Celtics over Wizards 132 -122 Sunday April 14, 2024

BOSTON -- — Payton Pritchard scored a career-high 38 points and the NBA-best Boston Celtics rested their entire starting lineup in a 132-122 victory over the Washington Wizards on Sunday in the teams’ regular-season finale.

Svi Mykhailiuk added 26 points and Sam Hauser 16 for Boston, which sat Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday along with top reserve Al Horford.

Pritchard added 12 assists with nine rebounds. In last year’s final regular-season game, the 6-foot-1 Pritchard had a triple-double with 30 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, joining Larry Bird and John Havlicek as the only Celtics with at least 30 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in a game.

The Celtics (64-18) finished their 15th season in club history with 60 or more wins, the most recent in 2008 when they captured the NBA title.

Having lost Game 7 at home against Miami in the Eastern Conference finals last spring, anything less than a trip to the NBA Finals this year would very likely be viewed as a disappointment.

The Wizards (15-67) ended their third straight season and fifth in the past six without a playoff berth. Eugene Omoruyi led them with 26 points and Jared Butler had 22 in their sixth straight loss.

Pritchard played all 82 games this season. He scored 14 points in the final 2:19 of the opening half, connecting on all four of his 3-point attempts to give Boston a 69-59 halftime edge.

At halftime, the Celtics honored TV play-by-play announcer, Mike Gorman, who is retiring after his 43rd season calling their games. There were many tributes on the Jumbotron from former Boston players and folks around the NBA during timeouts.

What an impressive regular season. Finishing 64-18 puts this team in the conversation with previous 60+ win Celtics teams.

Hard to believe that the Heat and the Sixers are play-in teams. Ha!

Hard to believe the Knicks catch the Bucks to earn 2nd place. Now they will play either the Sixers or the Heat in the 2-7 matchup. They may have been better off in the 3-6 against the Magic.

The Bucks ....really!

The Celtics have never finished with 64 wins!

How many if us picked 64, I believe it was a battle between 64 and 65, I think i went with 64, what about you??

RosalieTCeltics wrote:How many if us picked 64, I believe it was a battle between 64 and 65,  I think i went with 64, what about you??

I think I had 60 at the beginning and after the do over I had 66. My wife had 65 at the beginning of the season.

I am officially putting PP in our top 6. He is our 6th man.

Played a full season 82 games.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401585814

Helluva finish to a great season, helluva finish.  Not one starter, nor Al, played a single minute and we won by 10 and the game wasn't even that close.  7-15 crushed the Washington Generals (nope, not even sorry for that a little bit).  


Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
about 18 minutes ago
Celtics with multiple games of... 30+ points 9+ rebounds 11+ assists Larry Bird Bob Cousy John Havlicek Payton Pritchard

Wow.  Willya look at those names...

Payton 1 rebound shy of his 2nd triple double, 2 points shy of a 40-piece.  The crowd was actually groaning when Oshae grabbed a rebound that Payton had a shot at.  Oshae might have been the only clueless individual in the whole damn arena.

In terms of "most impactful off the bench" goes then Payton 6th.  Substitution-wise, maybe not.  It depends upon matchups and what Joe thinks he needs at that time.  It really is remarkable the step up Payton has taken this year.  We know he was dissatisfied last year with his playing time.  What we didn't know is how hard he kept working despite that, but we're seeing the fruits of that work this year.  Malcolm who?  He also had 12 assists and only 2 turnovers today.  15-21, 4-6 from 3.  That means 11-15 from 2.  That's pretty damn good for a 6'1" guard.  There was one sequence where he just turned a much bigger player inside out and got a layup (5:50 into the highlight film).  He also played 44 minutes, but you could hardly tell from his effort level, he went hard for all 44.  He has really worked on his change-of-pace and it has gotten him to the rim a lot more this year.


Svi might have saved his NBA career with today's game.  26 on 10-13, 6-8 from 3.

