The Boston Celtics, who are currently 6-2 and coming off of another thrilling victory, are off to a great start in the 2023–24 NBA season.
With a combined 51 points from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics defeated the Brooklyn Nets 121-107.
Jrue Holiday had a near triple-double of 13 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists while Derrick White and Kristaps Porzingis added some solid two-way play.
After losing in the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2023 NBA Playoffs, Boston is showing the league that they’re as motivated as ever to get back to the Finals.
There were some concerns about the team’s depth after trading away players like Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III, but so far the Celtics have endured their losses just fine.
An underrated part of Boston’s early season successes is Payton Pritchard who drew praise from head coach Joe Mazzulla via Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
“Payton’s found a way to make an impact for us all year and he changed the game for us tonight,” Mazzulla said.
Against Brooklyn, Pritchard recorded 13 points, five rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes off the bench.
Pritchard re-signed with the Celtics in free agency and he’s rewarding their confidence in him with consistent play through eight games.
Mazzulla has already seemingly settled on an eight-man rotation and Pritchard figures to play a large role for the team the rest of the way.
Although it’s still early, Boston has positioned itself well in the running for the championship, so it will be intriguing to watch if they can make up for last year’s disappointment.
