BSJ Game Report: Celtics 113, Nets 99 - Sloppy C's turn it around to pull away in fourth quarter

Everything you need to know about the Celtics' win over the Nets with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics came out sloppy and fell behind by 10, but Payton Pritchard fueled a run to level things after one. The Celtics shot well in the second, but their turnovers only allowed for a one-point halftime lead. The issues continued in the third, but Jaylen Brown’s 17 points kept the C’s afloat until a mid-fourth stretch that finally broke the game open. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Above .500: The Celtics are now 8-7, moving above .500 for the first time this season. They're 8-4 since the 0-3 start, so things are trending in the right direction with another matchup against Brooklyn on Friday and Orlando on Sunday before a tough four-game stretch. 

- UGLY game: The Celtics turned the ball over 20 times, nearly twice their season average of 11. That led to 21 points off turnovers for Brooklyn and a 24-8 Nets advantage in fast break points. However, the Celtics changed things in the fourth quarter, committing just three turnovers for two points while turning Brooklyn over seven times for 10 points. 

- Pritchard rolling: He shot nearly 42% from 3 on his way to 22 points. He also grabbed 10 rebounds. After a slow shooting start, Pritchard is working his percentages back up and starting to put more complete games together. 

TURNING POINT 

Sam Hauser came up with a steal that led to a Neemias Queta dunk to start a 7-0 run … which ended with his 3-pointer before a Nets timeout … to break open a tie game halfway through the fourth quarter. The extended run ended up at 18-3. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Derrick White: His defense in the second half was elite. He had two steals and two blocks after halftime, but he was much more than that all over the floor. He even had one play where he turned it over, but immediately baited Nic Claxton into an offensive foul to get the ball back. He also had a couple of 3-pointers as part of that game-changing run.

- Payton Pritchard: Pritchard was down on himself about his rebounding after the win over the Clippers. He responded with 10 in this game on his way to a 22/10/5 night. 

- Josh Minott: Jordan Walsh got into early foul trouble and only played 11 minutes, but Minott came in to pick up the slack. Walsh and Minott are essentially interchangeable at this point, so the Celtics barely missed a beat. He finished with 10 points and 3-3 shooting from deep. 

- Anfernee Simons: He led a decent bounce-back for the bench with 11 points off 3-4 shooting. He finished with 11 points, four rebounds, and five assists. 

- Sam Hauser: A nice little 8/7/3 game, and he finally hit two 3-pointers for the first time since the loss to Houston on November 1. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Turnovers: Their 20 turnovers were a season-high, and they weren’t anything like bad luck, aggressiveness, or a ref getting touchy about illegal screens. These were straight rips and gross passes that made me wonder if someone spiked Boston’s Gatorade. Boston’s heads were stuck in a place where they performed their own colonoscopies. 

- Jaylen Brown: He snapped out of his funk long enough to put up 17 points in the third quarter and hit a couple of shots to close out the game, but he was responsible for eight turnovers. 

“I was just playing like shit in the first half, honestly,” Brown told reporters in Brooklyn. “Took a minute for me to figure it out, but kind of picked it up to close the game. But I got to come out to a better start in the first half, especially in the first quarter, because the team kind of feeds off me. I know that. So I got to be better.”

- Luka Garza: He might not be the right choice to play against a young, athletic team. I wonder if Chris Boucher will get more minutes on Friday night instead of Garza. The Celtics threw two lobs his way and those were not good decisions. He wasn’t awful, but he wasn’t good, either. 

- No Hugo Gonzalez?: I’m struggling to figure this out. He’s an energy guy, but this is the second game where the Celtics could have used his energy, and he didn’t get a single minute. After telling me, essentially, that Gonzalez didn’t play in the Friday night Maine Celtics game because he didn’t need to, the Celtics have sat him out twice. Which is it? 

HIGHLIGHTS

TWO TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- I wonder if Jaylen Brown appreciates having two stars more than he did two months ago.

Brown is having to work so hard for his buckets this season. Even in a game I didn’t really like out of him, he managed a monster 17-point quarter and he helped close things out. 

When you look at the leveled-out statistics like per-36 or per-100 possessions, Brown is having a better season than he did when he made the All-NBA team. He’s probably going to do it again, but he’ll be exhausted by all the work he has to do to get there. 

He admitted as much at practice last week, which makes me wonder if he has a different appreciation for being part of a two-star team. 

I think this season might end up being good for him in that regard while also being good for how he’s perceived. He’s handling life as the top option really well, which should answer some of the lingering questions about where he stands in the NBA. So maybe that will change how people on this side of the game see him. 

At the same time, I’m sure he’s itching to get Jayson Tatum back to get some of the pressure off himself for a bit. Life is much easier when you have a lot of good teammates to draw defensive attention. 

This season will reshape a lot of the mentality around Brown, some of that might even apply him directly. 

- Guys like Jordan Walsh don’t get chances to play out of a tough game.

Walsh got hit with his fourth early in the third quarter and he didn’t play again until the final :18 of the game. Joe Mazzulla went in a different direction, choosing Hauser, Minott, and Baylor Scheierman to fill that role the rest of the way. 

Walsh stepped into Minott’s starting wing role in recent games, but there's no guarantee he’s going to keep it. The fact is that Mazzulla has a lot of options for that spot and if Walsh gets too comfortable, too sloppy, or both, he can find himself parked on the bench once again. 

It’s unfair, but his is how it is for all those guys. The job is theirs until they screw up, then someone else gets a shot until they do the same. The pressure is on to learn a tough lesson: Your spot on this roster and in the league is tenuous, at best, and you don’t have the luxury of playing through bad stretches like White, Pritchard, and Brown. 

I wonder how much leeway he gets after this game, or if Mazzulla goes in a different direction on Friday. 

Next Up: The Celtics complete the home-and-home by hosting Brooklyn on Friday night.