Bobby Manning @RealBobManning
about 2 hours ago
Mazzulla said he and Svi Mykhailiuk spoke before the season about how his role would be inconsistent, but that they're going to have to call on him to win some games. He accepted that, Mazzulla said.


Tillman with a solid 9 points in 6 minutes but Queta went nuts.  Neemy wants to play.  19 points on 8-11, 9 rebounds, 3 offensive and 6 blocks in 20 minutes.  Luke started, and had a good game too, but Queta's game was an eye-popper.  Granted part of Washington's problem is that they don't really have any bigs but, still, this was a dominating game by all our bigs, and we were playing #3 on the depth chart through 5.

I've been underwhelmed with Oshae the last few weeks.  Sorry.



Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
The "stay ready" group was cooking today...





Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
The Celtics, who made the 2nd most 3's in NBA history, put three on their single-season franchise top ten.  Including Sam Hauser, who passed Derrick White with his final 3 today.




Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
about 2 hours ago
The Celtics finish the regular season 64-18 and were 14 games ahead of second place, the largest conference lead since the merger in 1976. Their 11.7 net rating was third in NBA history, behind the '96 and '97 Bulls. They won by 30 points 10 times this year, an NBA record.






Bob


.

Kind of wonder what may have been if these guys played more vs Bucks and Knicks???? Woulda, shoulda, coulda. I know, but I do wonder

Brissett has proven to be a really good rebounder and defensive minded player and a god awful offensive player. Trying to do more with the ball than he is capable of doing. Played a little selfish. Took the ill advised 3 from the left side instead of passing the ball to Queta in the post who was wide open.

RosalieTCeltics wrote:Kind of wonder what may have been if these guys played more vs Bucks and Knicks????  Woulda, shoulda, coulda.  I know, but I do wonder

Rosalie, I think the reserves would have played hard and would have cared about winning. Our regulars approached those games as it they were visiting an oral surgeon.

Steve Bulpett
@SteveBHoop
True fact: the Sultan of Stat has been beside Mike Gorman handing him notes his entire run on Celtic telecasts.
@DickLipe
actually started before Mike had the gig (remember Roger Twibell?) and made all the games, except those when he had a Bentley SID conflict.

Today's offering:











Bob
MY NOTE:  Dick Lipe has been doing this for longer than 43 years?!  Whoa.

.

Is he sticking around?? How old is he??

I absolutely love this team in all its various permutations. So glad PP and our other bench players have had a chance to shine.

bobheckler wrote:Helluva finish to a great season, helluva finish.  Not one starter, nor Al, played a single minute and we won by 10 and the game wasn't even that close.  7-15 crushed the Washington Generals (nope, not even sorry for that a little bit).  


Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
about 18 minutes ago
Celtics with multiple games of... 30+ points 9+ rebounds 11+ assists Larry Bird Bob Cousy John Havlicek Payton Pritchard

Wow.  Willya look at those names...

Payton 1 rebound shy of his 2nd triple double, 2 points shy of a 40-piece.  The crowd was actually groaning when Oshae grabbed a rebound that Payton had a shot at.  Oshae might have been the only clueless individual in the whole damn arena.

In terms of "most impactful off the bench" goes then Payton 6th.  Substitution-wise, maybe not.  It depends upon matchups and what Joe thinks he needs at that time.  It really is remarkable the step up Payton has taken this year.  We know he was dissatisfied last year with his playing time.  What we didn't know is how hard he kept working despite that, but we're seeing the fruits of that work this year.  Malcolm who?  He also had 12 assists and only 2 turnovers today.  15-21, 4-6 from 3.  That means 11-15 from 2.  That's pretty damn good for a 6'1" guard.  There was one sequence where he just turned a much bigger player inside out and got a layup (5:50 into the highlight film).  He also played 44 minutes, but you could hardly tell from his effort level, he went hard for all 44.  He has really worked on his change-of-pace and it has gotten him to the rim a lot more this year.


