But then a group that has rarely been exposed this season seemed to finally run into complacency.

The Celtics got lazy, they relaxed and maybe even got bored. They played with the game, and it came back to haunt them. A poor end to the first half carried into a disastrous second half, and the Celtics suffered their most humbling loss of the season in a 120-118 defeat to the Hawks on Monday night in Atlanta.

Jayson Tatum scored 37 points and Jaylen Brown added 24 points for the shorthanded Celtics, who were missing injured guards Derrick White and Jrue Holiday. But there was no excuse for this loss, as Dejounte Murray and the Hawks delivered the Celtics a valuable reminder that as dominant as they’ve been, they still have some growing up to do in their chase for a championship.

“On any given night, no matter how good or what the level of the team is, if you don’t come ready to play and they do, you get your butt kicked,” Brown told reporters.

The Celtics, down two starters, were in cruise control in the first half. Al Horford’s 3-pointer with 4:23 remaining in the second quarter gave them a 68-38 lead, but that’s where it all turned. The Hawks closed the first half on a 16-6 run, and while it did not seem threatening in the moment, it was the precursor to an avalanche to start the second half.

Led by Murray and Bogdan Bogdanovic, the Hawks suddenly couldn’t stop missing, and the game suddenly flipped as they bothered the Celtics on the other end. They went on a 19-4 run to start the third quarter as the Celtics’ seemingly insurmountable lead was cut to one possession.

“We just took our foot off the gas,” Brown told reporters. “They just got confidence, and at that point, it’s hard to beat anybody when they got it rolling.

“I think we got a little casual, we got a little distracted and it cost us.”

The collapse was something of a perfect storm. The Hawks caught fire with 11 3-pointers in the second half. The Celtics suddenly went cold as they went 0-for-9 from distance in the third quarter, a product of the Hawks increasing their defensive pressure and getting the C’s out of rhythm. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla pointed to the margins, as the Hawks dominated the glass with 15 offensive rebounds and points off turnovers.

Mazzulla emphasized the beginning and end of quarters, areas that have mostly been good for the Celtics this season but were poor on Monday. Without Trae Young, the Hawks’ role players like Vit Krejci and Bruno Fernando got too comfortable and made big impacts. In the second half, they were simply more physical than the Celtics.

“We got off to a really good start, but it’s a good lesson (of) when you let a team hang around,” Mazzulla said.

The Celtics generated some counter punches even after losing the lead early in the fourth quarter and going down four midway through the fourth. Payton Pritchard steadied the tide at points, Jaden Springer had some strong minutes and a fiery Tatum dunk with 3:20 remaining broke a 109-all tie and it looked the Celtics might prevail despite their flawed performance. But they couldn’t close.

The Celtics led by two with less than two minutes remaining. But then Tatum committed a turnover, which led to Bogdan Bogdanovic’s go-ahead transition 3. Brown responded with an elbow jumper before Murray answered by beating Horford for a layup.

The Celtics, trailing by one, then had a poorly executed offensive possession that resulted in a low-quality fadeaway 3-pointer from Brown that missed from the right wing with 36 seconds left. On the next possession, Murray missed a jumper but Clint Capela came up with the offensive rebound before finding De’Andre Hunter, who drilled a 3-pointer above the break with 10 seconds remaining that proved to be the nail in the coffin.

“I didn’t love the last shot that we got,” Brown said. “I think we kind of waited too late, I was waiting for the action to kind of develop, but the clock was winding down, we were taking too much time and I didn’t like the shot I got on the right wing.”

The Celtics certainly were not pleased with blowing a 30-point lead and losing – it was their largest blown lead since at least the 1996-97 lesson – but with less than three weeks left in the regular season and with the top seed in control, there was belief that this loss and experience can have a long-term benefit. As consistent as they’ve been this season, these C’s are still prone to performances and letdowns like this – and it’s something they know they need to clean up if they want to hang a banner this year.

“I think we’ve had the right approach, tonight wasn’t the best example of that,” Brown said. “We kind of took our hands off the steering wheel a little bit, and no matter if we’re up 30 or we’re down five, we gotta have the same approach and the same mindset, and that’s going to be a challenge for us going into the last home stretch of the season, knowing that we secured the Eastern Conference and the No. 1 seed but we still have to work on us.

“Stuff like this is good, to watch and see and learn and inspire and motivate. We need to learn from our mistakes, and hopefully that puts a battery in our back coming out next game.”

Grant Williams, who moved to Dallas in a sign-and-trade, was also gone. It meant the Celtics needed to rely on the likes of Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and some others. There was skepticism, and it reached the Celtics locker room. Pritchard took it personally.

“I definitely did,” Pritchard said last week. “I think it’s just a chip on our shoulder that we always carry. It’s just the media and all that. They question because we haven’t really played. So I’m just glad that we’re able to show ’em.”

The Celtics’ bench has firmly silenced those questions this season and especially over the last two months – and Pritchard has been at the head of the snake.

Pritchard, of course, publicly stated his desire for a bigger role last season while he was stuck in the guard pecking order behind Marcus Smart, Derrick White and Brogdon. But the Celtics held on to him, and reaffirmed their belief in him by trading Brogdon and giving him a contract extension. He’s rewarded them with consistent play, and he’s playing the best basketball of his career right now. Over the last five games – all Celtics wins – Pritchard is averaging 18.2 points and 8.0 assists per game, which included two starts.

His signature performance came in last Wednesday’s win over the Bucks, when he dominated the second quarter by contributing on 15 consecutive points and countless hustle plays, including one where he flew in for an offensive rebound over the 7-foot-1 Brook Lopez and drew a foul on him, which earned him a standing ovation from the TD Garden crowd. His impact has been everywhere, including on defense where coach Joe Mazzulla has constantly praised him for his toughness and described recently as underrated.

“I feel like my responsibility on this team is different every night,” Pritchard said. “I heard Joe talk about it, but it’s mostly energy and that can be offensively, defensively, rebounding. So for me, it’s just creating my game to be well-rounded.”

It hasn’t been just Pritchard, of course. Hauser, who suffered a mild ankle sprain that cut short a historic shooting performance last week, didn’t miss a beat in his return this weekend. He went 7-for-8 from 3-point land in Saturday’s win over the Bulls, and became the second player in the NBA this season to make at least 20 triples over a three-game span. The other? Steph Curry.

Hauser, who struggled to stay in the rotation last season, has been a consistent contributor off the bench this season. Mazzulla has called him an underrated defender, too, and coupled with his range – he’s shooting 43.9 percent from distance this season – it’s hard to take him off the floor. Hauser has earned a trust that wasn’t there last season.

“It’s just a comfort level of knowing that his teammates are looking for him,” Mazzulla told reporters in Chicago. “I think that’s really what it is. If you look at most of his 3s, they’re really good passes, timely passes into his shot, so I think it’s really that comfort level that he knows he’s going to get open and he knows the guys are going to see him.”

Of note: Hauser ranks second in the NBA with a 13.7 net rating, while Pritchard trails him closely with a 13.2 net rating.

They’ve helped lead a bench unit that has always been there for the Celtics when they’ve been needed this season. Horford has stepped up in spot starts or coming off the bench, as he showed again with 23 points and eight rebounds on Saturday. Luke Kornet continued his stellar play with 13 rebounds, including five offensive boards. Oshae Brissett has provided energy virtually every time he’s stepped on the floor, and did so again on Saturday.

Saturday’s win was a great example of just how reliable the bench has become. The Celtics were down three starters, on the second night of a back-to-back, but still overcame a 57.3 percent shooting performance from the Bulls on the strength of their depth. They did so by winning the margins that Mazzulla always preaches – beating the Bulls on the shot margin, second-chance points and the free throw line.

The Celtics improved to 8-0 when Jaylen Brown is out of the lineup, and they’re 4-1 without Jayson Tatum. During their current nine-game winning streak, the Celtics have had eight different starting lineups. They’re continuing to find ways to win games no matter who’s on the floor.

Of course, the Celics will need their stars to be who they are to win a championship. But as they clinch the No. 1 seed and coast to the regular season’s finish line, their bench is helping preserve them for the long run while also showing that they can be trusted this spring whenever they’re needed.

“Every time someone goes into the game, they know their minutes matter and they play the role they need to do to give us the best chance to win,” Mazzulla said. “It looks different every night, so it’s a credit to them.”

UConn, the No. 1 overall seed in this season’s NCAA Tournament, is the biggest threat to become the first back-to-back champion since Horford and Florida pulled off the rare feat. When the Huskies begin their quest on Friday afternoon against No. 16 seed Stetson, a familiar face for Horford will be standing in their way. Stetson head coach Donnie Jones was an assistant coach on Billy Donovan’s Florida staff for those championships.

Horford, a Celtics veteran in his 17th season in the NBA, still keeps tabs on Jones and his teams. When he saw Stetson win the Atlantic Sun tournament to make the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament, he was thrilled for him. But then the bracket was unveiled.

“I was excited when Stetson got in,” Horford said at his Celtics locker this week. “I texted Donnie right away, but then when I saw they were playing UConn, it’s tough. I hope that they have a good outing, but that UConn team is as good of a team as I’ve seen in college in a lot of years.”

Horford has great pride in being on a back-to-back championship team, which has only been done twice in the last 50 years – 1991-92 Duke and 2006-07 Florida. He and then-teammates Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer could have left after the first championship and become NBA lottery picks, but they decided to return and run it back to accomplish history.

And while Horford certainly cherishes those titles, he’s not exactly out to root against UConn’s bid. He’s not gatekeeping when it comes to other programs joining his place in history.

“You do think about it,” Horford said. “It’s a hard thing to do, but the reality is, I feel like it’s been long enough, you know what I mean? I’ve paid attention to it in the past, but looking at UConn, they have as good of a shot as anybody that I’ve seen through this trajectory.”

UConn’s attempt looks a little different than Florida’s. While the Gators returned the same starting five from their first title, the Huskies brought back three core players – All-American Tristen Newton, Alex Karaban and Donovan Clingan – and had to work some new pieces in. After losing leading scorer Adama Sanogo, Jordan Hawkins and Andre Jackson – the latter two to the NBA – last season, coach Dan Hurley added Cam Spencer and projected lottery pick Stephon Castle to the fold.

The Huskies didn’t miss a beat, and are actually unquestionably better. They rolled to a Big East regular-season title after winning a conference-record 18 games, then won the league tournament. They enter the NCAA Tournament with a 31-3 record, and have won 21 of their last 22 games. They have the nation’s best offense, no obvious weaknesses and are easily the best candidate to repeat since Florida.

UConn is a 26.5-point favorite over Stetson on Friday and Horford understands the enormous task his former coach faces.

“That UConn team is tough,” Horford said. “I just hope that Stetson’s able to put on a good showing and good fight. It’s a very tough draw, but I just think for Stetson it’s more than that, they have to celebrate the fact that they’re in the NCAA Tournament, it’s a good story.”

