The Celtics crushed the Cavaliers 138-107 on Sunday night and are looking more and more like the team they said they would be on Media Day. Here are ten takeaways from Boston’s blowout:
Mazzulla Ball is
alive and well
For three seasons (pun intended), the Celtics could consistently rely on the three-point margin to win games. After three preseason games, it doesn’t look like that will necessarily change. After shooting 53 threes in Memphis and 38 more against the Raptors, Boston went 18-of-45 from behind the arc in their home opener against the Cavaliers. That’s 45.3 per game, a shade under their 48.2 pace that led the league last year.
Did we just see the Opening Night starting lineup?
Ultra small starting 5 with Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, and Chris Boucher, but it’s arguably the quickest fivesome Joe Mazzulla can field and the closest facsimile to how they played last year with shooting at all five positions.
Admittedly, he’s stressed not to read into any of his lineups in training camp, but we’ve seen a bit of everything from Mazzulla so far. He’s also gone with two bigs in Boucher and Xavier Tillman Sr. against the Grizzlies and Neemias Queta in Toronto.
Start up that “Payton Pritchard to the All-Star Game” campaign
That early five-out spacing allowed for the Celtics’ best one-on-one player, Payton Pritchard — yes, Payton Pritchard — to go to work. He treated his defenders like the friends he pays to defend him in summer workouts.
Pritchard finished the first quarter with 12 points (5-of-6 from the field) and the game with 14 (2-of-5 from 3). Nothing is official just yet, but it certainly looks like he’ll be in the starting five on October 22nd when the team hosts the 76ers in the season opener.
Practice what you preach
So far, Boston has leaned into playing faster on both sides of the ball. Heading into their matchup against the Eastern Conference contender, the Celtics were averaging 103 possessions per game; that’s up from 96.59 last year. That may not be a good measure of the team’s new identity though.
“Playing fast doesn’t mean playing reckless. It doesn’t mean not being structured or unorganized,” Mazzulla said pre-game. “It means getting to your spacing fast, bringing the ball up the floor fast, reading the defense fast, driving the ball fast…it’s all about playing to the identity that we’re trying to create as a team.”
Mazzulla has stressed that basketball is just all about creating 2-on-1s and 3-on-2s. After years finding favorable mismatches as killer whales, this version of the Celtics acts more like a school of piranhas, churning defensive waters with quick decisions and constant movement and letting everybody eat.
Rebounding remains an issue
Last season, Boston was one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the league and were just about league average in offensive rebounding. However, flipping that script could be a point of emphasis in 2025-2026. In their first two preseason games, the Celtics gave up 34 second chance points to opponents. The good news is, they’ve scored 44 crashing the offensive glass.
The Cavaliers didn’t have Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen last night, so their 23 points off offensive rebounds can be taken with a grain of preseason salt.
Defense to offense
Last season, the Thunder fueled their championship run with an aggressive, albeit handsy defense that led the NBA in points off turnovers at 21.8 a night. After scoring 53 points of TOs against the Grizzlies and Thunder, the Celtics had a whopping 39 on Sunday.
“We definitely want to take more risk and be more aggressive defensively,” Pritchard said before the tip. “This is the preseason to learn that and trying to build those habits of when’s the right time and when’s the wrong time.”
Tommy would be so proud.
Anfernee Simons off the ball
“A great scorer, can really score it, can really shoot it, definitely a very explosive athlete. He’ll definitely help us a lot,” Pritchard said of his new teammate, Anfernee Simons.
In his debut on Friday, Simons admitted that he was a little nervous and still feeling out the game as he gets acclimated with a new system and teammates. As a primary scorer in Portland, Simons shot nearly a career-low 42.6% from the field. He’ll get some similar opportunities with the ball in his hands to start offensive possessions, especially if he’s coming off the bench as a sixth man with the second unit.
But throughout training camp, he’s talked about the privilege of playing off Pritchard, Brown, and White and getting some easier looks.
His first two buckets came off crafty sidestep threes, but his next four baskets were all assisted as he worked on the perimeter as a release valve.
Centers
Before the game, Tillman Sr. said that he and the other centers don’t really see it as a competition for playing time and through three games, there doesn’t seem to be any distinction between Boston’s big men. They’re all fairly good screeners. Tillman and Garza have taken threes with X making one, but even their willingness to shoot them hasn’t separated one from the other. Queta, the pre-preseason favorite to gobble up those minutes, has played the fewest so far and in that limited playing time, he’s looked uncertain at best with nearly as many turnovers as rebounds.
This parking space is reserved for Josh Minott
Josh might permanently need a space carved out in our 10 Takeaways called “What Did Josh Minott Do Today?” Every game so far, he does something eye-opening.
He finished the game with 16 points and six rebounds and has been a +29 so far.
Wendell. Moore. Jr.
Here’s the cherry on your Sunday night.
Moore signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Celtics to finalize their training camp roster after spending last year with the Charlotte Hornets’ G League affiliate. Before that, he was with Minott and Garza in Minnesota. Loud dunks in the preseason will quickly fade out, but hopefully he can make some noise in Maine.
