PHILADELPHIA — The Celtics looked like their best selves ahead of the All-Star break, winning seven of eight games to shake off some midseason malaise. But the break itself always features at least some challenges as players disperse to get rest and recover for an entire week.
The Celtics, though, showed no weaknesses in their armor in their first game back. They rained 3-pointers as they dominated and Jayson Tatum put up a triple-double in their 124-104 win over the 76ers on Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center. The C’s looked every bit their part as reigning champions as they improved to 40-16 on the season.
“It’s encouraging because coming out of the break can be really tough,” Al Horford said. “You’re off for so many days. We’re not together. Guys came in pretty determined. Starters, second unit, we just tried to continue to play with the pace and the way that Joe (Mazzulla) wants us to play.”
The win was also the Celtics’ league-leading 15th win by at least 20-plus points, per Celtics stats. In another wrinkle, the C’s also fulfilled legendary coach Phil Jackson’s “40/20 rule.” The 11-time NBA champion coach coined the term as true championship contenders win 40 games before their 20th loss. Only the Cavaliers (45-10) and Thunder (44-10) have also crossed the 40-win mark before then. Others like the Knicks (37-18), Grizzlies (36-19) and Nuggets (36-19) are also in the running.
Of course, Jackson’s rule isn’t strict by any means. But it‘s a good midseason temperature check on teams with title aspirations. Even amid the Celtics’ struggles earlier this season, there was little doubting their contender status. Thursday’s win, though, was the latest data point on what the C’s look like at their best.
There’s still plenty of basketball left on the schedule as the C’s look to become the first team to go back-to-back since the Warriors from 2017-18. The last four reigning champs have all been eliminated in the second round of the playoffs in their following season, so the C’s are looking to break that streak. They can’t do anything about that in the present, but Thursday’s win was still a positive step of progress.
“It just says what we’re capable of when we’re at our best,” Mazzulla said. “We gotta fight to stay that way. That’s who they are. If there’s a group of people that I trust, it’s the guys in the locker room to continue to get better and focus on the things that are important to winning. They’ve been doing that the entire year even when it hasn’t been going our way. We just gotta keep that up, regardless of the result.”
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