Horford has continued to follow Jones’ journey over the years. After their 2007 championship, Jones became the head coach at Marshall. He made stops at Central Florida (head coach), Wichita State (assistant) and Dayton (assistant) before landing the head-coaching job at Stetson in 2019.

“We have a good relationship,” Horford said. “It’s just been pretty impressive what he’s done with Stetson, how they turned it and how they’re at this point right now, it’s a very big deal. Donnie’s a great guy, he helped me a lot when I was at Florida, but yeah, we do keep in touch. It’s just good to see him have success.”

Horford said he plans to tune in – tip for UConn-Stetson is scheduled for 2:45 p.m., a few hours before the Celtics face the Pistons in Detroit – and he was also keeping his eyes on other friends he has in the NCAA Tournament. Anthony Grant, another former Florida assistant, is the head coach at Dayton, who pulled off an incredible second-half comeback to knock out Nevada in Thursday’s first round. Taurean Green, Horford’s point guard at Florida, is now an assistant with the Gators, who face Colorado in the first round on Friday.

“It’s one of my favorite times of the year, just to get to watch all the games and watch these teams come out of nowhere, make noise in the tournament and things like that,” Horford said. “That really excites me. I really look forward to that.”

To anyone who reads this column annually, you know what I’m talking about. If you’re new, here’s a quick recap. The Herald has printed my bracket for every NCAA men’s basketball tournament since 2016. I’m supposed to be the expert, a college hoops snob here to guide you through your picks.

Except my national championship picks have failed – spectacularly.

In my first try, I picked No. 2 seed Michigan State to win it all. The Spartans then lost to 15-seed Middle Tennessee and that set the tone for my misery.

In 2017, second-seeded Duke lost to Frank Martin’s South Carolina squad in the second round. The next year, DeAndre Ayton and No. 4 Arizona were blown out by No. 13 Buffalo. Why did they keep printing my bracket?

It did get better. In 2019, Kentucky advanced to the Elite Eight. And then after COVID-19 canceled the 2020 tournament, I was one win away. But Gonzaga came short of a perfect season by losing to Baylor in the national championship game. It proved to be an anomaly.

In 2022, I offered my faith to Kentucky. The Wildcats rewarded me by losing to 15th-seeded St. Peter’s in the first round. And then, last year, my Mona Lisa: Purdue became the second No. 1 seed to ever lose to a 16-seed, eliminated by Fairleigh Dickinson. I couldn’t possibly top myself.

For those scoring at home: That’s four first-round losses out of seven.

I’m back for an eighth try. Take this bracket with extreme caution, but also, I’m due to hit one of these years, right?

With all that being said – I’m sorry, UConn.

Here are five storylines to watch as the greatest tournament in the world starts again on Thursday:

Back to back?

The last repeat national champion was Al Horford’s Florida Gators in 2006 and 2007, and the biggest threat to end that drought comes this season. UConn, after a surprise championship run last season, enters this tournament as the clear-cut favorite to cut down the nets in Phoenix as the No. 1 overall seed.

Dan Hurley’s Huskies have been utterly dominant all season and a cut above the rest. They won the Big East regular-season title with ease before earning the tournament crown last weekend. Headlined by All-American guard Tristen Newton, they are deep, talented and don’t possess an obvious flaw.

The selection committee, however, didn’t do UConn any favors as the No. 1 overall seed. Their East region is stacked, with Iowa State, Illinois and Auburn – all conference tournament champions who are also ranked inside the Top 10 on KenPom, the popular metrics site – surrounding them. The Huskies could also potentially meet Florida Atlantic or San Diego State, two squads with Final Four experience from last season.

But don’t overthink this one. UConn is the pick to win it all this season.

Who’s coming to Boston?

For the first time since 2018, the East Regional is being played in Boston, with Sweet 16 games next Thursday (March 28) before the regional final on Saturday to decide who advances to the Final Four.

UConn is the biggest potential draw. The Huskies will play de facto home games in Brooklyn for their first and second round games before their fans could potentially make a 90-minute drive from Storrs to Boston. If they advance, TD Garden will feel like Gampel Pavilion or the XL Center – UConn’s home arenas – and will be a serious home-court advantage in their chase for a second straight Final Four berth.

The Huskies could face Auburn in the Sweet 16, which would offer another homecoming. Tigers coach Bruce Pearl went to nearby Sharon High School and graduated from Boston College, where he served as a student manager for the basketball team. Illinois, which boasts the nation’s third-leading scorer in Terrence Shannon Jr., could also be coming. A sleeper? No. 6 seed BYU, one of the country’s best 3-point shooting teams.

The last time the East Regional was set in Boston, Villanova cut down the nets and went on to win the national championship. Perhaps there will be another repeat?

Redemption?

There have been two times in men’s NCAA Tournament history in which a No. 1 seed lost to a No. 16. After Virginia made history with its loss to UMBC in 2018, the Cavaliers returned and won the national championship the next season in one of college basketball’s great redemption stories.

Is there room for another one? Purdue, which lost to Fairleigh Dickinson last season, is following a similar trajectory as Virginia. Like the Cavaliers, the Boilermakers lost in the semifinals of their conference tournament, and are a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tourney.

Purdue will be a trendy pick to be upset early again. The Boilermakers have bowed out to a double-digit seed in each of their last three tournaments. But they have better 3-point shooting surrounding Zach Edey this year, and first and second-round games in nearby Indianapolis should help push them to the second weekend. While their guard play can still be shaky at times, bet on a deeper run than might be expected.

Love story

If chalk holds in the West, a meeting between the top two seeds North Carolina and Arizona would be juicy. Caleb Love played three seasons with UNC and helped the school make the national championship game in 2022 before the guard transferred to Arizona for his final season of college basketball.

Love, who was instrumental in UNC’s Final Four run, was blamed by a portion of Tar Heels’ fans for their struggles last season, when they missed the NCAA Tournament. He actually initially transferred to Michigan, but after a credit issue, decommitted and chose Arizona’s instead. He became the Pac-12 Player of the Year as led the Wildcats to a No. 2 seed.

Arizona faces a relatively easy path to the second weekend, where third-seeded Baylor could pose as a good challenge. North Carolina could potentially face Michigan State in the second round. The Spartans were inconsistent this season after being voted No. 4 in the AP preseason poll, but they still have legendary coach Tom Izzo as well as a dangerous duo in the backcourt – AJ Hoggard and former Northeastern star Tyson Walker. The road is not simple for the Tar Heels – who shockingly lost to NC State in the ACC tournament title game – but that matchup with Love for a spot in the Final Four is tantalizing.

Upset watch

Besides UConn, every team in this field is vulnerable. The selection committee, in my opinion, also did a poor job in seeding the bracket. That means there should be plenty of upsets.

A double-digit seed has advanced to the Sweet 16 in 15 consecutive tournaments, and at least one 11 seed has made it that far in seven of the last nine tournaments. Look no further than No. 11 New Mexico in the West. The Lobos – the Mountain West tournament winner – were severely underseeded. They’re actually favored to beat Clemson in the first round, and they’re good enough to beat Baylor.

The Mountain West earned six bids to the Big Dance and they’ll all be playing with some extra motivation after they were all underseeded by the committee. No. 10 seed Colorado State trounced Virginia – which shouldn’t have even been selected – in Tuesday’s play-in game, and the Rams could make some noise.

Other upsets to watch: Kansas lost Kevin McCullar Jr. – arguably its best player – for the entire tournament due to injury, and No. 13 Samford is primed to upset the Jayhawks in the first round. The Bulldogs play with a pace that should bother their depleted opponent. Historically, 12 seeds have been the trendiest upset pick. In that vein, No. 12 McNeese State – with a 30-3 record led by first-year coach Will Wade – should give a vulnerable Gonzaga team problems in the first round.

“No such thing as comfortable in the NBA,” Mazzulla interrupted.

Then, the on-court version of that played out.

The Celtics may have gotten, in fact, too comfortable on Wednesday night against the Bucks, who didn’t have star Giannis Antetekounmpo. They built an 18-point lead entering the fourth and led by 21 before nearly blowing it away. The Bucks stormed back and created some anxious moments inside TD Garden late but the Celtics stayed poised as they survived for their seventh straight victory with a 122-119 win.

The victory pushed the Celtics’ commanding lead atop the Eastern Conference standings to 11 games over the Bucks with 13 to go. There aren’t many opportunities left for the C’s to extract valuable lessons or simulate playoff situations, and it initially didn’t look like they’d get either on Wednesday with Antetekounmpo back home in Milwaukee.

But after mostly blowing teams out over the last two months, the Celtics embraced a rare chance to play a tight, pressure-packed situation to practice their late-game and clutch time execution. This time, they passed the test.

“There’s gonna be games like that,” Brown said. “There’s gonna be games where you miss shots, games where it might not go your way or the other team is making a ridiculous amount of shots and you’ve got to figure out ways to win. I thought we handled it well.”

Jayson Tatum scored 31 points, Derrick White added 23 and Payton Pritchard had a monster performance off the bench with 19 points as the Celtics controlled most of the game. But after leading by 21 early in the fourth, they faced problems against the Bucks’ zone. The Celtics manufactured just nine points over a nearly 10-minute span, allowing the visitors to claw back behind Damian Lillard and Bobby Portis.

Portis nearly became an unlikely hero off the bench as he scored eight consecutive points to bring the Bucks within three with 2:56 remaining, That stretch was sandwiched around two free throw misses from Brown, which caused some nail-biting moments in the Garden. But facing sudden adversity, they responded accordingly.

Tatum – who had not taken a shot in the third quarter – scored his first points of the second half when he started attacking the basket. His two free throws followed by a layup restored order in the building.

“That was big time,” said Mazzulla, who added that the Celtics got back to the proper spacing against Milwaukee’s zone and praised Tatum’s decision-making in those moments. “I thought Jayson’s poise down the stretch of getting to the free throw line, getting to the spot he wanted was a key to the game. That, and then our defensive intensity as a team.”

Kristaps Porzingis’ putback dunk with 1:12 to go gave the Celtics a seven-point lead before they took one last shot from the Bucks. Lillard drilled a step-back 3-pointer before Portis’ floater with 33 seconds left cut it back to two. But on the next possession, Brown was fouled and he found redemption by hitting both free throws.

Lillard missed a layup on the next play, and the Celtics escaped. After facing criticism for poor late-game execution earlier this month, the C’s executed down the stretch in a rare clutch situation.

“We hadn’t been in one in a little while there, and just a good learning experience,” Mazzulla said.

Pritchard was responsible for giving the Celtics a big early spark that helped them gain control, and it was inspired by a perceived slight.

Bucks guard – and notorious agitator – Patrick Beverley appeared to give the “too small” gesture to teammate Luke Kornet on a play early in the second quarter. Prtichard admitted he took it personally and that it lit a fuse under him.

