BOSTON — After Oshae Brissett missed a free throw early in the fourth quarter Wednesday night, Jaylen Brown declined to retreat on defense. Instead, he dropped into a defensive stance to pick up Keldon Johnson near the free-throw line, about 75 feet away from the basket the Boston Celtics needed to protect.
Brown provided pressure on the ball as Johnson dribbled upcourt. On the nearby sideline, Jrue Holiday appeared ready to pounce with a double team. The other Celtics players were all at attention, running what appeared to be coordinated full-court pressure off a missed free throw. Johnson must have felt it. As he neared midcourt, Brown attacked, forcing the Spurs wing to pick up his dribble. Brown then deflected Johnson’s pass attempt, further disrupting the San Antonio possession.
The Celtics didn’t allow the Spurs to start their offense until half of the shot clock had already run off. Even with a comfortable late-game lead, the Boston players were working. With only a few weeks left until the All-Star break, they wanted to fight off the urge to let their energy slide.
“This is the part of the regular season where you’ve got to embrace because you get complacent, and you can get mentally checked out,” Brown said after his team’s 117-98 win. “But we’re trying to make sure that we’re all engaged.”
At this stage of the season, when fatigue can set in, the Celtics intend to avoid the trappings of human nature.
“I think it’s really important just to find the joy in basketball,” said Holiday. “Sometimes during this time, mid-January to All-Star break, it can get a little lethargic and get a little slow, or feel like games are just on top of each other, especially with the travel. … So I mean, it could be a lot, but I think to find different challenges for our team and find that joy in basketball is really big right now.”
After a 32-9 start marked by consistency, the Celtics want to keep their progress rolling over the remaining 14 games before the All-Star break. In the standings, where they finished Wednesday night with a four-game lead over the second-place Milwaukee Bucks, this could be an opportunity for Boston to continue gaining separation from the rest of the Eastern Conference. But for Joe Mazzulla and the players, the desire to take this stretch seriously seems to extend beyond the impact on the playoff race. While other teams struggle to keep their intensity high, the Celtics plan to be as tough as ever.
“This is where you build your endurance for long playoff drives,” said Brown. “So this is the part of the regular season I think is the most important going into All-Star break, et cetera. Teams start to count the days, and we’re going to just keep stacking our wins.”
The Celtics won’t always be perfect. They weren’t against the Spurs, especially while allowing a 33-point third quarter. Mazzulla said he could see the San Antonio run coming after the Celtics shot 13 for 19 from 3-point range in the first half to build a 70-45 halftime lead.
“I knew the third quarter was coming,” Mazzulla said. “You shoot 68 percent from 3, the other team shoots 20, there’s bound to be a regression to the mean a little bit, and so you’re naturally going to see a 28-to 32-point quarter. So you kind of know that’s coming. The trick isn’t to get caught up in trying to prevent it. I know that. It’s never going to happen. The trick is, when it does happen, quickly get yourself out of it.”
The Celtics did that despite another productive night from Victor Wembanyama. The rookie sensation scored 10 points over the first 4:36 before finishing with 27 points and five rebounds. Even while on a minutes restriction that kept him to 27 minutes, he was able to build a mound of highlights. The 7-foot-4 big man drilled a stepback 3-pointer over Al Horford; finished a left-handed floater…
This article was originally published by a theathletic.com . Read the Original article here. .