SOUND OFF: Celtics Torch NBA’s No. 2 Defense Behind D-White, Pritchard

The No. 2 defense in the NBA had no answers for a Celtics offense that was missing Jaylen Brown and Al Horford on Friday night. Without those two stars, the C’s still managed to shoot 51 percent from the field and 49 percent from distance against the Houston Rockets. Derrick White (23 points) and Payton Pritchard (20 points) were big reasons why. Luke Kornet also gets a shout-out, and we preview what Sunday’s matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder might have in store.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Sound Off with me folks on the Celtics grabbing an
impressive win for the second time in twenty four hours.
This time it came on the road in Houston against
the number two defense in the NBA, and that defense
certainly did not look like the number two defense while

(00:27):
playing against the red hot Celtics. But listen, before we
get any farther into this episode, I've got to sound
Off with a little message to all of our listeners.
First and foremost, i gotta say thank you for tuning
in every night, thank you for sending in your comments
to be a part of the show after every game. Secondly,

(00:48):
I gotta share that this is the last game that
I will be working and that we will have sound
Off episodes until I'm back in April. I'm actually heading
out on paternity leave. I'm gonna spend a few months
with my daughter, and while I will be missing chatting
with you guys, I can't wait to be with her

(01:08):
when her first tooth pops out and maybe even when
she takes her first step here in the next few months.
So I'll be back at the start of April. Until then,
sound Off is going on hiatus, so come back to
me in April. In the meantime, feel free to listen elsewhere,
but I'll be back in April and ready to rock.
So let's dive into tonight's game a little bit more.
But I just had to get that out of the

(01:29):
way so that you all know that for the next
few months we will be going on hiatus, but we
will be back before the season's over and we'll get
this thing reved right back up heading into the NBA
playoffs as the Celtics look to try to grab a
second consecutive NBA championship. So getting back into the way
that the Celtics torched Houston's defense, it was crazy to

(01:52):
watch fifty one percent shooting from the field, forty nine
percent shooting from long distance, and the Celtics actually beat
the Rockets at their own game tonight. Houston is one
of the best offensive rebounding teams in the league, and
it needs to be because it doesn't have a whole
lot of scoring power, so it's got to try to
grab as many offensive rebounds as possible to give itself

(02:15):
as many scoring opportunities as possible. But tonight it was
the Celtics who were actually crashing the offensive glass and
Houston was too, but the Celtics did it at an
uncharacteristically high level. They grabbed twelve offensive rebounds in this game.
Fifteen second chance points came off of those twelve offensive rebounds,

(02:35):
and six of them were actually scored in successive fashion
in the fourth quarter, as Luke Cornett grabbed a couple
of offensive rebounds, kicked out both times right off the
offensive rebounds. First he found Derek White for three, second,
he found Peyton Pritchard for three, and that three from
Pritchard kept an eleven zero run to start the fourth quarter,

(02:57):
and that's when the Celtics just blew this thing wide open.
That run pushed them ahead by twenty one points and
they never looked back from there. But how impressive was
this win? I mean, we just got to talk about
in general, what the Celtics have been facing over the
last twenty four hours. Two games in twenty four hours,

(03:18):
the first being played in Minnesota, the second being played
tonight in Houston, and this is against two of the
top teams in the West. The Rockets not well renowned yet,
they are on the up and up, but they're the
number three seed out in the Western Conference right now.
That team is really good, and as we've already touched on,
they are great defensively. So the Celtics have not only

(03:40):
grabbed two wins against two very talented teams, but they've
done it without their full starting lineup in either game.
Last night in Minnesota, Jalen Brown and Christaps Porzingis were
both out due to injury, and tonight, Brown was out
due to injury. And yet the Celtics still not only
find to win, but they find a way to win

(04:02):
by twenty three points while getting many of their starters
some rest as they head into quite the showdown Sunday
afternoon when they're gonna take on the Oklahoma City Thunder,
the top team out West in an afternoon matinee and
what many people believe could be a preview of the
NBA Finals. But just incredible how this Celtics team continues