The Celtics had a five-point lead before Pritchard took complete control with the second unit. He scored or assisted on 15 consecutive points for the Celtics and 18 of 21 points, a stretch that included an impressive step-back jumper. On one play, he also flew in for an offensive rebound over Brook Lopez and drew a foul on the Bucks big man, which generated a standing ovation from the Garden crowd.

“Just a winning play,” Pritchard said. “He’s a 7-footer and I’m 6-foot – little in NBA standards. I don’t know. Just a competitor.”

The Celtics took an 18-point lead during that stretch and then a commanding halftime lead before Lillard made a couple of 3-pointers in the opening minutes of the third quarter that cut Milwaukee’s deficit to five. But the C’s responded well again to that brief adversity, using strong defense throughout the third quarter to restore their lead back to 18 entering the fourth.

Their offense suddenly went silent, but they found the critical answers when they needed to, another sign of growth for this year’s squad.

“Last year I feel like this type of game could have slipped away at the end but we regrouped and finished it,” Pritchard said.

Though the victory gave the Celtics some valuable experience in certain situations, Mazzulla didn’t take much stock from it for a potential playoff series down the line. The Bucks didn’t have Antetokounmpo, and the Celtics were missing Jrue Holiday and Sam Hauser.

“I don’t want to overthink,” Mazzulla said. “Nothing is guaranteed in life. We may see them, they may see us, we may not. You never know what’s going to happen. I know both teams are developing an identity, there’s obviously a DNA there that both teams have, but you don’t want to overthink things, and you don’t take anything for granted.”

“All of them have meaning because you worked there,” Rivers said. “Orlando gave me my first job, the Clippers, Philly, but this is just, I mean come on, I was here for nine years, we won a title, we went to the Finals twice. My emotional energy will always be here clearly. This is another home for me. And I come here in the summer and spend time, go to the Vineyard, spend time. I feel like a Bostonian when I do that.

“So yeah, that will never go away, and it’s cool. It’s cool being here whenever I get here. I go to the same places, I eat the same food and just happy all those restaurants are still open, which means I had good taste.”

Rivers, who took the Bucks job after they fired first-year coach Adrian Griffin, said the transition has been complicated as he gets to know a new team midseason. The Bucks have been up and down, but are still second in the East and remain a potential Eastern Conference opponent for the Celtics even though they entered Wednesday 10 games back.

“Well the only thing that I know is we’re not going to catch them in the standings, I’m pretty sure of that,” Rivers said. “Other than that, they’re terrific. They’ve been the best team in the NBA thus far but as I’ve learned and we’ve all learned, you don’t get a lot for that. You just get to be called the best team in the NBA right now and they’re going to be hard to beat. They’re hard to beat in this building, obviously. But that’s why, from our standpoint, we don’t look at all that, we just look at us from within and see if we can be ready if that time comes.”

Tip-ins

Sam Hauser (left ankle sprain) and Jrue Holiday (right AC joint sprain) missed Wednesday’s game against the Celtics. Hauser was warming up pregame and was upgraded to questionable on Tuesday, which indicates he’s recovering well after suffering the injury on Sunday. …

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo (hamstring) also missed Wednesday’s game and stayed back home in Milwaukee. With few meaningful regular season games left for the Celtics, Wednesday’s game against the Bucks initially represented a valuable opportunity for them to experiment with some things in case they match up in the playoffs, but Antetokounmpo’s absence put a wrench in that. Joe Mazzulla turned the page.

“Not really. I mean, that’s kind of what the game calls for,” Mazzulla said. “Even if he was in, we’re missing a couple guys and that’s just kind of how it works. We have a chance – we play them again in a week and a half or so, we’ll see what it calls for at that time. But, at this juncture it’s more about like OK, what do we have available, where are we at, and what can we learn? What can we be ready to take away, what can we be ready to execute? What can we learn from the game?”

Nothing has bothered Porzingis during his first season in Boston, even as he’s being held out of more games than he would like and treated more cautiously than he ever has. Porzingis, who has suffered a number of minor injuries this season, has missed 21 games. And while he would certainly like to play more, he gets it.

“(It’s) definitely more cautious here,” Porzingis said after he returned from a five-game absence in the Celtics’ win over the Pistons on Monday. “I could have played through more stuff, 100 percent. But I understand that there will be a time and place for me to play through stuff. Especially at this point in the season, we’re in a pretty good spot, and we know what’s the most important thing is, is the playoffs. And that’s what we need to be – healthy, fresh, and ready to leave everything out there.”

Porzingis has not suffered a serious injury this season but has picked up small knocks that have kept him sidelined. He missed four games in November due to a calf injury and at the time he said the Celtics were being extra cautious with a long season in mind. The five games he just missed due to a hamstring strain was his longest absence of the season, but it didn’t seem overly serious. He has missed other games here and there in an effort to preserve him.

The Celtics have expertly managed Porzingis – who has a lengthy injury history – knowing how critical he is to their championship hopes. It’s notable that he’s never experienced a deep playoff run, making it even more important for him to stay healthy and fresh in the meantime, especially as the Celtics nurse a huge lead in the standings. It’s a good bet Porzingis will take several more nights off between now and the end of the regular season.

Porzingis said he picked up his recent hamstring injury after the Nuggets loss in Denver two weeks ago. He didn’t think anything of it initially – thinking it was just some tightness – but when he was warming up the morning of their next game in Phoenix, he felt something and alerted the medical staff.

“And of course they were really cautious with it,” Porzingis said. “So we did some imaging and you could see something, but it was mostly out of caution, to be honest. If life or death or was playoffs I would have been completely fine. And we took a long time and got to work on everything, but especially my hamstrings. I feel good now and it was just a lot of caution, I would say.”

Porzingis returned Monday with a minutes restriction but had an unusual night. He played the first six minutes, then didn’t play the rest of the half. He stayed warm on the exercise bike as the first half closed, then returned to play 15 consecutive minutes to begin the second half. He said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla wanted to leave minutes available in the second half in case the game was close.

The Celtics will remain abundantly cautious with Porzingis for the next month, as they have all season. Porzingis said he hopes the minutes restriction will not continue, but soon enough when the playoffs begin, he will be rewarded for his patience.

“I want to be out there for more,” Porzingis said. “But I understand the most important (thing) is to get to the playoffs as fresh as possible, as strong as possible.”

A friendly wager

Payton Pritchard’s 3-pointer that earned Derrick White his 10th assists to complete his first triple-double in Monday’s win was also something of a favor. Pritchard and White made a bet on Saturday’s Pac-12 championship game between Oregon and Colorado, and Pritchard’s Ducks defeated White’s Buffaloes to earn the auto bid to the NCAA Tournament. So, Pritchard’s 3-pointer helped ease White’s pain a bit.

“That’s the least he could do for me,” White joked.

White wasn’t sweating his alma mater’s loss. Colorado earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as it was selected as a No. 10 seed in Wednesday’s play-in game against Boise State. Oregon is a No. 11 seed and will face No. 6 seed South Carolina on Thursday.

“There was a couple of dollars exchanged,” White said of the bet. “I was extremely confident going into that game. It was a good game, credit to Oregon, obviously, but like I said, we’re both in the tournament and I think we’re gonna make a run here so let’s go Buffs.”

Injury report

Jaylen Brown (right ankle sprain), Jrue Holiday (right AC joint sprain) and Sam Hauser (left ankle sprain) are all questionable for Wednesday’s matchup against the Bucks. It’s a positive sign for Hauser – who injured his ankle during his historic shooting performance in Sunday’s win over the Wizards – that his status was upgraded and it seems he avoided serious injury.

But the Celtics arrived to training camp with a changed mindset. They have proven this season that they aren’t overlooking anybody, and they have continued to show that deep into March – even when there is almost nothing left for them to play for before the playoffs.

For a second consecutive night, the Celtics took care of business against the basement of the NBA. A night after they mopped the Wizards in the nation’s capital, the Celtics ran away from the Pistons with a 119-94 victory at TD Garden.

Derrick White secured his first career triple-double with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, Jaylen Brown scored 31 points, while Payton Pritchard added 23 and Kristaps Porzingis had 20 as the Celtics grabbed their sixth consecutive win.

With a 54-14 record, they are a season-high 40 games above .500, and they have done so by taking care of business against teams they should. They improved to 26-1 against teams below .500 this season, a significant improvement from last season’s 24-10 mark and a testament to their questioned growth as a more mature group. It continues to be just as impressive now, maybe even more so, as the Celtics sit comfortably with a 10-game lead over the Bucks.

“They are self-motivated,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I think if you want to get to the level that we want to get to, there’s time for short-term motivational pockets, but the greatest strength of this team is the locker room and their character and the way that they play. We’ve had very few of those this year.”

The Celtics had very little trouble against the 12-win Pistons, taking control for most of the night and essentially sealing the game with a dominant 33-20 third quarter. Brown scored 14 of his 31 in the period and the Celtics went on a 19-4 run to close the quarter.

Porzingis – who returned after a five-game absence due to a hamstring strain – was on a minutes restriction and played just six minutes in the first half before playing 15 consecutive minutes to start the third quarter without a break. He looked unbothered by the hamstring as he recorded a chase-down block and flew in for an offensive rebound during the Celtics’ third quarter stretch that led to a Brown bucket.

“It felt great. It felt great,” Porzingis said. “Yeah, just different because I had the minutes restriction. Just different spurts of playing. I barely played in the first and then in the second I had a longer stretch. Something unusual, but other than that it’s always good to be out there.”

White, with Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday both out, had the ball in his hands more on Monday night and made the most of it. During a long second quarter stretch, he led the second unit without Porzingis and Brown on the floor. The Celtics were plus-four in those minutes, and White went into halftime with 17 points – which included five 3-pointers – and seven assists.

The only drama came in the fourth quarter, when White realized he was two assists away from his first career triple-double. That’s when he went on a little bit of stat-hunting, which yielded mixed results. After getting his ninth assist on a Porzingis 3-pointer, White forced the issue and committed a pair of turnovers. His passes weren’t resulting in made shots.

Midway through the fourth quarter, after the Celtics called a timeout up by 26, it seemed like White’s triple-double chase was over. But he stayed in the game and on the first play out of the timeout, the Celtics created an action that resulted in a White pass to Pritchard, who made a 3-pointer to complete his teammate’s triple-double.

“I knew we were running an action to get him the ball,” Pritchard said. “Me and Svi (Mykhailiuk) were going to run a little two-man action. I knew one of us was going to get it. If I got it, I was going to let it fly. I’m just glad I made it. Got him the triple.”

There was a sense of relief from White, who always plays the right way and felt uncomfortable in playing for himself in his triple-double chase.

“It was weird,” White said. “I didn’t like it. And I didn’t play too good doing it. So I gotta not do that ever again. Hopefully.”

White earned himself a celebration during his postgame interview on NBC Sports Boston, when teammates showered him with water. Given everything White has done for the Celtics over his two-plus seasons in Boston, it was almost a surprise that this was his first career triple-double.

