5 takeaways: Celtics avoid history in blowout win against Pelicans

Boston looked like it was once again on the brink of dropping another game in which it led by double-digits. And then the fourth quarter happened, and for those 12 minutes the Celtics resembled their best self in what turned into a 122-90 blowout victory in New Orleans on Monday night. Here are five takeaways from Boston’s first win of the season…

Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla appears to be unafraid to tinker with his team’s starting lineup to open the season — and it paid off when he inserted Josh Minott into the lineup.

Similarly to his short stint on Sunday against the Detroit Pistons, Minott provided an immediate spark of energy, tallying four points and three boards during his first shift.

“I’m just blessed to be able to play this game every day — it was just an exciting moment,” Minott said postgame.

The 22-year-old was all over the court in the first half, finishing the first 24 minutes with 13 points, which tied his career high. He ultimately finished with 15, but his impact was still felt during Boston’s fourth quarter run. 

Minott ended the game a +42 on the floor, which is good for the 8th best mark in Celtics play-by-play history. 

The Celtics fatal flaw through three games was their performance in the rebounding department. In Boston’s last two games against the New York Knicks and Piston, it was out-rebounded by 16 and 17 respectively. 

On Monday that all changed as the Celtics dominated the boards, grabbing 66 compared to the Pelicans 46. 

Neemias Queta set the tone on the glass, snagging 11 which is good for second-most in his career. 

“He’s gotten better every game,” Mazzulla said. “It’s got to be a habit. It can’t be a go out there and do it a couple times. We need him to keep getting better.” 

Minott added nine of his own, and Luka Garza outmuscled New Orleans for six in limited minutes. Garza also added in 16 points on the offensive end to give the team a much-needed boost. 

Going forward, if Boston wants to be competitive, it’ll need to replicate its rebounding performance from New Orleans. Whether it's capable of that or not remains to be seen.

Boston was once again struggling shooting the ball heading into the fourth quarter against New Orleans. With Jaylen Brown also on the bench with foul trouble and Derrick White having issues with his shot, the Celtics needed someone to step up. 

Enter Anfernee Simons. 

After starting the game 1-for-6 from the floor, the guard was electric in the final frame, hitting three-consecutive triples to spark a 25-2 Celtics run that delivered the knockout punch.

Simons finished the game with 25 points and was 6-for-13 from deep.

“We kept a positive mindset going into this game,” Simons said. “And tonight it clicked.”

 If the Celtics are going to find any consistency in the win column, Simons will have to emerge like he did tonight as a dangerous scoring threat late in games.

While the fourth quarter will leave many with a good taste in their mouth following the win, Boston’s continued shooting struggles are concerning. 

As a team, the Celtics shot 48% from the field and 34% from beyond the arc. 

White continued to have a difficult time finding a rhythm, as he shot 1-for-9 from deep, and finished with 11 points. While he’s making up for his lack of offensive production in other ways, he’ll need to find his stroke soon for Boston.

Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser also continued to struggle connecting on triples, shooting a combined 5-for-17 from three.

With the victory, this group of Celtics was able to leave themselves off a list in Celtics history they didn’t want to be on.

If the Celtics lost and dropped to 0-4, they would have just been the fifth time in franchise history a team has started with four straight losses.

The loss also would’ve been the first four-game losing streak for Boston since 2021. Fortunately for the Celtics, they’ll stave off that mark — at least for now.