Svi might have saved his NBA career with today's game.  26 on 10-13, 6-8 from 3.

Bobby Manning @RealBobManning
about 2 hours ago
Mazzulla said he and Svi Mykhailiuk spoke before the season about how his role would be inconsistent, but that they're going to have to call on him to win some games. He accepted that, Mazzulla said.


Tillman with a solid 9 points in 6 minutes but Queta went nuts.  Neemy wants to play.  19 points on 8-11, 9 rebounds, 3 offensive and 6 blocks in 20 minutes.  Luke started, and had a good game too, but Queta's game was an eye-popper.  Granted part of Washington's problem is that they don't really have any bigs but, still, this was a dominating game by all our bigs, and we were playing #3 on the depth chart through 5.

I've been underwhelmed with Oshae the last few weeks.  Sorry.



Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
The "stay ready" group was cooking today...





Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
The Celtics, who made the 2nd most 3's in NBA history, put three on their single-season franchise top ten.  Including Sam Hauser, who passed Derrick White with his final 3 today.




Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
about 2 hours ago
The Celtics finish the regular season 64-18 and were 14 games ahead of second place, the largest conference lead since the merger in 1976. Their 11.7 net rating was third in NBA history, behind the '96 and '97 Bulls. They won by 30 points 10 times this year, an NBA record.






Bob


.

This post by Jared Weiss is wrong (Celtics net rating wasn't 11.7 and wasn't third best in NBA history. They finished at 11.34, fifth best in history):                                                                                                                                                        
Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
about 2 hours ago
The Celtics finish the regular season 64-18 and were 14 games ahead of second place, the largest conference lead since the merger in 1976. Their 11.7 net rating was third in NBA history, behind the '96 and '97 Bulls. They won by 30 points 10 times this year, an NBA record.

I know he is doing it against inferior competition, but Svi looks like a true offensive weapon. The guy can put the ball in the basket.

I am not sold on Svi.

Nice to see him have an impactful game yesterday.

Every player looks really good when there is no scouting report against you or it's buried so deep in the vault no one can find it. Svi is that way. He made be good/great but he's going to have to earn it just like Pritch did. He sucked for a while. Quite a while. So much so, he was in a lot of trade convos on this site. Not anymore.

He did have motivation and determination. He captured Celtic Pride and took it to a whole new level. Now he's grabbing rebounds under the net with all the trees, sharp shooting from 3-ville and running all over the court, stopping and starting all over the place Curry-like.

He's got a seat for the time being, but he's in the same trade talks Pritch was a year or more ago. That was a good splash he made yesterday, though.

db

I did notice what looked like a statistical anomaly but tried to reason it out. You'll notice that WAS took 103 overall shots to our 89. While not a big difference, it is noticeable and rightfully questionable given that WAS did not outrebound us on the offensive end. We did slightly out-TO them, 14-11. That would potentially give them a couple of extra possessions and hence shots, but nothing to write home about. Max of 3+/- shots. So nothing really there to cover the 14-shot discrepancy.

Then I go to Free Throws and Fouls. Fouls? WAS 16 BOS 13. A little slack there to make up the shot difference but nowhere near enough. But for FT's, WAS shot only 10 FT's and we shot 21. The answer lies in the ratio of FT's to Fouls. WAS ratio is 10/16. This is significantly less than 1. Ours is 21/13. Significantly greater than 1 and much closer to 2, the max any team can have with this FT/Fouls ratio. I wasn't paying attention enough during the game to notice this but not only were we getting fouled more, but we were being fouled while shooting before the penalty and not just a common non-shooting foul. We had a similar situation to this earlier in the season, but this situation was a little trickier to uncover. When fouled in the act, you don't get a shot attempt like the last situation earlier in the season.

We were much more selective in our fouls, using the first 4 fouls more as common fouls.

Anyway. This solved the apparent anomaly, just a little more twisted than the other one we had earlier this season.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming!

db