On Sunday, the Boston Celtics delighted the fans on Fan Appreciation Day at TD Garden:
Domination #CelticsWin pic.twitter.com/SVhbGTVEYg
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 3, 2022
The 144 points scored by Boston were the team’s highest in any home game this season.
The Celtics also moved to the No. 2 slot in the Eastern Conference standings.
Boston is just two games behind the Miami Heat.
It was all in all a very strong performance by a Celtics team that has won two straight.
The miniature winning streak came after back-to-back losses.
Each of the four games has come without center Robert Williams III.
Williams, who is turning into a potential All-Star, has been the main man inside for the team’s defense this season.
However, the Celtics are showing signs of being able to play without him.
The final home game of the season for the Celtics came on Sunday.
As a team, the Celtics made 23 shots from downtown.
Jaylen Brown was on fire early and often, as he went for a game-high 32 points.
The bench also came up big:
A franchise record 15 threes off the bench👌🔥 pic.twitter.com/8docThrTKn
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 4, 2022
It was great for Celtics fans to see their team dispatch the Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards, who are bound for the lottery.
Now, the question will be if they can play well against playoff opponents without him.
Will The Celtics’ Strong Play Continue?
Brown is finding is his stroke, and he is scoring in an impressive fashion:
- 28 points on March 30
- 32 points on April 1
- 32 points on April 3
All three of those performances were game highs.
It is very important for the Celtics’ second fiddle to be a perfect running mate with Jayson Tatum.
Tatum was a three-time Player of the Week award winner in March.
It appears that Brown may be trying to take over the month of April.
Both of the players are looking very strong at this time of the year.
That will be very important for a Celtics team that appears to be a championship contender.
According to FiveThirtyEight‘s NBA predictions, the 49-30 Celtics have an NBA-best 31 percent chance of winning the championship.
The next best team is the team with the league’s best record, the 62-16 Phoenix Suns (21 percent chance).
Phoenix has the NBA’s best point differential at +7.7.
Meanwhile, the Celtics are atop the Eastern Conference at +6.9.
A lot of this information points to strong play ahead for the Celtics, but nothing is for certain.
Boston is a great team, but can the C’s stay healthy?
If the Celtics have their starting lineup, they have a decent chance.
For those interested, here is how the Celtics have fared with their most dominant starting lineup:
- Starting Lineup: Tatum, Brown, Horford, Smart, and Williams
- 27-7 record
- .794 winning percentage
No other starting lineup has more than four wins together.
In addition, among the current players on the team, the next most common lineup has just four starts together.
This Celtics team is playing team basketball.
On Fan Appreciation Day, the C’s fans got to appreciate the team basketball concept.
It is just like the green teams of old, and many generations of Celtics fans are excited about what is to come for the young core.
NEXT: NBA Insider Updates Robert Williams' Injury Timeline