“I think it’s hard not to love him, no?” Porzingis said. “This guy just on and off the court is a unique human and unique player. I can go on and on and give compliments to D-White honestly about who he is. Everybody loves him here and it’s good always to see people like this getting recognition on the floor also. And that’s what he did tonight.”

Tatum missed just his fourth game of the season on Monday against the Pistons, a night after he scored 30 points in 26 minutes of the Celtics’ win over the Wizards. He was officially listed out due to right ankle impingement, but the C’s are more likely just being cautious with their superstar – especially as Boston holds a significant lead in the standings with less than a month to go in the regular season.

The Celtics have routine conversations with Tatum about his workload and while they understand their star’s preference to play, they also want to make sure he’s at his best when it matters.

“Whatever’s best for the players and for the team at that particular time,” C’s coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Understanding and balancing that it’s a long season. We want to be playing at our best mentally and physically and emotionally at the right time. So it’s just kind of like every decision goes into that. …

“It’s everybody. Jayson, Jaylen (Brown), everybody. Jrue (Holiday), all those guys. That’s the pride they take in competing at a high level. I think that’s one of the underlying reasons for our success in the regular season. The guys are ready to compete at a high level. … But again, whatever’s best for them, whatever’s best for our team to make sure we’re playing the way we need to be playing at the right time. I think that’s kind of the way we look at it. I’m grateful to have guys that have that mindset.”

Tatum said after Sunday’s win in Washington that he wants to play as much as he can, especially at road games where fans only get to see him once or twice per season.

“I’ve been here seven years, they understand kind of what they’re dealing with,” Tatum said of his intention to play every night. “I don’t like to sit out. I understand if I was injured or whatever, but I’ve said it before, I just love to play the game, especially on the road. So many fans out there with Tatum 0 jerseys or came to see me play. So I kind of take pride in making sure I’m available as much as I can.”

Porzingis returns

Kristaps Porzingis, after a five-game absence due to a right hamstring strain, returned on Monday. Brown, who missed Sunday’s game with a right ankle sprain, was cleared to return. Derrick White, who was also out due to a left hand sprain, was back in the lineup. Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet joined those three in the starting lineup.

Al Horford, who typically rests at least one night of a back-to-back, missed Monday’s game. Sam Hauser, who suffered a left ankle sprain during his historic shooting performance in Sunday’s win, was out. Mazzulla didn’t have a timeline for the forward’s return, but the Globe reported that his X-rays came back negative and he’s not expected to miss significant time. Hauser sat on the bench during Monday’s game.

Mazzulla continued to be confident in the rest of his team in the absence of Hauser, who has been one of the Celtics’ most reliable bench players this season.

“I think that’s the thing about this team is regardless of who’s been in and who’s out, guys have just filled roles,” Mazzulla said. “So, that’s the most important thing. It comes from everybody and that’s the job that each guy has, so regardless of who’s in and who’s out, play the system on both sides of the ball and compete at a high level and I think the guys have done a great job of doing that.”

Tip-ins

For Monday’s Celtics game on NBC Sports Boston, the Celtics and Connecticut Sun joined for an all-female broadcast in celebration of women’s empowerment month. It included NBC Sports’ Zora Stephenson as the play-by-play voice, NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin and Connecticut Sun player DiJonai Carrington as game analysts, and ESPN’s Kayla Burton as the sideline reporter. NBC Sports Boston’s Amina Smith hosted the Celtics’ studio shows alongside Connecticut Sun team president Jennifer Rizzotti, and Boston Celtics scout and Maine Celtics assistant general manager Ashley Battle. …

Cade Cunningham (left knee) and Simone Fontecchio (left toe) both missed Monday’s game for the Pistons. … Former Celtics guard Rajon Rondo was in attendance for Monday’s game, sitting courtside.

Hauser had 10 3-pointers under his belt early in the third quarter – one away from matching the Celtics’ single-game record – when he launched another attempt from the right corner with 7:53 remaining in the period. It missed, and he landed cleanly. But as he was backpedaling, Hauser inadvertently stepped on someone’s foot on the Wizards’ bench, fell down and didn’t get up. He held his left ankle for a few moments before getting up under his own power and limping to the locker room.

Hauser didn’t return to the game. He didn’t need to because he had already scored a career-high 30 points, and the shorthanded Celtics were in complete control of an eventual 130-104 over the NBA-worst Wizards. But the timing of his exit was extremely unfortunate. He finished one 3-pointer shy of matching Marcus Smart’s single-game franchise record of 11 he set in 2020, and he certainly would have challenged Klay Thompson’s NBA record of 14 3-pointers.

“I truly think he probably would have broken the record tonight, but he’ll get it another time,” Payton Pritchard told NBC Sports.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters in Washington that Hauser, who suffered a left ankle sprain, got precautionary X-rays after the game. His status is uncertain before Monday’s back-to-back at home against the Pistons. Mazzulla said he was not aware that Hauser could have potentially broken records.

“I didn’t know he had 10 threes until someone was like, ‘He should come back out and shoot more. And they were like, ‘How many does he have?’ And one of the assistants said 10, but I didn’t know that,” Mazzulla said.

“That was highly impressive. It was pretty cool to watch.”

Hauser’s 23 minutes marked the fewest played by any player in league history who made 10 3-pointers in a game. He joined Smart and Jaylen Brown as the only Celtics in franchise history to make at least 10 triples in a game.

Jayson Tatum scored 30 points with six assists in just 26 minutes, and Payton Pritchard dished out a career-high 13 assists as the Celtics won their fifth consecutive game. They did so shorthanded – without Brown, Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White – as their quality of depth was proven again, this time highlighted by Hauser’s historic performance.

Even shorthanded, the Celtics had no issue finding offense against the 11-win Wizards, who entered the night with one of the worst defenses in NBA history. It was actually a 17-17 game midway through the first quarter before the Celtics erupted and finished the period with 45 points – their third most in franchise history on the road – which included 18 from Tatum.

The Celtics never looked back against the lowly Wizards, as they led by as many as 33 in the second quarter behind their absurd output from distance. Hauser made six 3-pointers in the second period, all of them coming via catch-and-shoot as his teammates continuously found him coming off screens.

The Celtics scored 81 points in the first half, which marked the third time they’ve scored at least 80 in a half since Jan. 30 of this season. From 1991-2023, the Celtics had not reached 80 points in a half once.

The Celtics made 17 3-pointers in the first half, and looked like they were on their way to at least breaking their franchise single-game record of 27 they set last season and were on pace to break the NBA record of 29. But they ultimately finished with just 24.

Hauser continued his barrage to start the second half with three 3-pointers in the first 2:33 of the third period before the Wizards finally started chasing him for double teams off screens. The Celtics rightfully continued to feed Hauser’s hot hands.

“I tell people all the time. In my opinion, Sam is the best shooter, he’s one of the best shooters in the league,” Pritchard said. “So for us, it’s like any time he’s open we have to find him because it’s almost automatic, for sure.”

“I loved his confidence, loved his aggressiveness, loved how guys looked for him and I loved how he got his shots within the flow of our execution,” Mazzulla added. “And that’s the weapon that he is.”

Hauser’s performance on Sunday night was a culmination of his growth and value with the Celtics in his third season. The forward struggled at times last season as he went through a long slump at one point and fell out of the rotation at times, but he has been one of the Celtics’ most consistent performers this season – both with his improved defense and as he showed on Sunday, his shot-making.

“Sam has an innate ability to find ways into the action, in the flow of our offense, which is huge for us,” Mazzulla said. “And so, I didn’t have to call many plays for him, between his ability to read that on his own and his teammates trying to find him.”

“People could go one of two ways and for me, like, you see a lot of people when things don’t go their way or if they lose or make a mistake, you get embarrassed, it could be like a spirit breaker,” Brown said after Thursday’s win over the Suns. “Ain’t nothing in this world that’s gonna break my spirit, so for me, it was only one way I could go and that was just to improve. That was just to get better, look (at) yourself in the mirror, take whatever it is on the chin.”

Brown, of course, went on to earn a record-breaking $300 million extension by virtue of his first career All-NBA selection. He certainly didn’t rest on his laurels, though. He has responded this season by playing what he believes is the best basketball of his career.

But a year after that All-NBA selection, it may be difficult for Brown to repeat on that list. His scoring numbers are down – which is not an indictment on his play but may influence voting – and while All-NBA teams have now gone positionless and there is a 65-game minimum for selection under the new CBA, he faces very stiff competition for a spot.

Still, there’s conclusive evidence that Brown is playing much better basketball than last season. He has been more efficient offensively – shooting a career-high 50.2 percent from the floor – and reading the game as a playmaker better than ever, shown by his career-high 3.7 assists per game. He’s doing all that while defending the opponent’s best player on a nightly basis as he plays the best defense of his career. Brown has started his own All-Defensive team campaign as everything has clicked for him in Year 8.

“To have an arsenal on the defensive end of the side of the basketball doesn’t get enough praise,” Brown said. “Because it’s a skill-set, being able to guard guys, being able to chase guys, being able to anticipate passing lanes, switch on the bigs, chase guys off screens, shooters. Whatever it is, I pride myself on being able to be versatile, because everybody can’t do that. … This year I feel like I’ve been having a really good year on that side of the ball. …

“I just feel like I’ve improved in a lot of stuff that I needed to work on. Just overall, just improve my mentality, but just attack my weaknesses. I feel like some of the stuff that you could say about me last year, you can’t say about me this year.”

Even if it doesn’t land him on an All-NBA team again, it’s clearly made an impact as Brown’s play has helped push Boston to the league’s best record and the championship favorite. For Brown, the motivation was simple.

“A loss. When you lose, when you come up short on your home floor when things don’t go your way,” Brown said. “It’s a quote that I like: ‘When things don’t go your way, when you don’t get what you want, what you got was experience.’ I love that quote. I think we’ve had losses, we’ve had embarrassments. We’ve had mistakes. But I’ve used it all to just improve.”

Your cousin from Boston

Derrick White has become a fan favorite in two-plus years in Boston, so it only seemed right when he was featured in the latest Sam Adams commercial last week in the beer company’s popular “Your Cousin From Boston” series. In the ad, the Celtics guard depicts a “typical” Boston native – complete with a wardrobe that included a flannel shirt, heavy jacket and boots – and he tried his best Boston accent.

“It was a lot of fun,” White said of doing the commercial. “There were some good people on the set and it was a lot of fun. A lot of stuff that I didn’t know about Boston, and I really enjoyed it.”

Like what?

“You know when I’m like, ‘I don’t know what that means?’ I really did not know what that meant until that day,” White said. “And then even my outfit, I didn’t know that was a typical Boston outfit.”

White said they let him keep the jacket.

“That Carhartt was nice,” he said. “That was clutch.”

The fact that White was featured in the ad reinforced how much he’s been embraced in Boston, and the Celtics guard has certainly felt the love.

