Celtics’ bench earns praise after win

Just seconds after entering the game, Payton Pritchard hit a layup in transition that tied the game. Sam Hauser blocked an Eric Gordon runner on the ensuing possession. Luke Kornet grabbed an offensive rebound off a Jayson Tatum miss and got an easy putback to put the Celtics ahead, 26-24.

This helped set the tone for the remainder of the game as Boston did not relinquish the lead from that point on. Kornet had his second-highest score of the season (14 points) and Pritchard added 10 points as each of the Celtics’ bench players led Saturday’s game in plus/minus.

Celtics star Jaylen Brown pointed out that the trio is the difference.

“They won the game for us tonight,” Brown told reporters. “Payton, Luke, Sam, their energy, their games, their effort. That’s why we probably won the game tonight. It’s hard, but they are always ready. So shout out to these guys.

Saturday’s performance off the bench follows a rough outing by the unit in its loss to the Nuggets on Thursday. The four-man unit in that game (which included Al Horford and Xavier Tillman instead of Kornet), only totaled 10 points. More importantly, the Celtics were dominated when each of them was on the floor, with Tillman (-12), Horford (-10) and Hauser (-8) posting the three worst plus/minus in Thursday’s game.

Perhaps the most impressive thing the bench did was hold their own on the defensive end. Kornet helped serve as Boston’s defensive anchor on Saturday, posting an impressive defensive rating of 102.6. Pritchard had a defensive rating of 100 as he was part of the effort that allowed the Suns’ backcourt to score just 34 points on 13 of 34 shooting. Hauser posted an astonishing 83.8 defensive rating on Saturday (for reference, Rudy Gobert has a league-leading 104 defensive rating this season) as his switchability played a role in the victory.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla highlighted the effort and hustle from the bench unit that served as the catalyst for the victory.

“They were amazing, they were great,” Mazzulla said. “I thought Payton was a game-changer with his defense. He and Sam are both known for their offensive players, but I think it’s their defense that really helped us this year. And Luke’s ability to play against a second unit and change groups really gave us great insight, and when they touched down, he was able to create great screens.

“So this unit has been great for us all year, but tonight they were great.”

Horford, who usually plays off the bench but started Saturday for the injured Kristaps Porzingis, was also impressed with the unit.

“I really liked the way Sam, Luke and Payton came in and kind of changed the game for us in the first and second quarter,” Horford said. “Just the energy we had, I felt like we were a lot better.” »

The trio’s solid defensive effort came at just the right time. Tatum’s shooting struggles continued in the first half of Saturday’s game, shooting just 2 of 9 from the field, but the Suns scored just 50 points before the break. Tatum finally helped the Celtics pull away for good, scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter.

The bench’s play also helped end a two-game losing streak that marked the start of their five-game road trip, which ended in two close losses to the Cavaliers and Nuggets.

“I just think we were locked in and we knew we had to come out and win this game,” Horford said of the team’s overall play. “But it felt like a nice benefit.” It wasn’t a feeling of oppression.