(04:23):
to win at a super high rate while not being
at full health. It's been documented, You've seen it in
many different places all over X and Facebook and TV
and wherever you look. The Celtics haven't been healthy this season,
yet here they are with the number two seed in
the Eastern Conference and hopefully going to be moving up
later in the season. Now. One big reason because of that,

(04:46):
especially tonight, is to play at Derek White. He was
awesome yet again. He scored twenty six points last night
in Minnesota, drops another twenty three tonight. And the crazy
thing on top of those numbers is the shooting efficiency.
I mean, he shot exactly fifty percent from the field
and exactly fifty percent from three point range in both

(05:10):
of these games against two of the top six defenses
in the NBA. That's absurd. He was great again tonight,
impacting the game at both ends of the floor. Peyton
Pritchard was also great off the bench. He's been doing
it all season long. He scored twenty points off the bench.
But to me, what stood out is how he scored

(05:31):
those twenty points. He was doing it in every which way.
At the offensive end of the court eight for ten
from the field, ridiculous efficiency, but he was draining threes,
he was getting mid range buckets. He even put in
a driving reverse layup through contact. I'm pretty sure that's

(05:52):
the first time I've ever seen him do that, because
he's never had to do it, but I'm pretty sure
that's the first time I've ever seen him do that.
The NBA so eight for ten from the field for
twenty points, continues to distance himself from the entire NBA
in the sixth Man of the Year competition. It is
his right now and it's not even close. It's pritchered

(06:15):
by a landslide, and tonight just more evidence of why
getting it done on all three levels, he said after
the game. I'm a complete player. He told Abby Chinn
this in his walk off interview with NBC Sports Boston.
I'm a complete player, and tonight I wanted to show
off my whole arsenal. You'll love to hear the confidence.
His confidence is beaming, Like even the way he's talking

(06:38):
to the media, you can just tell his mental state
and his confidence at a whole other level this season.
One other player I want to talk about before we
get into our fan comments, Luke Cornett also had an
awesome game for the Celtics. He was super impactful at
both ends of the court. Nearly logged a double double
in this game coming off the bench. I'm gonna hold

(06:59):
my full comments on him until later in the episode
when we take some comments from our fans, but got
to give a shout out to him in the open.
He was huge for the Celtics tonight, a critical reason
as to why the Celtics were able to win this game,
as they were a little bit underhanded. So last thing
I got to mention, we talked about it. Jalen Brown
and Christas Porzingis were out last night. Well, tonight, Porzingis

(07:22):
was back. It was his first game since that he
rolled his ankle a little bit on Christmas Day, so
he missed the last I think it was four games.
Returns Tonight plays about twenty eight minutes, and you know,
it wasn't his best game of the season, but it
was just great to see him back out there. Great
to see him healthy and helping the team and impacting
the team at both ends of the court. So great

(07:44):
to have him back. Hopefully this is just the start
of a much better rhythm for him as we go
forward in the season. All right, let's dive into some
fan comments. We got three of them tonight. First up,
we've got Maine Celtic on their long list of takeaways
from this win. Then we've got popa Victor on Boston's
bench play. That's where we're going to talk about Cornette.

(08:04):
And then lastly, we've got Rhea pousag who's looking forward
to Sunday's NBA Finals level matchup with the Western Conference
leading Oklahoma City Thunder. All right, first one up, Maine Celtic.
It's all on you, all right, Maine Celtic. Their reaction
to this game, they say, great shooting, ball movement, defense,

(08:27):
and spirit. Good two nights in a row, lots of
hustle plays. They look like a tight group right now.
Two good w's versus two good teams on the road
and short handed. Maine Celtic is spitting facts right now,
from top to bottom. All of this great observations from

(08:47):
Maine Celtic. Great shooting. We all know that I already
went over the shooting numbers. Not a lot of assists
in this game, but the ball movement was there. They
were able to find guys to be able to create
good looks at the basket. The defense, I mean, you
hold any team in the NBA to eighty six points
in an NBA game now like twenty years ago, not
a big deal. Right now, that's a big deal. And