“It’s definitely amazing,” White said. “I love it here. I’m really just thankful and grateful that we get a lot of love from the fans here. We’ve got the best fans, so it’s amazing. Even on the road, it’s great to go on the court and just everybody cheering for you. So I’m thankful, and I love it.”

Injury report

Kristaps Porzingis will miss his fifth consecutive game on Sunday against the Wizards with a right hamstring strain. Porzingis is still progressing well – he worked out on the court prior to Thursday’s game, and then did some more on-court work at Friday’s practice – but it’s likely the Celtics are being extra cautious with their big man, knowing they have a significant cushion in the standings.

White will also miss Sunday’s game due to a left hand sprain. Brown (right ankle sprain) and Jayson Tatum (right ankle impingement) are both questionable.

He proved it again in a moment that went viral near the end of the Celtics’ win over the Suns on Thursday night at TD Garden. Jaylen Brown had just thrown down a monster slam on Grayson Allen that put the Celtics up 18 with three minutes left in the game. Suns coach Frank Vogel called a timeout, ready to throw in the towel and remove his starters.

On the other side, Mazzulla stayed engaged on the action even after the whistle. As Suns forward Royce O’Neale threw up a harmless, deep 3-pointer, Mazzulla came out of nowhere to try to block the shot. It was wildly unusual. Typically, those after-the-whistle shots are contested by players on the court, not by a coach from the sideline.

But according to Mazzulla, it’s an organization rule to do what he did. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a coach or a player – he demands for it to be followed.

“I saw a guy going in to try to get a shot,” Mazzulla said. “He hadn’t made one, and I didn’t want him to feel good about himself going to the bench. … That’s the bench rule. Guys don’t shoot shots in front of our bench to go back to their bench to feel good about themselves. If I’m going to ask the guys to contest, (the) staff has to do the same.

“I just think it’s important. I think it’s a small detail of the game. It’s a little gamesmanship, but you can’t have guys going back to the bench feeling good about themselves.”

For Mazzulla, it didn’t matter that the game was lopsided and that there was barely any time left. He set a standard and expectation for the rule, and there are no exceptions.

“There’s a dead ball,” Mazzulla said. “I did it last year. We’ve done it multiple times. I mean, I don’t care. At the end of the day, it’s about the mindset and approach that we bring in. It’s within the rules of the game. …

“It’s about just setting the tone. It’s that. So one of my biggest pet peeves is just thinking that a guy’s just going to get a free shot, and it’s just not the way it works. And if we’re going to hold our team to the standard, then hold the staff to the same thing. So there’s been times where we’ve missed it and I’ve held the staff accountable to it, and you’ve got to do the best job you can of not doing it.”

Brown didn’t see Mazzulla’s contest of O’Neale because he was busy celebrating after his dunk, but he wasn’t surprised when he heard what transpired.

“That sounds like Joe Mazzulla,” Brown said.

“I’ve definitely seen him do it in the past. If the guy keeps trying to shoot, Joe will just keep playing defense. He’ll take it as far as he needs to. I missed that one. I wish I would’ve seen it, though.”

Jayson Tatum saw it, and he didn’t blink an eye.

“Joe being Joe,” Tatum said.

“That’s who Joe is. So when he did it, I wasn’t caught off guard. I expect him or one of the coaches to do that. Gotta love Joe for Joe.”

“I’ve been in this league a long time now, I know when it’s a passing of the guard,” Durant said.

Durant was talking about Jayson Tatum, but it could have extended to Jaylen Brown, too. On Thursday night, the Celtics’ stars showed again why right now should be their time.

Brown scored 37 points, Tatum added 26 and the shorthanded Celtics – without Kristaps Porzingis – flexed their muscle on the Suns. They torched them from 3-point land. Al Horford even outscored Durant as the Celtics grabbed their fourth consecutive victory and second win over the Suns in a week with a 127-112 blowout at TD Garden.

The Celtics could have made excuses on Thursday night. The first game back home after a long trip is notoriously difficult to play. The Suns arrived in Boston well rested. The Celtics were also playing their third game in four nights. But chalk up their 52nd victory of the season to another mentality win and the consistency they’ve played with all year.

“It’s a long season,” Horford said. “Sometimes this kind of happens in the schedule and for us to find a way to compete and battle, and I felt like we did that all night. We knew we were going to get their best shot and we just stayed the course and continued to make energy plays and continued to play hard.”

Added Brown: “This could have been a game we came out sluggish, but we had the right mentality and came out and take care of business. So that says a lot about this team. It says a lot about how we’ve been prepared, how we’ve been coached, and we’ve got to keep that mentality up.”

With a month still remaining in the regular season, the Celtics have clinched a top-six place in the playoffs with Thursday’s win combined with the Bucks’ victory over the 76ers. The C’s are well on their way to locking up the top seed in the NBA, with a six-game cushion over the Nuggets.

Boston’s first game back home in more than a week and a half was certainly sluggish at times. The Suns dominated the Celtics on the glass in the first half, leading to an early 13-0 advantage in second-chance points. But the Celtics locked in after halftime. They raised their level defensively, and it helped them get out, run and open the game up with a dominant third quarter.

After leading by five at halftime, the Celtics opened up a lead as large as 20 in the third quarter. They made eight 3-pointers in the period, including two consecutive triples from Horford – who scored 24 points as he matched a career high with six 3-pointers – that gave them their biggest advantage. The Celtics’ offense was humming all night to the tune of 31 assists as they sprayed the ball around, as their high level of execution on that end continued.

“I think we’ve been emphasizing it the last few weeks,” Brown said. “Sometimes we can get a good shot. But like, getting the defense moving will get an even better shot if we’re a little bit more patient. We’ve been emphasizing that, especially since the Denver game. I think we’ve been implementing that more.”

The Celtics’ defense wasn’t sharp to start the game, as Durant scored 15 points in the first quarter – dueling with Tatum, who scored 14 in the period – and the Suns kept getting extra points on the glass. But the C’s eventually raised their level. They went on a 17-6 run to end the first quarter. And Durant – who scored 45 points against the Celtics last Saturday – finished with just 20 points and five after the opening period.

“I don’t know how we did it. He torched us just four games ago, so credit to JT, JB, Jrue (Holiday), the guys that were guarding him, just made it tough on him. Yeah, I don’t know. That’s impressive,” Horford said.

The Celtics dominated the third with a 37-25 advantage and kept their foot on the gas in the fourth. Brown scored seven consecutive points to open the final period and never threatened again. Brown put an exclamation point on this victory with three minutes left. After missing a shot, he stayed in the play, stole a pass from Grayson Allen before finishing a ferocious dunk on him. A fiery Brown then turned to the crowd to say something.

Brown’s latest big performance not only carried another Celtics victory, but illustrated how he’s playing the best basketball of his career.

“I just feel like I’ve improved in a lot of stuff that I needed to work on,” Brown said. “Just overall, just improve my mentality, but just attack my weaknesses. I feel like some of the stuff that you could say about me last year, you can’t say about me this year. I’m excited to go to the playoffs and keep on improving the same thing.”

It began just before that draft in 2007. As Horford revealed after the Celtics’ win over the Suns last Saturday, the two participated in pre-draft workouts together in Seattle for about a week. Durant said they shared the same agent. Horford was in awe of Durant’s unique talent as he watched him up close for the first time.

For Durant, then an 18-year-old who had just finished his lone college season at Texas, watching Horford’s process served as something of a blueprint of success for him. Horford, of course, had just completed winning back-to-back national championships at Florida.

“Just the work ethic. Al was always focused,” Durant told the Herald. “He was an older guy coming in as opposed to us, we were freshmen, 18 years old, I think Al was maybe 21 years old at the time. He just had a poise about him. …

“There’s a reason why he and Joakim (Noah) and Corey Brewer and those guys had success at Florida. He was an anchor for those guys. So you could sense that early on and we sensed that would be the type of player he’d be in the league.”

Horford mentioned last weekend that he and Durant did weight room workouts together and joked, “He’s not going to talk about that.” Durant, skinny and raw back then, smiled when he recalled those moments.

“It was a struggle, man. It was a struggle for me,” Durant said with a laugh. “They were naturals. All those guys were more mature physically than I was. So yeah, it was a struggle but I stayed in the fight though, man. That’s what it’s all about.”

Durant and Horford went on to be selected No. 2 and 3 overall in that draft, respectively. Seventeen years later, they’ve both stayed in the fight. Durant, now 35 years old, has carved out a Hall of Fame career as a two-time champion and one of the greatest scorers ever. Horford has always been reliable over his 17-year career, and is still playing at a high level at age 37 now coming off the bench for the Celtics.

“Just the longevity, consistency,” Durant said of what he admires about Horford. “You gotta have a lot of love for the game of basketball to do what Al’s done. He’s been on teams where they tell him to sit down for a year and then he got traded a couple of times, he’s been injured, tore his pec, was out for a whole year, came back, still got better and reshaped his game. So he just loves the game of basketball, he loves the camaraderie, you can tell he loves the brotherhood of team sports. I really have appreciation for people like that.”

A lot has changed since 2007, but Durant has great pride for where he came from. Durant, Horford, Mike Conley, Jeff Green and Thaddeus Young are the only remaining active players from that draft class. And while a close friendship never materialized from those pre-draft workouts in 2007, that week marked the beginning of an unspoken mutual respect that’s only grown stronger over time. Thursday’s matchup between the Celtics and Suns marked the 28th time Horford and Durant have faced each other.

“You know a lot about a person from watching them play basketball,” Durant said. “I think that’s the most authentic part of you, when you see guys out there in their groove trying to get better, so I feel like I got to know him a lot just from watching him work and also just following his career over time. …

“We don’t talk and we don’t have each other’s number, but it’s a respect thing. I think every relationship is built on respect, regardless of how much we talk or how much we hung out, there’s a respect thing. I think there’s a mutual respect between us both. Especially as you get older, you start to appreciate the guys you came in the league with because you see guys every year retiring or moving on with their lives. So to be one of the last few standing, it’s like we can look over at each other and appreciate what we’ve done.”

Booker praises Holiday

Celtics guard Jrue Holiday is expected to suit up again for Team USA at this summer’s Olympics, and Suns guard Devin Booker knows firsthand how important his inclusion is. While Holiday will be 34 this summer in Paris and may not be the sexiest name on a roster that will include several all-time greats, he was integral to USA’s gold medal victory in 2021.

“I think without Jrue, we don’t come home with gold to be completely honest,” Booker said. “I just left the Finals appearance against him (when Holiday was with the Bucks). I just know how sound and how great of a player and how underrated his whole career’s been, so somebody who I have a lot of respect for, somebody I love matching up against.”

Tip ins

Kristaps Porzingis missed his fourth consecutive game due to right hamstring tightness, but his return could be coming soon. He participated in an individual workout prior to Thursday’s game at TD Garden, and Joe Mazzulla provided an optimistic update.

“He’s progressing well,” Mazzulla said. “He was on the court today earlier, just working out with the guys. Don’t have an official timeline, but he’s getting better and better.”

