5 takeaways: Celtics survive fourth quarter collapse

Jaylen Brown called out his Celtics teammates following an ugly loss to a bad Brooklyn team on Friday. 

“Come ready to play or don't come at all,” Brown said on Friday. 

Overall, Brown and the rest of the Celtics responded well to the message, coming out red hot in the first half against an undermanned Magic team. An 80-point first half built enough of a cushion to give Boston a 138-129 win. 

What should have been a blowout did become a bit of a nail-biter in the final minutes as the end of Orlando’s bench caught fire against a sleepy Celtics defense. Brown proved that he wasn’t just pointing fingers on Friday though as he carried Boston to the win with 12 consecutive points to close out the Magic. 

The victory was an epitome of what this team has been through 17 games and probably will be for the rest of the year. There will be some good, some nights there will be a lot of good, but there will also be poor stretches leaving many scratching their heads. 

The 2024 Celtics would have cruised to a forgettable blowout win against a lesser opponent — but these aren’t those Celtics. 

Here are five takeaways from the Celtics 9th win of the year… 

Neemias Queta has been a nice surprise for the Celtics through the first two months of the season. The big man has proven to be a defensive force, with on and off numbers that would have you think he’s a future Hall of Famer. 

While he may not actually be heading to Springfield, he has been crucial to Boston nonetheless. That’s why Queta exiting Sunday’s game early in the first quarter should have the Celtics worried. 

The Portugal native appeared to turn his ankle when attempting a block, and was officially ruled out in the second half with a left ankle sprain. Boston could be taking a precautionary approach with Queta considering the game appeared well in-hand for much of the night. 

In Queta’s absence, Joe Mazzulla surprisingly turned to Chris Boucher at the center position for most of the night. Boucher has seen limited playing time for most of the season up until tonight. Neither Luka Garza or Xavier Tillman received playing time in the win. 

If Queta is forced to miss significant time it will deliver a significant blow to the depth of an already weak Celtics’ frontcourt. 

Mazzulla had no postgame update on the severity of Queta’s sprain. 

It doesn’t get much better in terms of offensive basketball than what Boston displayed on Sunday. The Celtics fully exposed an Orlando team without Jalen Suggs, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr., scoring 48 points in 12 minutes. 

As a team, Boston shot 18-for-23 from the floor as it reached 80 points at the break. It marked just the 10th time in franchise history the Cs have reached 80 at the half. 

“(We) got stops, got out and ran offensively,” Mazzulla said. “I just thought we had some good possessions off turnovers and misses and getting out in transition.” 

The scoring attack was spread out, but Anfernee Simons was especially electric in the second half. The guard scored 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Up to this point in the season, it does seem that whenever the Celtics reach their offensive peak, Simons is the driving force in why. 

Josh Minott was also efficient in the second quarter, putting up 12 points on perfect shooting. He also grabbed five boards to aid a depleted frontcourt. 

“I thought Josh gave us some great stuff tonight,” Mazzulla said. “Just his ability to shoot tonight, and he also did a great job screening.” 

In what appeared to be a good old fashioned “scheduled loss,” the Orlando reserves turned it into anything but in the fourth quarter. 

Jett Howard and Jace Richardson suddenly became All-Stars and turned what looked to be glorified garbage time into a serious battle in the final minutes. 

Howard poured in 22 points in the fourth quarter on 8-for-13 shooting. Richardson scored 14 points, and they both combined for six triples. 

“A couple of their guys played really well, and now there’s obviously possessions that we could be better defensively,” Mazzulla said. 

The pair’s sudden explosion could probably just be boiled down to bench guys taking advantage of what appeared to be stress-free minutes, but Boston’s defense was definitely culpable as well. 

It is nice to see Brown back up his Friday night message in the clutch as Boston’s No. 1 option scored 12 consecutive points to match Orlando’s comeback bid.

“I give credit to some of those guys on Orlando,” Brown said. “We had a good lead and those guys came in and played hard. They got some shots down and they felt good. 

Brown ended the night with 35 points on 12-for-26 shooting and also added in eight assists. 

The forward does believe that Boston’s effort tonight — despite the late lapse — was on par for what he expects. He hopes that performances like Friday are just a one off. 

“I think for the most part we’ve had good effort and energy about ourselves,” Brown said. “I want to say hopefully its an anomaly. More times than not we’ve been the harder playing team or been playing just as hard as the other team.  

“It’s hard to win in this league. We can’t take anything for granted — especially this year.” 

Once again, in a close game, Simons was, for the most part, invisible down the stretch. And it wasn’t really his fault or the Magic taking him out. 

Instead, he played just over seven minutes in the second half. After being a major reason the Celtics got hot offensively, Mazzulla didn’t go back to Simons or make a true effort to get him going again in the second half. 

It’s a common theme so far this season as Simons continues to come off the bench and not receive minutes in the final minutes of close games. 

“He’s playing his role really well,” Mazzulla said. “He’s trying to understand the system. He’s learning. He’s competing. I think he’s just getting more comfortable off the bench and being aggressive right away.” 

After scoring 16 in the first three quarters and providing a solid defensive effort, Minott also only played just two minutes in the fourth. His defense could have been useful as the Orlando benched shredded Boston's closing unit.

It's pretty clear Mazzulla is much more comfortable sticking with guys that have been here long term in Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and even Jordan Walsh than letting the newer additions get some run in serious minutes.