Celtics Weekly Wrap: Masonry Work, Dental Records...
It was a week of extreme highs, confusing lows, and a lot of questions about how the Detroit Pistons became the 1996 Bulls. The Boston Celtics went 2-1 this week, navigating a slate that featured a brick-laying contest, a rout of a hospital ward, and a Payton Pritchard heat check that might have melted the Canadian border.
Here is the breakdown of a weird week for the Green Team.
Monday: The Bricklayers Union Local 617
Detroit Pistons 112, Boston Celtics 105
On Monday, the Celtics hosted the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons. (Yes, I typed that correctly. Welcome to 2025, where up is down and Detroit is good at basketball).
This game was less a sporting event and more a construction project. At one point, from the end of the first quarter to the fourth, Boston missed 20 of 21 three-point attempts. You could have built an affordable housing complex in the Seaport with that many bricks.
Cade Cunningham dropped 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to exact revenge for a loss earlier this month. Jaylen Brown (34 points) and Derrick White (31 points) tried to keep Boston afloat, but when the rest of the team is shooting with the accuracy of a Stormtrooper, you’re going to have a bad time.
Friday: Derrick White Torches the Miami Infirmary
Celtics 129, Miami Heat 116
The Miami Heat came to town on Friday, but their roster looked more like the waiting room at a CVS MinuteClinic. No Tyler Herro, no Andrew Wiggins, no Nikola Jovic. They had 10 healthy bodies, and frankly, some of them looked questionable.
Derrick White took one look at the depleted Heat defense and chose violence. He scored a season-high 33 points and tied his career-high with nine 3-pointers.
The game was tied at halftime because Miami crashed the offensive glass like their lives depended on it, but Boston used a 20-7 run in the fourth quarter to blow it open. Jaylen Brown added 30 points, and the Celtics snapped their two-game losing skid. Miami rookie Kel’el Ware had 24 points, but let’s be honest: The Heat were just trying to get to the bus without pulling another hamstring.
Saturday: The Payton Pritchard Takeover
Celtics 112, Toronto Raptors 96
Saturday night in Toronto, Jaylen Brown called out sick (illness), presumably leaving the Celtics with a "B-Team" lineup.
Enter Payton Pritchard.
The backup guard turned into the main character, dropping 33 points, including 19 in the third quarter alone. He shot 13-of-24 from the field and dished out 10 assists. At one point, Pritchard was shooting from so deep he was technically in Buffalo.
The Raptors, meanwhile, looked miserable. Immanuel Quickley went 1-for-12 from the floor, which is statistically harder to do than actually hitting shots. With Neemias Queta, Luka Garza, and Hugo Gonzalez logging heavy minutes, this looked like a G-League showcase that accidentally counted for NBA standings.
The Verdict
The Celtics survive the week 2-1. Derrick White is an All-Star, Payton Pritchard is a microwave that never turns off, and we are still trying to figure out how Detroit got this good.
