BOSTON — In the final weeks of the regular season, Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has emphasized a simple but effective message.
“Give the game what it needs,” Mazzulla has preached.
That goes for everyone. It’s a standard that those who start, come off the bench, or play garbage time minutes are held to. It’s what helped Boston survive its first 62 games without Jayson Tatum, and it’s a guiding principle Mazzulla wants the team to maintain, even with Tatum back.
It’s this message — repeated
relentlessly — that allowed them to withstand Devin Booker’s 40-point explosion in Monday night’s 120-112 win over the Phoenix Suns at TD Garden.
“I think they are one of the toughest teams in the league,” Mazzulla said. “I think they bring the best out of you, and again, it was good for us to earn that. We had to earn the win through our defensive playmaking and our offensive execution. That’s something we have to continue to get better at.”
Booker caught fire for Phoenix, just eight days shy of the eight-year anniversary of his 70-point masterpiece at TD Garden in 2017. This time, he didn’t dominate Boston’s defense to the point where Celtics fans had to cheer for him, but he was still a problem. Booker shot 62.5 percent from the field on 24 attempts, grabbed three rebounds, and dished out six assists, finishing with his second-highest point total in Boston.
The comfort that Booker always seems to find in Boston kept the Suns competitive throughout the game.
“Book had it rolling,” Jaylen Brown admitted. “He was playing phenomenally tonight. He was having one of those games where you could see his eyes were big. And Phoenix played well. They’re a good team. They’re well-coached. They space well. They shoot the ball well, and they play with energy, so they’re not an easy team to guard.”
Phoenix got out in front early. Royce O’Neale knocked down a three to break open the game. Derrick White turned the ball over, and Oso Ighodaro cut for a two-handed dunk. White lost the ball again, and with the Celtics committing three quick turnovers, the Suns hit four of their first five 3-pointers to grab a 20-13 lead, forcing Mazzulla to call a timeout just 4:34 into the contest.
Soon after, Mazzulla called Baylor Scheierman and Luka Garza off the bench. Both provided immediate offensive contribution, hitting 3-pointers on their first attempts to get on the board and spark Boston’s ball movement. Brown drew three Phoenix defenders to the rim, swung the ball to Pritchard, who lured a Collin Gillespie closeout, and found Scheierman wide open in the corner. In that moment, the Celtics created the consistent offense they desperately needed.
“Playing against any team is tough,” Mazzulla said. “Every team has a chance to beat you. To me, I just want to maintain our identity of who we are, what we do when we’re at our best, and continue to get better.”
The Suns rank third in steals (9.7), fourth in offensive rebounds (12.9), and fourth in threes made (14.9) — just behind the Celtics (15.4). Their 39-29 record and seventh-place seeding in the Western Conference don’t do them justice. Phoenix is a gritty and skilled team, capable of being effective on both ends of the floor and hanging with the league’s best on any given night.
“They play extremely hard,” Tatum said. “They got some talented players. They crash the glass over and over again.”
For the Celtics, adjustments were vital. They stuck with their ball movement that jump-started their offense in the first quarter. In the first half, Boston finished with 18 dimes, ultimately assisting on 31 of their 39 made field goals and setting a season-high in assist percentage (79.5%).
Payton Pritchard guarded Booker for a handful of possessions, contesting two of his misses and coming away with a steal.
Meanwhile, Brown perpetually punished Phoenix’s defense after finding early success drawing fouls. He went from making nine free throws in the first quarter — a new career high — to 19 for the night, which also set a new career-best mark. In the second half, he attempted just two 3-pointers, instead focusing on attacking the basket, which opened opportunities to create for teammates or get to the line.
It might not have been the game plan Boston had in mind, but it worked — and that’s what Mazzulla wants the Celtics to remain conscious of.
Discovering and understanding what the moment calls for isn’t always black and white. Sometimes it demands a little improvisation or an unexpected tweak. Adaptation takes precedence over the plan if it helps get the team back on track. Evenn in the locker room, the message is never set in stone.
“That always changes,” Mazzulla noted.
“It changes over the course of a season. It changes when you’re playing well. It changes when you’re on a two-game losing streak. It changes when you trade for a player. It changes when you acquire a player. It changes when a guy who’s hurt comes back. It changes in a game. Tonight, half the stuff we ended up running, we didn’t talk about pregame because it just changed.”
