Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was pleased with how his team played Wednesday after coming off a close loss the night before against the 76ers.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was pleased with how his team played Wednesday after coming off a close loss the night before against the 76ers.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
It’s amazing what the Celtics are capable of when they make things easier on themselves. They have spent this early season being their own worst enemy, committing costly mistakes late in games or silly errors throughout games that prevent comfortable victories.
When they play well, the Celtics are capable of competing with the league’s top teams. They may not have the overall talent, but they have enough depth and varying skill sets to remain playoff competitive throughout the season.
Wednesday’s home game against the Memphis Grizzlies was a key test for the Celtics. They returned home having blown another close game, a 2-point loss to Philadelphia, the latest in a handful of winnable games they allowed to slip away.
Such setbacks can negatively impact a team, but the Celtics displayed their guile 24 hours later with a resounding 131-95 win over the undermanned and listless Memphis Grizzlies. It wasn’t about the opponent for the Celtics, but it was more about how they responded from their most recent adversity.
They never trailed. Payton Pritchard tallied 24 points. Derrick White looks as if he’s thawing out after a cold streak to start the season and the supporting cast steady and reliable.
The margin for error for this edition of the Celtics is razor thin. They lost last week against Utah because of a missed defensive rebound. They blew a 9-point fourth-quarter lead against the 76ers because of their inability to defend Justin Edwards and a missed block-out by Jaylen Brown.
Little things will determine whether the Celtics will play beyond mid-April. Little things will determine whether the Celtics will take the necessary progression while Jayson Tatum continues to rehabilitate his torn Achilles.
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, recovering from a torn Achilles, looks on during the first quarter Wednesday night.
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, recovering from a torn Achilles, looks on during the first quarter Wednesday night.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
He sustained that injury six months ago Tuesday and he posted a brief video of a workout where he dribbled, jump stopped, and released a midrange jumper at the Celtics practice facility. He’s getting closer, and the way the Eastern Conference is shaping up a month into the season, there is a real opportunity for the Celtics to make this more than some transition season.
But they have to be better with those little things. And that’s not only the younger guys, but the veterans. White is off to a disappointing start and has visibly struggled with confidence.
There are certain athletes who master the poker face in times of struggle or despair on the court. They never let outsiders see their emotion, how much they ache when they aren’t performing to expectations. White is not one of those. His pain is apparent. He’s been perplexed about his shooting struggles, frustrated that he isn’t performing better and leading the Celtics to wins.
On Wednesday, he was consistent, releasing his 3-pointers with confidence, chasing down defenders, blocking shots. There was a sense of normalcy. If Andre Drummond doesn’t knock the ball out of his hands in the final seconds Tuesday, maybe he sinks the winning triple. Instead, he had to launch a 39-footer that had no chance. The Celtics made a plethora of mistakes throughout that Philly game but this year they don’t have enough talent to prevail without being precise and meticulous with execution. That’s the difference this season.
“It’s a little different but we’ve got a younger team, guys that are learning on the fly,” White said. “It’s learning each and every game what works for us, what doesn’t work for us. We keep talking about the process and for the last couple of years we’ve had people that have been here and done that.
So those little mistakes, they happen a little bit more often, so it’s something we’re continuing to learn about, we need to grow from.
“Everybody is super bought in and super open to learning and growing and seeing what we need to do to win these games. We’ve got a long way to go. And a lot of teams, they have a lot of room for growth and we’re just like everybody else.”
For the past decade the Celtics weren’t like everybody else, so they are struggling with the transition to being just another team for now. And they’ll continue to be just an ordinary team until they figure out how to be more consistent and improve their execution throughout games.
So Wednesday was a welcome respite from the normal drama. Boston led by as many as 38 points. Pritchard was a plus-42. The bench provided needed production. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla experienced the relief and elation of his team making things easier on themselves, showing signs of growth and maturity.
“Coming off a tough game on the road, losing the way that we did to come back and play the way that we did, yeah, I think that’s important,” Mazzulla said. “We don’t have the record or results to show for it but I think we’ve built a mind-set and a resilience that could benefit us in the long run as long as we keep chipping away at it and as long as we work to execute it. Ending this small little stretch with a bounce-back win I think is important for this team and I like how they handled the game tonight.”
The Celtics are learning more about themselves and how they’ll respond to adversity and prosperity as the games progress. The process is not pretty and games such as the loss to Philly or the fourth-quarter collapse last Friday against Orlando will be infuriating. But Wednesday was a positive step, the sign of a team that’s beginning to find footing.
“There’s a high care factor and there’s a high competitive factor,” Mazzulla said. “And I think over the course of the season you can do a lot with that. I think we have the humility to know we’re not playing the way we want to but also know we’re playing hard and can get so much better.”
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.