derrick couldn't score for shit in the first 24 minutes.

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He may have faded a little in the second half, but that was fine becasue Jaylen/White woke up. Simons' role in my opinion is to come in and provide the instant offense, especially in games where the stars get off to slow starts. He's been doing that more and more lately while also giving passable effort defensively. Again, I'm not saying this changes much in terms of what the Celts might do with his contract in a month, but just like with Garza, I'm intrigued with this current version of Simons.

And finally, we had Hugo (+20). I have been thinking about this play nonstop since it happened. It sums Hugo up perfectly and why even though he's only a few months into his NBA career it's very obvious that Hugo is a winning player. Just watch him

You don't think that shit matters? You don't think that helped turn the momentum of the game? Guess what happened in the 4th quarter? 

What I love about Hugo is he seems to share the same mindset as Derrick White where a play is never over. No matter how unlikely it may seem that you can make a play, Hugo is going to make a play or die trying. Just like we know Derrick will. 

That's his role. Make the momentum turning hustle plays that can shift a game. Between his effort and his rebounding, it's a little crazy that Hugo has turned himself into a player that you HAVE to have on the floor to close out games. He's 19 years old! 

- Sometimes the game of basketball is easy to explain

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Shoutout Mazzulla Ball. The greatest offensive mind of this era and I'm not sure it's particularly close. Even despite the early struggles, the Celts finished with 120 points on 50/40% with 17 3PM. I love it here. 

- Shooting wise, it's hard to argue that Jaylen Brown didn't get off to a horrific start. It was pretty annoying how it felt like he was settling a little too much, especially since he made it clear that he could get to the rim with ease whenever he wanted. I didn't really like any part of his first half if we're being honest.

But that's why NBA games are 48 minutes

You have to be a pretty ridiculous player to have a semi-off night and still end up with 29/10/4. When it came time to show up in the 4th, Jaylen finished with 8 points on 50% shooting, despite only playing 5 4th quarter minutes. 

What I liked about Jaylen's performance was that even though he couldn't hit a shot, he found other ways to impact winning. He led the team in rebounds, which we all know is an important area. He finished 6-7 fromt he FT line, including 4-5 in the 4th. The shooting (11-25, 1-9) and the TOs (5) were gross, but they did not take Jaylen out of the game mentally, which I would call growth. This team can't really afford a night where Jaylen checks out of a game just because his shot isn't dropping, so it was good to see him still find ways to make a winning impact until his shot came back in the 2nd half. 

Once he decided he was just going to bully his way into the paint and to the rim, the Kings never really had a solve for that which isn't exactly their fault. Few teams in the NBA have a solve for Jaylen Brown offensively this season. It's why he's averaging nearly 30 a game.

- I'm not sure what happens, but the second a game moves to the 4th quarter, something becomes unlocked in Derrick White. It's something we haven't seen since Isaiah Thomas, and I'm at the point now where I do not care how Derrick has played in the first 3 quarters. Once we get to the 4th, I know he's got me

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14 of his 16 points in the final 12 minutes, 4-7 (2-3) from the floor with his patented Derrick White 4th Quarter bombs, and a +14 while playing every second of the quarter. This was a tie game at 88 entering the 4th, which normally would spell trouble, but we're seeing some sort of transformation when it comes to DWhite and it's getting harder and harder to ignore the signs.

Also, how many fastbreak alley oops did we see Derrick White break up by himself? At least 3 different ones right? Who else is doing that shit on such a consistent basis? The level of rim protection the Celts are getting from a guard is borderline insane.

- But back to the 4th quarter stuff. Let me take you back to December 19th. You may remember that was the game against the Heat where the Celts honored Isaiah Thomas. What was his whole deal? The King Of The Fourth.

As any Celtics fan will tell you, there are plenty of instances where the Celts look like worst team of all time once a game gets to the 4th quarter. It's very annoying. But since that December 19th game? Here's how the Celts rank in the 4th quarter:

Offense: 1st

Defense: 3rd

Net Rating: 1st

TS%: 1st

They're suddenly the best 4th quarter team in the NBA? All it took was just honoring Isaiah? The hell took so long! Think of how many brutal 4th quarters could have been avoided had they just done that sooner???

In this win, it was a 32-18 frame. Finally, the Celts had a solid defensive quarter and it came at the perfect time,

In fact, it was good to see them actually play a lick of defense in the second half, holding the Kings to just 45 total points. We've been seeing way too many halfs where the Celts are giving up 60+ (including last night), so it was great to see them lock in and actually get some stops, especially in the 4th. Now if we could just get that level of defensive execution for 48 minutes, we won't have to sweat out games against shitty teams.

- Shoutout Neemy who you have to image is extra juiced to play the Kings, given the fact that they cut him and everything

13/5 with 3 blocks on 5-6 shooting in his 22 minutes, I never got the sense that Queta was overmatched by anyone on the Kings roster, and for the most part he gave you what you expect from his role. Some good rim protection, finishing around the rim, some decent rebounding, all while staying out of foul trouble.

