For the past few days, there has been only one undefeated team at home: Boston. The Celtics have a perfect record of 12 wins in 12 games. Did they emphasize this point before the start of the season, which could explain their domination?
“We don’t talk about it”assures Derrick White for The Athletic. However, Boston shows no quarter at TD Garden, and the recent narrow victory against the Cavaliers is almost an anomaly since they have seven successes with more than 10 points difference.
The fruit of everyday work
The Celtics are determined to win every game, big and small. This would explain this success in Massachusetts.
“Success is earned on a daily basis, so at each shootaround, video session, as soon as we are together… We must be aware of what is happening and our mission”explains Jaylen Brown. “I think our state of mind is much better at this level this season than last year, because sometimes a season can become banal. Things become monotonous. We have to make sure everyone is focused. The home assessment is a good example of our work in this area. »
It is therefore no coincidence that the Boston franchise has the best record in the league, tied with Minnesota: 18 wins for 5 losses.
” That is the most important. You have to remember that, two years ago, we were in the Finals without home advantage and last year, (by having it in each series) we weren’t there,” recalls Joe Mazzulla. “Home advantage is important in the sense that we want to play in front of the fans at the Garden. It's essential. But ultimately, we can't control that, so we have to be able to play no matter the circumstances. We are starting to understand it. »
Too many important matches lost in Boston in the playoffs
However, the Celtics have not forgotten their difficulties at home last season, in the playoffs, with 5 victories in 11 matches. They lost Game 5 to Atlanta in the first round, forcing them to advance the next game. They also dropped two games against Philadelphia in the next round, and three against Miami in the conference final, including Game 7.
“If we had exceeded 50% of home wins during the playoffs, we could have rested more and we would have been in the Finals,” says President Brad Stevens. “When I think about last season, I always say we shot ourselves in the foot,” continues Derrick White in the face of these matches lost in front of their audience.
The regular season is obviously still long but the Celtics will want home advantage and that is when these first positive results will have to be confirmed.
“We try to win every match and we have a certain pride at home. The last two years, we haven't been as good at home as we would have liked, especially in the playoffs. We lost important matches at home, while my first years, it was electric at home,” remembers Jayson Tatum.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Jayson Tatum | 22 | 36.8 | 49.1 | 34.9 | 80.3 | 0.6 | 8.1 | 8.8 | 4.2 | 3.2 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 27.4 |
| Jaylen Brown | 21 | 34.0 | 46.8 | 33.6 | 71.8 | 0.6 | 4.1 | 4.8 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 22.1 |
| Kristaps Porzingis | 17 | 30.3 | 52.9 | 33.7 | 82.8 | 1.5 | 5.1 | 6.6 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 19.2 |
| Derrick White | 19 | 32.6 | 48.2 | 42.5 | 87.9 | 0.7 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 5.1 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 15.5 |
| Jrue Holiday | 20 | 34.7 | 43.7 | 38.5 | 82.8 | 1.7 | 5.3 | 7.0 | 4.9 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 12.4 |
| Sam Hauser | 22 | 22.7 | 46.4 | 44.4 | 80.0 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 3.5 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 9.5 |
| Al Horford | 20 | 26.4 | 48.7 | 35.6 | 100.0 | 1.7 | 5.1 | 6.7 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 7.4 |
| Payton Pritchard | 22 | 20.0 | 38.0 | 32.1 | 76.9 | 0.9 | 2.2 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 6.1 |
| Luke Kornett | 17 | 12.9 | 74.4 | 0.0 | 83.3 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 4.4 |
| Neemias Queta | 3 | 10.2 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 80.0 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 5.7 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 4.0 |
| Dalano Banton | 11 | 8.3 | 48.1 | 14.3 | 83.3 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 2.9 |
| Svi Mykhailiuk | 8 | 7.4 | 35.3 | 28.6 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 2.0 |
| Oshae Brissett | 9 | 10.0 | 17.6 | 11.1 | 58.3 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.6 |
| Lamar Stevens | 6 | 3.4 | 57.1 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.5 |