Jaylen Brown, initially listed as questionable due to a left hip contusion, was cleared to play.

It didn’t matter.

These Celtics have practiced consistency all season in their pursuit of a championship, hoping the habits will pay off in June. They refuse to make excuses even on a mundane Tuesday night in March, with a healthy lead atop the standings. The theme continued as the Celtics saved their best for last on the road trip, using a dominant fourth quarter run to coast to a convincing 123-107 win over the Jazz.

Jayson Tatum scored 38 points and Derrick White added 24 – which included seven 3-pointers – as the Celtics rolled to their third consecutive win, doing so without Kristaps Porzingis, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford. The shorthanded Celtics had plenty of firepower, as Jrue Holiday returned and produced 16 points and eight assists while their depth shined again. Luke Kornet chipped in 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Sam Hauser added 14 points as both stepped into the starting lineup.

The Celtics improved to 9-2 this season on the second night of back to backs – the best mark in the NBA – as they finished their road trip 3-2.

The Celtics used an explosive first half offensively to build a sizable 17-point lead early in the third quarter, but went cold as they made just two of their first 11 3-pointers to start the period. That allowed the young Jazz to claw back.

Jordan Clarkson’s runner closed the Celtics’ advantage to 93-91 in the final minute of the third quarter, but the C’s responded with a dominant 20-0 run that spanned more than six minutes to clinch this victory. Holiday hit back-to-back 3-pointers with 6:28 remaining in the fourth to give Boston a 22-point lead, and the C’s never looked back.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla chalked up that stretch to quality shot selection, which allowed the C’s to set up defensively and limit Utah’s transition opportunities.

“We dominated the transitions,” Mazzulla told reporters in Utah. “They couldn’t get those. I don’t know if we took a poor shot in that quarter, and that’s the difference between winning and losing against good teams. This team, their record doesn’t reflect it but they’re talented, they’re obviously well-coached and just super talented and physical, they put a ton of pressure on you, especially on the offensive end.”

Other takeaways from the Celtics’ third consecutive victory:

– White overcame a brief shooting slump on Tuesday, which came at the perfect time with the Celtics shorthanded. The guard had gone 1-for-14 from deep over the first four games of the road trip, but responded to go 7-for-11 from distance on Tuesday.

“I’ve been struggling a little bit and I told my dad, I’m just going to let it fly and that’s what I did today,” White told NBC Sports Boston.

Tatum also bounced back from a below-average shooting stretch after shooting 38.8 percent from the field over the first four games of the trip. He went 13-for-25 in Tuesday’s win, and looked more aggressive than he has of late in getting to the rim.

– The Celtics certainly need Porzingis if they’re going to win a championship, but the end of this road trip continued to show they have reliable frontcourt depth behind him. Kornet had another productive game on both ends, and Xavier Tillman looked good with seven points and eight rebounds in 27 minutes, his most playing time since joining the Celtics. He joined Kornet in a double-big lineup, which included a stretch together during the 20-0 run.

“X didn’t know he was going to play as much as he did,” Mazzulla told reporters. “Just the professionalism and the stay readiness that they had is a credit to the coaching staff and a credit to the players, but their ability to be flexible. Luke and X had never played together, but they were able to find ways to connect offensively and defensively, and when you have your role players being able to do that, it really helps us.”

– The Jazz entered Tuesday leading the league with 16.8 second-chance points per game from 12.6 offensive rebounds per game. But the Celtics limited those opportunities. They held the Jazz to just nine offensive rebounds and outscored them 22-10 in second-chance points.

“Everybody did a great job,” Mazzulla said. “That’s how this team beats you, is transition threes, transition baskets, offensive rebound threes, free throws and really take advantage of your inability to have good possessions. So when you have empty possessions offensively, they put a ton of pressure on you. Our guys did a great job holding them to one shot, which took away those margin plays and momentum plays.”

– The Celtics were on fire to start the game as they produced 13 assists and 44 points in the first quarter, both season highs for the opening period. Holiday had six of those assists.

The C’s went 14-for-25 from long range in the first half as they torched one of the league’s worst 3-point defenses, but they were also dominant in the pick-and-roll as White and Holiday continuously made great decisions.

– The Celtics, with a 51-14 record, now hold a six-game lead atop the NBA standings after the Thunder’s loss to the Pacers on Tuesday night, and a 9.5-game lead atop the Eastern Conference standings following the Bucks’ loss to the Kings.

But despite any outside concerns about their bench, the C’s maintained strong belief in who remained. And as they’ve soared to the top of the league standings this season, that depth has played a big role.

The latest example came Monday. With Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis both sidelined, the Celtics didn’t miss a beat. Payton Pritchard stepped into the starting lineup with a strong effort, Sam Hauser shot the lights out, and the Celtics rolled with ease for a 121-99 victory over the inferior Blazers.

Jaylen Brown led the way with 27 points and Jayson Tatum added 26 points as the Celtics’ stars shouldered the scoring burden but Boston’s reserves carried this victory to the finish line. Pritchard, in his first start of the season, had a near triple-double with 11 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Hauser had a season-high 22 points on six 3-pointers.

A game after the bench stepped up for a big performance in Saturday’s win over the Suns, the Celtics continued the theme as they got contributions up and down their roster – from Al Horford to Luke Kornet and Oshae Brissett – in handling the Blazers.

“Really confident,” Hauser told NBC Sports Boston of the bench group. “Our job is to come in and bring energy and do the little things really well, and sometimes we have nights like this where we’re a little bit more involved. We’re always ready when our number’s called and that’s why we put the work in every day.”

The Celtics became the first team in the NBA this season to reach 50 wins, and they still have 18 games remaining. It marked the third consecutive season they’ve hit that win total.

They did so by controlling the game in virtually every aspect. The ball was moving like a hot potato as the Celtics produced 34 assists with just three turnovers, which marked the sixth-most assists with three or fewer turnovers in league history. They were suffocating defensively, and turned stops into 23 fast-break points.

The Celtics were sharp in the details, even against a far inferior opponent on an otherwise mundane Monday night in March. Joe Mazzulla told reporters in Portland that he was pleased with how his team carried some lessons from their film session into the game.

“We’re always trying to find, win or lose, a couple things we’re trying to get better at, a couple emphases. I like that we’re continuing to keep our defensive identity while also trying to grow. …

“Tonight we went 3-2 zone and the guys did a great job executing it, and on the offensive end we had really good carryover from the film session as far as how we need to get better at executing. Regardless of the win or loss, as long as we keep those things, that’s the most important thing.”

The Celtics led by as many as 24 and other than a few brief Blazers runs, they maintained a double-digit advantage for the majority of the night. They hardly had a problem scoring against the young, shorthanded Blazers. Brown went 1-for-8 from 3-point range, but bullied his way inside for easy points. The Celtics went 21-for-25 at the rim as they crushed the Blazers for 60 points in the paint.

Pritchard, who is from the Portland area, made the most of his start in front of friends and family as he controlled the game offensively. But Mazzulla, for a second consecutive game, went out of his way to note Pritchard’s defense.

“The best thing about Payton that people don’t appreciate is his defense and just his tenacity,” Mazzulla told reporters. “We all know he can score, we all know he can shoot, but his level of defensive intensity has been huge for us throughout this year, and he’s really developed a role in his defense and rebounding.”

Hauser overcame a slow start in the first half and scored 17 points in the second half, including four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that buried the Blazers for good. Portland has been among the league’s best in defending the 3-point line this season, but Mazzulla was happy that a point from film carried to the game. The C’s generated many open looks, and they got Hauser going.

“That was what we talked about today, and how we have to find ways to break down those layers and having an understanding of shot selection at different times,” Mazzulla said. “Guys like Sam are open on the second or third layer of the possession, because you break that down, and I thought Jaylen and Jayson and Derrick (White) and our pick-and-rolls did a great job of breaking down those layers, and getting it to him.”

Initially a question mark, the Celtics’ bench has quieted those concerns. That unit has an average plus/minus of plus-3.3, which is the best mark in the NBA.

Boston’s depth proved its worth again on Monday. In addition to Pritchard, Horford stepped into the starting lineup and scored 11 points – including three 3-pointers in the first quarter – with four assists and three blocks. Kornet was everywhere with six points, five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and several more strong contests at the rim. Even Brissett – who has not seen regular rotation minutes this season – snuck in for four offensive rebounds.

“Top to bottom, you look at Sam, Oshae, Luke, just top to bottom, guys are always ready to play,” Mazzulla said. “From the team perspective, bring the mindset every night and guys are always ready to play.”

It was almost hard to believe that it was just a two-game losing streak.

The Celtics left Denver with plenty of lessons learned, and maybe a necessary reset. While they may not be perfect, and not quite a finished product, they have stayed consistent in their approach and mindset all season. And on Saturday night in Phoenix, they showed the resilience to adversity that has been a hallmark for them with an important bounce-back 117-107 win over the Suns.

Jayson Tatum scored 29 points, Jaylen Brown added 27 points, and the Celtics’ bench had one of its best performances of the season. The C’s, after struggling with the details in Thursday’s loss to the Nuggets, were sharp on the margins. They were locked in defensively, and crisp offensively. And at last, they pulled out a win in crunch time – overcoming Kevin Durant’s 45 points – to successfully avoid what would have been their first three-game losing streak of the season.

“We’re not perfect. We try to be. We really do try,” Tatum told reporters in Phoenix. “But we make mistakes and things like that. This is a tough league. Other teams are really good, got great players. So it’s all about how you respond. If you want to be a special team, you gotta do a really good job of responding.”

The Celtics were without Kristaps Porzingis, who missed the game with right hamstring tightness, but the injury is not considered to be serious.

The Celtics were consistent with their process all night on Saturday. They controlled the game for the final three quarters and never gave up the lead. Despite some absurd shot-making from Durant, they stayed poised in the final moments. The Celtics led by double digits with less than five minutes remaining before Durant nearly willed the Suns back by himself. The Suns cut the deficit to five late, but misfired on three consecutive 3-pointers that would have made it a one-possession game.

The Celtics, who have caught criticism for their late-game execution this week, had the answers on Saturday. On a well-executed play, Jrue Holiday slipped between a screen and found a wide-open Al Horford in the corner, where he drilled a 3-pointer to put the C’s up eight with 1:54 to go. Brown proceeded to force a turnover on Durant on the next possession, and the Celtics coasted from there.

The Celtics, who had several double-digit leads throughout the night, took several good punches from Durant and the Suns but stayed in control.

“It’s about managing runs,” Mazzulla told reporters. “For the most part, I liked the discipline that we played with as far as game management, and I think that’s the biggest lesson that we took from last game and it’s the standard that we have to hold ourselves is just elite game management and elite discipline on both ends of the floor, and we had more possessions tonight of that than we did last game.”

Other takeaways from the win:

– The bench has been consistent for the Celtics all season and it was no different on Saturday as Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet gave them great minutes. That trio scored 27 points, including 14 from Kornet and 10 from Pritchard, but Mazzulla liked their defense even more.