(09:09):
I think our Taylor Snow tweeted out after the game,
Houston only had eight assists during this game. That was
the least or the lowest number that any team has
logged in almost the last three years. I believe it
was in the entire NBA. So an excellent defensive performance
from the selbjects. But the one thing that I really

(09:29):
want to point out here is that when Maine Celtics
says they look like a tight group right now, that's
what stood out to me tonight. I mean, just a
few days ago, Derek White was talking about how this
was one of the toughest stretches that he's been a
part of here in Boston, when the Celtics were struggling
a little bit, and then now you look at these
guys running up and down the court. They're smiling, having fun,

(09:52):
getting back to the joy of basketball. And so it's
great to see that out of the team starting the
new year with a couple of great wins. Number one,
obviously you want to get those those check marks in
the win column, but more importantly, the way that they're
grabbing these wins and the camaraderie that we're seeing on
the court, the enjoyment and the joy that we're seeing
out of these guys as they log those wins. Two

(10:15):
great wins, and they did it in a great fashion
as we saw lots of smiles and lasts around. We
saw Luke Cornette throwing up the double fists after an
awesome l up that he threw down tonight. So just
you know, great vibes all around. Let's hope it continues
into Sunday's matchup with the thunder All right, folks. Next
up is Papa Victor, who says Celts getting back into

(10:38):
the groove. Bench play has been excellent, and there's no
question about that. Actually, last night in Minnesota, it was
Sam Hauser who was popping into the starting lineup, shot
the ball really well, and then the rest of the
bench played well. Also tonight Sam started again, he only
took one shot, did not score a point. But then

(10:58):
you've got these other guys step up. Luke Cornett a
game high ten ten rebounds, and that's not just leading
the Celtics as leading the game. Coming off the bench
with ten rebounds nine points. He was a plus twenty
three in twenty three and a half minutes. Nimi Caita
gave the Celtics some great minutes as well, and then

(11:19):
you saw the young guys come in at the end
of the game. They played well. Also We've already talked
about Peyton Pritchard. He just continues to be awesome. I
want to concentrate on Cornette here, because we already talked
pretty in depth about what Peyton Pritchard brought to the table.
But Cornett, you can tell that he had it tonight
from the second he checked into this game. He was
impacting the game from the second he stepped on the court.

(11:42):
It was with offensive rebounding, it was with being a
rim threat with his teammates when they had the ball
in their hands. It was with his passing. I already
talked about the offensive rebounds and kickouts that changed this
game with those back to back three pointers by Derek
White and Peyton Pritchard. It was his screen, it was
his defense. He literally did everything the Celtics could have

(12:05):
asked him to do during this game. He knows his role,
he leans into his role, and on nights like this,
I mean, this is one of the best center's backup
centers in the NBA when he plays at this level
within this role, and I'm just talking about being back
the game because of how well he's excelling or how

(12:28):
at such a high level within that role that the
Celtics have asked him to play. I mean, this isn't
someone who's gonna score twenty five points and grab eighteen
rebounds and dish out. Tennis says, no, that's not his role.
His role is to crash the glass, to be a
rim threat, to pass, to screen, and to defend. And

(12:50):
he did all of those things at a ridiculously high
level tonight. Coming off the bench tonight for the Celtics again,
a plus twenty three in twenty three plus minutes. There's
a reason that is impact. So Luke Cornett tonight coming
off the bench giving the Celtics some great, great minutes.
Peyton Pritchard twenty points. Again, he was a plus twenty

(13:12):
one and thirty two plus minutes. So just some great
minutes out of the guys coming off the bench. And
also you just continue to see Nimia's Kida kind of
step up when his name is called. He's had some
rough patches this season, but tonight he was great again.
Had a thunderous dunk during the fourth quarter. When he
rows up it's like the gumby just sticking his arm
up in the air, you think he's gonna be able

