BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Celtics flirted with a piece of NBA history in Friday night's 144-118 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
They didn't quite get it, but did lock up something even more valuable: The No. 2 seed in the East in the upcoming playoffs.
The Celtics tied a franchise and NBA record with 29 3-pointers, equaling their total from Oct. 22, 2024 set against the New York Knicks. The Memphis Grizzlies (April 6 vs. Cleveland) and Milwaukee Bucks
(Dec. 29, 2020 at Miami) also share the record.
When Hugo Gonzalez tied the mark with 1:20 remaining in the game, the TD Garden crowd began chanting, “One more three!" and rose to their feet.
“It’s easy to be aware of it when you hear the crowd and everything,” Payton Pritchard said when asked afterward if he was aware how close they were to the record. “Maybe they’ve got to be quiet and we can break it one day.”
Boston had three chances to break it in the final minute. First, Luka Garza passed up on an attempt and drove in for a dunk. After Garza blocked Jeremiah Fears' layup on the Pelican's ensuing possession, Baylor Scheierman missed a 3 from the wing off the back rim.
New Orleans' Derik Queen was fouled and hit a pair of free throws with 27 seconds to play, giving the Celtics on final chance. But coach Joe Mazzulla instructed his team to hold the ball and they took a shot clock violation with 1 second remaining.
Eight different Celtics players had at least two 3-pointers in the game. Big man Neemias Queta even got in on the action for Boston, knocking down his first career 3 to go along with 10 rebounds. Queta's 3 caused the entire bench to jump up in celebration.
Sam Hauser, who led Boston with 24 points and eight 3-pointers, called Queta's make “Buttery.”
The missed record aside, Pritchard said it was a still a night to savor because of what it said about how far this team has come.
At 55-26, Boston has now achieved at least 50 wins in each of coach Joe Mazzulla's first four seasons. And this year's team did it after the departures of former starters Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford, and without Jayson Tatum for all but 16 games this season. It's something many outsiders predicted would relegate the Celtics to the draft lottery.
“You set back and have an appreciation for the work that we've put in, and the growth that we've made this year to get to this point, and the honor of reaching a top seed when many people didn't believe in that," said Pritchard, who finished with 21 points, 10 assists and five 3-pointers. “You take that in and now take a couple of days and get back to work. We've got something else to prove now.”
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