Every week, I gather some thoughts about the Celtics, the NBA, and beyond and dump them here. Because it's more fun than wearing a diaper just be within a hundred feet of Ryan Seacrest.
- The Celtics lost a first quarter for the fifth game in a row in Sacramento. The last time they won a first quarter was December 20 in Toronto. Their only loss in that stretch was in Portland, so while I’d love to yell about being better to start games, it’s hard for me to provide any evidence to support my point.
Maybe that's what scares me most. They keep getting away with it, so maybe they’ll keep doing it until it truly burns them.
- Neemias Queta was showing off against the Kings.
Couple of very impressive finishes from Neemias Queta, who is certainly making the Kings wish they kept him a few years ago. pic.twitter.com/sszTGPK2nn
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) January 2, 2026
This is the best I’ve seen Queta move this season. I’m not exactly pushing for him to do more of this, but I think him taking advantage of opportunities like this is good.
- I’ve said this before, but in-game jump balls are ridiculous. Why is it that teams can line up before a game and have a jump ball without an issue but when it happens in the middle of the game, we get pushing and shoving like the incident involving Queta and Precious Achiuwa?
That, by the way, was ridiculous. The double-tech was a cop out. Refs need to have some ability to go to the monitor to see who started the altercation. Queta didn’t deserve a tech.
- Thank GOD for the late review to challenge Jaylen Brown’s sixth foul. Watching a game officiated by Bill Kennedy without any reviews is like going to a concert where they don’t play your favorite song.
After the game, Mazzulla deadpanned about the challenge: “I really just wanted to hear Billy Kennedy because he does a great challenge. We were going to do it anyway just to hear him deliver the challenge.”
I’m begging all other media outlets to understand that Mazzulla was joking here. Any serious headline suggesting this quote to be serious should be mocked incessantly.
- Anfernee Simons second quarter was almost as important as Derrick White’s fourth. Both scored 14 points and each of them came at critical times. Boston needed everything Simons was doing to hold off a hot-shooting Kings team. If Simons didn’t have that second quarter, White might not have even been in the game in the fourth.
As I always say, clutch basketball doesn’t always happen in the fourth quarter.
- Mazzulla on White’s fourth quarter: “He had five assists in the first half, so he was doing a great job play-making out of (early struggles). He missed some easy ones, and the biggest thing about that is he doesn’t let the misses discourage him. He continues to play defense, he continues to shoot, continues to stay aggressive.”
- Payton Pritchard made two great plays to put that Kings game away. First, nailing what’s become a signature 12-foot jumper
Jaylen Brown fouls out, so Payton Pritchard takes over in the paint pic.twitter.com/Q8ZzJYcdzV
— Danielle Hobeika (@DanielleHobeika) January 2, 2026
And then using the step-through to get Queta a dunk.
Neemias Queta punctuates the Celtics' victory with a slam pic.twitter.com/iyTxZB6nNT
— Danielle Hobeika (@DanielleHobeika) January 2, 2026
Pritchard’s dribbling and footwork make him truly slump-proof. Even if his 3-point shot has abandoned him for a while, he finds his way to other spots and he can still make plays from there.
- Mazzulla calling the use-it-or-lose-it timeout partly to berate Hugo Gonzalez for not dunking it on the break is amazing.