“They were amazing. They were tremendous,” Mazzulla said. “I thought Payton changed the game, just overall with his defense. Him and Sam both are known as offensive guys but I think it’s their defense that’s really helped us this year. Luke’s ability to play versus a second unit and switching really gave us a great look. …

“That unit has been great for us all year, but tonight they were big-time.”

– Tatum played the entirety of the second half, which is certainly unusual. Mazzulla said the Celtics star asked him if he could, and he obliged.

Tatum went on to score 22 of his 29 points in the second half, including 13 in the fourth quarter as he bounced back from a pair of forgettable performances earlier this week. Still, he was hard on himself after the win.

“I finally stopped turning the ball over,” Tatum told ABC. “I’m thankful I got some great teammates because I stunk it up tonight.”

“It’s all about progression, just trying to get better every single day, having the right intentions, knowing that you’re not going to be perfect,” Tatum continued. “I’m tough on myself, but you gotta move on, move on to the next play, the next game, and that’s what you’re on a team for. You got great teammates and coaches to keep you uplifted and just stay with it.”

– The Celtics’ brief losing streak certainly exposed some of their flaws, but they didn’t let their struggles snowball. Mazzulla praised his group for keeping their composure through a short rough stretch.

“I think the most important thing was to handle the losses the way we handle the wins, and I think the guys showed a great maturity and great mindset and a great approach to the process when we’re winning, and that’s hard to do,” Mazzulla said. “Throughout that 11-game win streak, I didn’t see much slippage in the details and the effort and the things that we were doing and so you just have to maintain that through the losses, and so I think it’s really important to keep that balance.”

Tatum was already a longshot to win MVP, but those hopes were essentially lost in Thursday’s loss to the Nuggets, when the Celtics star failed to make a real impact in the potential NBA Finals preview. But as the Celtics continue their pursuit of an elusive championship, the performance was a reminder that Tatum needs to do a better job of stepping up in those big moments.

Tatum has unquestionably grown in his seventh NBA season. His decision-making and ability to read the game has gotten better. He has guided the Celtics to the best record in the league, and certainly deserved MVP consideration. But as good as he’s become, there was a reality check this week that there’s still another level he needs to reach to lead the Celtics to glory.

The latest proof came Thursday, when Tatum scored just 15 points with eight assists and five turnovers, and missed a wide open, go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute as the Celtics lost 115-109 and were swept by the defending champion Nuggets in the season series. While Jaylen Brown erupted for 41 points and looked primed for the opportunity, Tatum almost resorted to being a spectator. On the other side, two-time MVP Nikola Jokic proved to be the difference with a 32-point triple-double.

The contrast between Jokic and Tatum was noticeable. Jokic, a proven champion, looked comfortable and confident all night. He got to his spots on almost every possession, and was at extreme ease as he gave the Nuggets exactly when they needed – especially in crunch time – to pull out the victory. Meanwhile, Tatum struggled with the different coverages the Nuggets threw at him. He looked uncomfortable. Like other similar situations in the past, he didn’t put his stamp on the moment.

“I don’t try to make it about myself or necessarily (an) individual matchup,” Tatum told reporters in Denver. “That’s just not the way our team is set up. Sometimes it’s the flow of the game, it is your night, you are getting more shots or whatever, but we just have such a well-balanced team that it might not necessarily be your night, other guys may have it going. … I say it all the time, we talk about respecting each other’s space and understanding the flow of the game, so it’s not on me to like, hijack the game and try to make it about me, and it’s a national TV game. Other guys had it going, so if I had to be in the corner, if I had to be a facilitator at times, so be it.”

No one is saying Tatum has to “hijack” the game, but the Celtics do need him to be better on bigger stages. They need him to be better in key moments if they’re going to claim Banner No. 18 come June.

Tatum certainly has his share of clutch, signature playoff performances – Game 6 at Milwaukee in 2022, Game 7 against Philadelphia last season – but the stench of his underwhelming 2022 NBA Finals performance still lingers. He was younger and still trying to find his way then. He turned 26 last Sunday and this should be his time now – especially with the talent that surrounds him.

Tatum has taken some steps this season, but his crunch time woes are still a question. He was unable to lift the Celtics over the Nuggets in the first matchup in January, which included botching the final shot that sealed their first home loss of the season. Those problems resurfaced in Tuesday’s loss to the Cavaliers, which included poor management of the final possession, when the Celtics trailed by one and Tatum dribbled the last 19 seconds down before missing a fadeaway jumper. Then came Thursday, when his impact was noticeably absent.

In the fourth quarter of the Celtics’ losses to the Cavs and Nuggets this week, Tatum was a combined 2-for-14 shooting. He simply needs to be better in those spots, especially when he commands so much of the ball.

As of Saturday, the Celtics and Nuggets are the betting favorites to meet in the NBA Finals. If that happens, it will be a chess match. As their two meetings this season showed, there’s not much that separates them. But the Nuggets have a championship touch, and the Celtics do not.

“They beat us a couple times. The margin of who wins and who loses is so small,” Kristaps Porzingis said. “It’s very small. It could have gone our way and we’re having a completely different (conversation) and you’re saying, ‘You guys look like you have Denver’s number.’ It could go both ways.”

There are several things that could have flipped Thursday’s matchup. The Celtics could have found a better solution for stopping Jokic. Brown missed seven free throws, which proved critical. But come June, it’s Tatum’s time to show he’s the difference.

But while these Celtics remain the class of the NBA with the best record by a good margin, while they have shown for the majority of this season that they have the look and mentality to get over the hump, this week has been a reminder that there is certainly work left to be done.

Tuesday’s loss to the Cavaliers revealed the Celtics still have growth to do in crunch time. Two nights later, they were reminded that the details matter in order to beat a championship-level team. Jaylen Brown scored 41 points, and the Celtics nearly pulled off the impossible in a late comeback bid against the defending champs, but they ultimately weren’t sharp enough in a 115-109 loss to the Nuggets on Thursday night in Denver.

In a potential NBA Finals preview, the Celtics couldn’t get enough stops. Nikola Jokic had 32 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, and Jamal Murray added 19 points and eight assists as Denver’s dynamic duo were too much to overcome. Jayson Tatum, two nights after he fell short in the final moments of their loss to the Cavs, couldn’t respond. The Celtics couldn’t make up for it in other ways as they suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since November.

“Every detail matters when you’re playing against another great team,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters in Denver. “So that’s some of the stuff we’ll learn from.”

The Celtics trailed by 11 with 4:43 remaining but made a late rally that nearly resulted in a miraculous victory. Behind two clutch step-back 3-pointers from Jrue Holiday, the Celtics suddenly found themselves trailing by two in the final minute when Brown forced a steal of Murray, and put the C’s in transition. The ball eventually found Tatum wide open for a go-ahead 3-pointer from the corner, but it came up short.

On the next possession, Jokic found Aaron Gordon for an alley-oop dunk with 20 seconds to go, which ultimately sealed the Celtics’ fate.

Jokic, ultimately, was too good. The Celtics, while they still nearly won, didn’t do themselves any favors to beat a championship team that’s almost unbeatable at home. Brown, as great as he was, went 7-for-14 from the free-throw line. Tatum failed to make his mark on the game, finishing with 15 points and five of the Celtics’ 12 turnovers. The Nuggets were better in end-of-quarter situations. The Celtics weren’t sharp enough on defense.

“Too many mistakes,” Brown told reporters. “Against a good team, we have to take advantage. Turnovers, free throws, just missing the defensive assignments. All that stuff, we have to be better. It starts with me, starts at the top, starts with Jayson and we made too many mistakes, and it cost us the game.”

Mazzulla pointed to at least 10-12 possessions that the Nuggets took advantage of better than the Celtics. While the Celtics created several possessions thanks to 13 offensive rebounds, they were beaten badly at the end of quarters. The Nuggets finished the first quarter on an 8-2 run, capped by Murray’s deep buzzer-beating 3-pointer. It was an 11-4 run to end the second quarter following a sequence in which Derrick White was blocked before Jokic’s bank shot at the buzzer.

The Celtics, while they fought back in the third quarter, continued to play catch-up the rest of the night.

“Those possessions are magnified,” Mazzulla said.

While Brown flourished in a physical game, Tatum struggled to make a real impact as the Nuggets gave him tough looks to make him more of a passer. It affected the Celtics at times as they struggled to generate consistent offense.

“I think they were just trying to break his rhythm a little bit, not let him get going, make him settle for some isolation shots,” Brown said. “We gotta find different spots to help him out.”

Meanwhile, Jokic was a monster as he continued to prove why he’s the best player in the league, and Tatum still has plenty of room to reach the Nuggets star’s MVP level. The Nuggets continued to thrive when Jokic was off the court, but they were nearly impossible to stop when he was on the floor. The big man was in an extreme comfort zone, routinely getting into the paint where he either finished at the rim or found teammates for open looks.

While the Celtics generated enough stops to make a strong comeback bid, Jokic and Gordon always had the critical answers down the stretch. The Celtics trailed by five with 2:06 to play when Jokic’s miss was cleaned up by Gordon, who made an insane putback dunk over a sleeping Tatum. Then came Jokic’s alley-oop to Gordon that sealed the game with 20 seconds left. Whether it was Jokic finishing or Gordon making key buckets down low, the Celtics couldn’t make enough stops.

“Jokic is just a monster down there, so we threw some different coverages at him,” Brown said. “We guarded him one on one, then we tried to have late help and stuff like that. I felt like I should have guarded Jokic a little bit, a little more. I wish I would have had those opportunities a little bit. I could keep him away from the basket and we could have kept away some of those layups they got.”

While the Celtics took the loss hard, they acknowledged the valuable lessons it could have for them. After rolling for more than a month and looking just about invincible, this could be a reality check they needed, especially if they see these Nuggets again in June.

“This was a big game. We wanted to win this one,” Kristaps Porzingis said. “It stings, it stings real bad, but I like that there’s a big margin that we can improve from this game. … What I like is there’s a margin for us to get better, to play better. It’s possible that we hope to see them again.”

Added Mazzulla: “When you play against two great teams, they bring the best out of you and they bring opportunity to learn out of you, and opportunity to learn from those. I feel good about where we’re at and what we need to work on.”

The Celtics looked well on their way to another blowout victory on Tuesday night in Cleveland, before it all went spiraling out of control. They blew a 22-point fourth-quarter lead. Suddenly, a group that hadn’t faced adversity in over a month found some. But they couldn’t overcome it. The Cavaliers’ scorching hot finish was too much, and the Celtics’ execution waned down the stretch and in crunch time as they lost, 105-104, their first defeat since Feb. 1.

“Good loss for us,” Kristaps Porzingis told reporters in Cleveland.