The fact that Neemy didn't have a since foul in his 22 minutes might have been the most impressive part of his night if we're being honest.

- What a great close to the game from Payton Pritchard. Once Jaylen fouled out and things were still within striking distance should you not execute, it was Payton who came through in those final moments

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That paint jumper was a massive shot in that moment, and it's a shot we're seeing Payton make at a 64.5% clip this season. His paint jumper might be the deadliest shot in his arsenal, and I loved how in that situation he didn't settle for a tough low percentage look. He got right to his spot where he knew he'd have the advantage and buried it.

Then on the next possession, you can see the Kings are so worried about the pull up that it opened up the passing lane for Queta, which Payton his perfectly.

Say the Celts don't score when it's 115-106. There was plenty of time left for the Kings to make one final run, especially with how they were shooting the ball early. A 9 point lead in the NBA is nothing nowadays with 2 minutes left. Making that jumper to bring it back up to 11 was the final gut punch and really what ended any sort of potential Kings comeback.

The Bad

- I feel like I'm bringing it up in every blog, but what choice do I have? The Celts are still really struggling with their opponent 3pt defense. I know the Kings eventually turned back into pumpkins, but what we saw fromt he first half (12-21) isn't a fluke. For well over a month now, the Celts have ranked at the bottom of the NBA in terms of opponent 3PM. We're seeing the worst shooting teams in the league go crazy, and again, this is something that's been an issue for months now.

I know part of it is by design and is a result of the Celts packing the paint. All I'm asking for is can you not be 28th in the NBA in opponent 3PM? How about like, league average? It has to be possible to protect the paint/rim while also not being the worst 3pt defense in the NBA. It can't be one or the other, there has to be a middle ground.

Because yeah, there will be games where the Celts fight back and go 17-41 from deep to balance that out, but needing to finish at 41% as a team just to make sure you don't have a bad loss all because you're letting a dogshit team feast from deep is annoying.

The worst part is we go into these games knowing it's going to happen, and then it happens. Who was suprised that the Kings bench started 5-6 from deep? Or that it was 8-0 with back to back Precious Achiuwa 3s to start the game? 

- As good as the second half defense looked, that's how bad the first half defense was. A lot of it had to do with the 3pt shooting mentioned above, and if we're truly being honest, I'd say the Celts really only played 1 quarter of elite defense. A total of 29, 32, and 27 points allowed in the first 3 quarters, there's a reason why on the season, the Celts only have the 15th ranked defense. For long stretches, it kind of stinks. You see the final 106 total and think man the Celts really locked the Kings up, but that really wasn't the case. I'd even argue the Kings missed a bunch of open looks down the stretch, which has more to do with them than the defense the Celtics played.

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Right now, the offense is carrying things. It's the 3rd best offense in the NBA, which has been a revelation. But as we know, in the NBA if you don't defend you die, and I would not say the Celtics have been defending at a high level on a conistent basis this season. You'll get a quarter or a half, but if feels like forever since we've gotten a full complete 48 mintue defensive masterclass performance.

- Why is it whenever the Celts play Dennis Schroder he always seems to shred them, but when he was on the Celtics we didn't get that same production? Or at least that's what it feels like. One of those guys that's an all time Celtics killer when he's wearing a different jersey, but then all he did was walk the ball up and frustrate you as a Celtics fan. There were some big scoring games, but the efficiency like we saw last night where he's making 3s like that? Very annoying.

The Ugly

- I hated the gamble by Jaylen for that steal in the final minutes while he had 5 fouls. Even if you think that was a clean play, in that spot you can't risk it. There was really just no need for it given the time and score, and in a way the Celts were lucky that didn't come back to bite them in the ass. Not the best situational awareness I've ever seen.

It also forced Joe to use his challenge and timeout, which we all knew they weren't going to win but something you have to do since it was Jaylen's 6th foul, so that was a bit of a double whammy

Thankfully Pritchard closed the door, becaues that mental mistake by Jaylen did open it back up for a moment.

- I also was not exactly thrilled with Jaylen's ball security. His 5 TOs were mostly all the ones you hate, dribbling into traffic, getting it stripped etc. I can handle turnovers if they are dead ball TOs at least then you can set your defense. But with so many of them being live ball last night, it really felt like the 2023 MIA issue where the Kings were clearly trapping/reaching and sending help on Jaylen drives, and I did not think he handled well for stretches of this game.

Now heading to LA for the final game of the trip, this will undoubtably be the toughest one thus far. Not only are you maybe looking ahead ot finally returning home, but the Clippers are rolling. Kawhi is playing incredible basketball at the moment and they have a ton of momentum heading into this game. The Celts have played their way into a battle for the top seed, and once they return home they have a 4 game set of CHI/DEN/TOR/SA. There's a great opportunity to continue to stack wins, but you have to finish the current trip strong.