It’s just one game. However, against a fully healthy version of the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, the Celtics proved that they are ready for any challenge.
Everyone played their roles in the Celtics 119-109 win on Wednesday night. Jaylen Brown was the engine of the offense, Jayson Tatum was great playing out of the high pick-and-roll and the role players did what was needed. It was a complete team win.
Baylor Scheierman was awesome, hitting 3 three pointers, playing excellent defense on
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and having a huge put back dunk.
— #LetsGoCeltics (@gobosceltics) March 26, 2026
Payton Pritchard hit four threes, Neemias Queta made shots around the rim and defended the rim, and Derrick White was doing Derrick White things on the defensive end. Everyone chipped in and everyone had a hand in helping the Celtics win the game.
This was a big test for the Celtics against the best team in the league. The Thunder have dealt with a lot of injuries this year, but on Wednesday night, they had their whole team available.
Boston has risen to the occasion all season and it was time for another test and they passed it with flying colors. Offensively, it was one of the best games, if not the very best, the C’s have played all season. They scored 70 points in the 2nd half and were doing it in all sorts of different ways.
Sure, the three ball was great; Boston shot 18/41 (44%) from three-point range. Yet it wasn’t the only way they scored. They got to the line a ton shooting 29 free throws, Brown specifically shot 14 free throws (he made 12 of them). They found a slew of different ways to score against the best defense in the NBA.
They themselves were great defensively. As Joe Mazzulla said after the game, they committed to rebounding, only giving up 4 offensive rebounds in the game.
Joe Mazzulla on the Celtics constant rebounding:
— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) March 26, 2026
“You have to commit to it.”
“Our guys are committed to it and it helps us with the shot margin. pic.twitter.com/zAA5ZpYjPX
Those are the margins that Mazzulla has stressed all year. They had 13 turnovers in the game but not giving up 2nd chance opportunities is something that has been stressed all season. When you win in those margins, it is so much easier to win a basketball game.
Jayson Tatum was also fantastic in this game. Maybe people were overreacting to a shooting slump (tell me if you have heard that one before). He had 19 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and 1 awesome block in the game and was everywhere impacting it.
— #LetsGoCeltics (@gobosceltics) March 26, 2026
Yes, it was one game and we should not overreact, but this team is ready for any challenge that is presented to them, they have shown that all season. All season they have adapted and found ways to win games. As Mazzulla likes to say, ‘whatever it takes, however long it takes.’