(13:33):
to get it to the rim no matter what kind
of like Victor wimban Yamen in a little bit of
a sense, but he gave the Celtics some great minutes too,
a little less than twenty minutes tonight. So across the board,
great bench play led by Peyton Pritchard and Luke Cornett.
The Celtics continue to show that they have excellent depth,
being able to have bench guys step up when they

(13:53):
have other bench guys who have moved into the starting lineup.
Happened again tonight and the Celtics made it look darn
good as it was happening again tonight in Houston against
the Rockets. All right, last one of the night and
last one until April. It's crazy to say that, but
thank you for sending your comments. And again this one

(14:15):
is from Reya Pousag trying to say that correctly. Hopefully
I'm nailing it. And they say we should carry these
two ws into the next one. It's huge and OKC
is tough. They're young, they're athletic, and they're fast. We
need everybody to step up, all right. We are looking

(14:37):
forward to one of the greatest games that we have
on the docket this season so far with the twenty
six and nine Boston Celtics taking on the twenty nine
and five Oklahoma City thunder Listen, most of you, I assume,
have never been to a game in Oklahoma City. I've
been blessed to go to games there throughout my career.

(14:58):
Here covering the Celtics one of the best environments that
you can go into to watch a basketball game. Now,
when you bring these two teams together, that's just gonna
take that environment to a whole other level. Like you
remember what it felt like when the Celtics played in
Indiana last year in that NBA Cup Quarterfinals game. This

(15:20):
one's gonna be on a whole other level. Oklahoma City
is going to be on fire. These are two title contenders.
This is one team that wants to show that it's
still the best, and this is another team that wants
to show that it's going to be the best when
this season comes to an end. Oklahoma City has been
excellent this season. They are the top team in the

(15:41):
league when it comes to point differential. They are just
one game behind the Cleveland Cavaliers for the best record
in the NBA. Both of these teams, by the way,
are on pace to win seventy plus games. It's crazy,
the Cavs in the Thunder. These two teams have just
been unbelievable this season. But to Ria's point here, you

(16:02):
gotta carry this momentum into the next game. You gotta
be prepared for the challenge it's gonna be facing you.
The Thunder are incredibly talented across the board. They're so young,
athletic and fast and skilled. They have skill across the board.
They can dig down and defend with the best of them.
As Reya says, we're gonna need everyone to step up,

(16:24):
and hopefully the Celtics actually wind up having everyone available
to step up. We're gonna have to wait and see
what the news is on Jalen Brown come Sunday, but
let's hope that they will not only have him back
in the lineup, but also have Al Horford back in
the lineup who missed tonight's game on the second night
of a back to back, and hopefully our guy Christas

(16:46):
Porzingis remains in the lineup after getting back in tonight.
It would be great TV. It would be great basketball
to see both of these teams at basically full health. Obviously,
the Thunder and missing Chet holmgrin. But they're chugging along
without them. But it would be great to see these
two teams collide at close to or at full health.

(17:08):
Here on Sunday afternoon. Let's hope Jalen Brown is back.
This game is coming at you in the afternoon. All right,
This is a three point thirty showdown. You can catch
the game nationally on NBA TV. Locally, the game is
gonna be on NBC Sports Boston. Make your reservations for
what you're doing on Sunday, you better watch this game.
It's gonna be one of the best ones you'll see

(17:30):
all season long. Again, it's the twenty six and nine
Celtics taking on the twenty nine and five Oklahoma City
Thunder led by Shay Gilgus Alexander, who may just be
the MVP of the NBA so far this season. Three
point thirty PM Sunday afternoon. Catch the game. I will
not have sound Off after that. I am off. I'm

(17:51):
gonna be just spending time with my baby for the
next few months until then, enjoy the season. Hopefully when
I come back, the Celtics are rolling and we get
into the playoffs. With a fun episode of sound Off
at the start of April. Thank you again for listening.
I appreciate you all taking part in the podcast, and
I'll see you in a few months.