NEW ORLEANS — The Pelicans still had a chance when Larry Nance bowled into Derrick White with :39 to go. But as White lay on the baseline, arms splayed out in celebration, and probably some release of frustration, it became clear Boston was on their way to their ninth straight win.
Pelicans fans filed out to the sounds of “Let’s Go Celtics” chants from the significant number of Boston fans in the house. Boston was hanging on, but not for lack of trying to give the game away.
“Just being careless with the basketball,” Jaylen Brown, perpetrator of seven turnovers that turned directly into 10 Pelicans points, said after the game. “Came out well, got to an early lead, kind of took our foot off the gas a little bit. And that's something that we got to challenge ourselves throughout the year, is just to keep our foot on team's necks. Don't let up, don’t let them get back into the game.”
There are partiers on Bourbon Street who have steadier legs than the Celtics did through much of this one. Brown played like someone poured a Hurricane into his Gatorade bottle. The Celtics in general were their own worst enemies in New Orleans, which, in all honesty, is something that can be said of just about every visitor here from out of town. However, unlike most tourists, the Celtics were being encouraged to take more shots.
“It is uncomfortable to miss four or five straight threes. It’s very uncomfortable,” Joe Mazzulla said of the team’s cold start to the second half. “Sometimes you just need to continue to empower them and say, ‘Hey, like, the next one is going in. And that's still a great shot regardless if you missed it.’ And now if you do that, if you miss four in a row you’re probably gonna make five out of the next six or seven.”
Mazzulla called the Celtics gun shy when they struggled in this game, but he also called them poised as they pulled out of their tailspin. As they head to Chicago, the scene of their worst loss of the season, they can use that game to demonstrate how far they’ve come.
Against both the Bulls and Pelicans, the starters came out blazing hot, only to watch the bench give back most of the lead. In Chicago, they fell apart, but in New Orleans, they found a way to power through.
“You can’t let offense, whether you’re missing or making shots, factor our defense,” White said. “I mean, there's times where that happens, but for the most part, I think we did a good job of just continuing to compete defensively and trust that the shots will eventually go down.”
The turnovers were Boston’s biggest struggle. The old habits of trying to do too much, not spacing well, and getting too deep without any outlets were back with a vengeance in the second half. The Celtics still battled through their mistakes. They fought for three offensive rebounds and a Brown layup to keep their lead at 10 with just about three minutes left. Grant Williams was in the right place at the right time to take what would have been a turnover and turn it into a layup. And then a short time later, White drew the game-sealing offensive foul.
“Yeah, I think we've definitely shown growth throughout the season,” Brown said. “I think we've continued to get better. But I think we still have a lot of work to do. I think we still know everybody holds us to a high standard, but I'm sure fans watching the game can see areas where we can get better and we see them too. … It’s a long season, guys are out, guys are hurt, but to still find a way to win games is hard to do in this league.”
The Pelicans are not some bottom-feeding chum, here. They came into the game with a top-10 offense and defense. They are squarely in the Western Conference playoff hunt, so it’s important to not get too focused on everything Boston did wrong without giving proper due to a team with a lot of talent. They made Boston pay for their mistakes.
The Celtics are on a bit of a roll when it comes to winning ugly. The difference between this season and last is how the Celtics are reacting when things go wrong. These kinds of runs and lulls happen to every team, and lesser ones wilt and lose. The Celtics are piling up wins, even as they figure themselves out, and even without their two best defenders on the floor in this game.
“I think we got a good team from top to bottom. I think we’re well-coached, I think we’re disciplined, I think we all are smart basketball players,” Brown said. “All of that encompassing is helping us win games, but we can't take it for granted and get excited. Every day counts, every game counts, so you got to continue to find ways to win. And tonight, we had some rough patches but it was a good example of still finding a way to get a W.”