“I think it’s healthy for us. We do have a feeling that we’re like, we’re going to win every game, we’re invincible. We’re going to win this game. No matter what happens, we’re like, ‘We got this.’ A little bit of that feeling is always there, which may be healthy, but it’s also healthy to get a loss here and there to recalibrate a little bit and have that attention to detail again. …

“I think it’s completely fine and I think it’s necessary for us to keep building.”

Jayson Tatum scored 26 points, but just four after halftime, to lead the Celtics, whose dominant 11-game winning streak came to a shocking end to a Cavaliers team missing star guard Donovan Mitchell. Dean Wade scored 23 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter, as the Cavaliers caught fire from deep to take the lead in the final minutes, but the Celtics still had a chance.

The Celtics trailed by one with 19 seconds left after Wade’s go-ahead putback dunk and Tatum looked to make a play to win the game. Tatum dribbled the clock down and got a switch on to the smaller Darius Garland before launching a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer that missed. Garland was initially called for a foul – which would have put Tatum at the line for the winning free throws – but it was overturned after a challenge. After an ensuing jump ball at midcourt, the time ran out.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said he tried calling a timeout with 4.6 seconds left as he watched the final play unfold too slowly, but the officials didn’t see it. He emphasized that the play needed to go quicker.

“Down one in that situation, you try to get a couple more possessions and we just have to get into it faster and go faster and try to extend the game,” Mazzulla told reporters in Cleveland.

It shouldn’t have got to that point after the Celtics led by 22 with nine minutes to go. ESPN’s Analytics said the C’s had a 99.9 percent chance to win. But Mazzulla thought their execution dipped, and they started going cold as they scored just eight points over an eight-minute stretch. The Cavaliers went to a smaller lineup, and the Celtics were unable to take advantage with the usual mismatches they find.

The Cavs proceeded to take full advantage by torching them from deep, ultimately going 8-for-11 in the final period. Wade made all five of his attempts from three.

“I thought we had some really good possessions where we didn’t make the shot and then I thought we had some tough shots and credit to them,” Mazzulla told reporters. “I thought Wade played really well and they made plays down the stretch.”

Wade hit back-to-back triples in transition to bring the Cavs within three. Georges Niang drilled one to tie the game at 99, then turned to say some words to the Celtics bench after he capped a 28-6 run. Moments later, Wade hit a three to give Cleveland a 102-99 lead with 2:34 to go.

The Celtics stayed poised under the suddenly adverse situation, and certainly had their chance in the final minute. Trailing by two with 40 seconds left, Porzingis interrupted Garland’s alley-oop attempt to Jarrett Allen, then raced the other way and converted a three-point play to retake the lead. On the next possession, they nearly had a defensive stop after Garland missed a layup, but Wade cleaned it up with a putback dunk. The Cavs finished with 14 second-chance points which were a killer, but only four after halftime.

The Celtics have been better in crunch time this season than in the past, but Tuesday showed there are still some lingering problems in those situations that they haven’t quite figured out completely. Their offense stalled at times, and they struggled on the final play.

But for a team that dominated the league over the last month during its 11-game winning streak, the lessons from this loss could prove more valuable down the road than if they had just coasted to another blowout victory.

“This is good,” Mazzulla said. “Regardless of whether you win or lose, you take a look at it and a lot of good situational stuff from us, whether it was end of quarters, beginning of quarters, Wade had a great offensive rebound where if we get that it’s a different game, so it’s just small things that give us an opportunity to really work on execution.”

And when he watches the Celtics, he’s confident that a championship is coming soon to Boston.

“I mean, they’ve been on the brink for six, seven years,” Kerr said. “Great organization, always been really well-coached, continuity, they have everything that it takes. I think in this league, it always requires some luck to win a championship. Sometimes things break your way, sometimes they don’t, but the idea is to give yourself a chance as many times in a row as you can and they’ve done a great job of that.

“I think it’s just a matter of time before they break through, and this is I think the best version that we’ve seen of this team.”

The Celtics certainly showed that in their 140-88 destruction of the Warriors on Sunday afternoon that was over by halftime, when Kerr pulled his starters. The difference between this group and the one that lost to the Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals can be seen in their growth and maturation. For Kerr, their personnel makes them even more dangerous.

“Jrue (Holiday) and Kristaps (Porzingis),” Kerr said of the difference between the two groups. “That’s two really high-level players added to what was already a great team. I think Jrue replaces a lot of what Marcus Smart gave Boston defensively and an additional ball-handler, playmaker. I think Kristaps changes everything just with his floor spacing and overall offensive game, so I mean, they’re lethal.”

Warriors star Stephen Curry chalked up Sunday’s performance to a “perfect storm” of everything going Boston’s way, but when he looks at these Celtics, their identity sticks out to him.

“The way they’ve been playing, they seem very sure of themselves and their identity and who they are,” Curry said. “It’s just mostly connected to both sides of the ball, they obviously play a physical style and then they know how to space and which shots they’re trying to create.

“It seems like they have confidence with who has the ball in their hands, so like I said, it’s an identity and confidence in how you play every night. You can feel it with certain teams and certain teams don’t have it, and obviously you don’t win 11 in a row by accident. They’re tough.”

A dare gone wrong

The Warriors’ defensive strategy to dare Jaylen Brown to shoot was certainly an interesting one. And while Brown made them pay by drilling five 3-pointers in the first quarter, they didn’t have any regrets.

“It worked, he just made the shots,” Draymond Green said. “It’s OK.”

Green said the Warriors implemented the strategy 15 minutes before game time. The tactic included sagging off of Brown – a 34.8 percent shooter from distance – at the 3-point line and giving him wide-open looks.

“They’ve been playing at a high level and you want, with a team with that many threats, try to find some weak spot to see if it will throw them off a little bit,” Brown said. “Obviously it didn’t work. And it affected our offense a little bit tonight. No regrets on how we approached it.”

The decision certainly sparked Brown, who scored 19 first-quarter points. He made three consecutive 3-pointers during one stretch and the Celtics never looked back.

“First time it’s ever happened to me. Honestly I was a bit surprised,” Brown said. “Took a little bit of adjusting. We just took advantage of whatever that attempt was and made the best of it. For the most part, my job is to take it to the paint. We got enough 3-point shooters on the team. So I don’t take a lot of 3s for the most part throughout the season because we got enough of that. I get to the paint and I usually open it up for everyone else.

“But if you want to dare me to shoot, we can do that, too. I thought it was a little disrespectful. But we took advantage of it and we hit them back.”

Tip-ins

Kristaps Porzingis missed Sunday’s game with a left quad contusion, an injury he suffered in Friday’s win over the Mavericks. It’s uncertain if he’ll return for Tuesday’s game at Cleveland. …

Al Horford made some history in Sunday’s win, joining some elite company as he became the sixth player in NBA history to record 14,000 points, 8,400 rebounds, 3,400 assists and 1,200 blocks in a career. The other players on that list are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki.

In the first rematch last season in San Francisco, the Celtics were blown out and they admitted after that they were caught up in the moment. They had circled that game on their calendar, and were focused too much on trying to prove something. It was a clear sign they still had significant growth to do to get over the hump.

The feeling of that 2022 Finals loss is not raw anymore, but there were lessons learned. There has been necessary growth and maturation since that defeat. And while they must win a championship this spring to prove that once and for all, their latest rematch with the Warriors on Sunday was one of the clearest signs yet this group is ready to do so. The Celtics battered the Warriors. They humiliated them into submission. And they didn’t let up. They made another loud statement with a 140-88 demolition.

It was the Celtics’ third 50-point win of the season, an NBA record. But it was how they did it, against a team that once posed as a mental block for this group, that made this one the most impressive yet.

“It’s a lot of respect for the Golden State Warriors,” Jaylen Brown said. “But we feel like it’s our time now.”

Brown scored 29 points, including 19 in the first quarter, as he set the tone on both ends and Jayson Tatum, on his 26th birthday, scored 27, including 20 in the second quarter, as the Celtics extended their winning streak to 11 games – and they did it without Kristaps Porzingis, who missed the game due to injury. They destroyed the Warriors with a nearly perfect first half, setting franchise records with 82 points and a 44-point halftime lead. They made the Warriors throw in the towel, as stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green sat the second half.

These Warriors aren’t what they once were, but entered Sunday as winners of 13 of their previous 16 games. But the Celtics made them their latest victim with ease. In some ways, the tables have turned. On Sunday, the Celtics submitted a performance reminiscent of what the Warriors did during the prime years of their dynasty.

“They’re the best team in the league right now, and they played like it,” Curry said. “We have a nice gap to make up if we want to be that type of team.”

Joe Mazzulla and the Celtics like to approach every game the same, but they played with a certain edge on Sunday. Perhaps the Warriors could be credited with poking the bear.

As teams look for different ways to stop the Celtics, the Warriors tried something new on Sunday. Part of their defensive strategy was to make Brown a shooter. Green and any other defender sagged off of Brown – a 34.8 percent 3-point shooter – significantly and dared him to shoot. But the results went poorly for them.

Brown happily took what the defense gave him and made them pay with five 3-pointers in the first quarter, including a flurry on three consecutive possessions.

“I thought it was a little disrespectful,” Brown said. “But we took advantage of it and we hit them back.”

Added Mazzulla: “We were really grateful for that. … I just kept saying thank you, and kept empowering Jaylen.”

The Warriors’ decision and the ensuing outcome proved to be decisive. The game was tied at 21-all before Brown’s three consecutive 3-pointers, and the Celtics proceeded to hit the Warriors with an avalanche on both sides of the ball. They allowed the Warriors to score just one point – on a technical free throw – over the final 6:05 of the first quarter en route to a stretch of domination that hit absurd levels.

The Celtics knocked out the Warriors with a 32-3 run and outscored them 61-17 over the final 18 minutes of the first half. They made 15 3-pointers in the first half, including one that elicited a shrug from Tatum, as if to acknowledge how silly the barrage was, They suffocated the Warriors defensively. The Celtics were relentless even as they went up by more than 40, continuously rushing the ball in-bounds and executing like a machine.

There was some extra emotion, especially from Brown. He fired up the crowd on a few occasions, and after he forced Curry into a backcourt violation on one play in the second quarter, he clapped excitedly. Brown acknowledged that the Warriors’ game plan on him got him going.

“I guess that’s kind of fair to say,” Brown said. “Obviously it caught me and everybody by surprise. Maybe it was some type of mind game they were trying to play. But it definitely engages you, it definitely heightens your focus on offense and defense.”

Minutes into the third quarter, Mazzulla pulled his regulars as they earned an extra rest. The Celtics led by as many as 56 in the second half.

Even though the Celtics continue to pile up lopsided wins, they’re not taking these performances for granted. After all, they’ve been the victim of painful losses before.

“On any given day, at any given time we could be on the other side of that,” Brown said. And we’ve had some heartbreaking losses and things not go in our direction that kind of cultivates that humility that we play with.

“Yeah, it’s a privilege and an honor to be on a team to be able to do that. But at the same time there’s a humility that at any given moment things can change, things can shift, things can not go in the right direction. So we just have to take advantage of the moment.”