The Hospital Celtics Did It Again, This Time Giving Us Some Franchise History And An Unnecessary Heart Attack All At The Same Time

Brian Babineau. Getty Images.

While I can't imagine the team is getting the Duck Boats ready for a parade today after beating the tanking Jazz, what I will say is we can chalk this up to yet another win for the Hospital Celtics. This version, down 2 starters and 3 rotation players overall, had an important task heading into last night. With the Jazz shutting down about 95% of their regular rotation and the Thunder on the horizon tomorrow night, this game was the easiest trap game in the history of trap games. Add the big double-digit spread heading to it? We've all seen how this game plays out a million times before. 

Teams fall into this trap all the time. They're looking ahead to then more important matchup that's coming, they figure the team they're currently playing is dogshit and they'll have no problem blowing them out, and then the next thing you know you've been punched in the mouth and it's a close game down the stretch. Sometimes, when you fuck around like that you end up on the wrong side of these "trap games", and if we're being honest, that almost happened.

But you know what? You don't get penalized for something that "almost" happened. Like how the Marcus Smart weirdos keep saying "YEAH! WELL! HE ALMOST LOST US GAME 7 AGAINST MIA!!!"

OK, but he didn't. He had 24/9/5 and made the two FTs to seal the win.

Same thing here. Sure, this version of the Hospital Celtics almost experienced a horrific disaster with the way this game ended. But they didn't. I am a firm believer in I don't really care how you win, just win. At the end of the day, it's about stacking green Ws and I dunno, it seems like things are going quite well in that department!

Listen, we as fans can't scream for the end of the bench guys to play more minutes during this final stretch of the season and then get worked up when they do end of the bench things, and the basketball may not look the best at all times. Shit happens. It's not going to be perfect, but things aren't exactly perfect even when the entire roster is healthy and active either. 

I would rather spend my time focusing on what we're seeing from this team. Since that 1/29 date, the Celts 15-3 record is the 3rd most wins in the league (CLE, 17-1 and OKC 16-4). They own the 4th best offense, 6th best defense, and 4th best net rating with the 5th best TS%. 

Why is this so significant?

Because a handful of those wins, especially lately, have all come via the Hospital Celtics. Games where they are down 3 or 4 rotation players and multiple starters, yet the standard of winning remains the same. I care way more about that and what that potentially means than a random 4th quarter where the Jazz got insanely hot from 3P to get back into a game. 

We all know the big showdown is tomorrow night for the rematch against OKC, but before we look ahead, we first must look back. Let's begin.

The Good

- While it may not have been NBA history, it sure as shit was Celtics history and if you've ever needed an example of why you should never panic about a Sam Hauser cold stretch, last night was all you need to see

Can we just take a minute and process what we've seen over the last 4 games? How many teams in the NBA can say that in less than a week, they watched not one, not two, but three different players make at least 9 3PM in a game? Does that exist anywhere else in the league? Oh, and only 1 of those players is a starter??

People understand how ridiculous that is correct? If not, I am here to tell you that is very, very ridiculous.

As I said, this game was a perfect example of why you should never panic when it comes to Hauser's shooting. He was just 2-8 (1-6) in the first half, off mostly clean looks. But that's the beauty about his level of shooter, all it takes is one.

After he saw that first 3PM go down in the 3rd, we were off to the races. Hauser played all 12 minutes of the 3rd quarter, finished 7-11 (7-10), breaking the Celtics franchise record for most 3s in a quarter. It was your classic Hauser heater, where every time he shoots the ball you're shocked that it even grazes the rim. A magnet ball is every sense of the word, you have to understand, this man was put on Earth to be a 40% three point shooter. He's never had a season in his basketball life where he wasn't. Even if you considered this his "down" year, he's STILL over 40% on solid volume

What makes Hauser so tough is he's become extremely comfortable with pretty much every type of 3PA. We saw his C&S 3PA off drives and kicks, we saw Hauser come off pin downs, we saw him fake and relocate, we saw isolation step backs, you name it and we saw it. To me, that shows you Hauser's growth, he's just as lethal off movement as he is a standstill shooter. 

Why does this matter? Because think of what that does in games where Hauser is on the floor with the normal rotation. Defenses are so focused on stopping the Jays, they also now have to worry about Hauser off movement? It's too many problems to deal with while not having enough solutions.

This certainly wasn't the first time we've seen Hauser go on a heater like this, but it was a nice reminder that anyone who suggests his playoff rotation minutes are in jeopardy for someone like Torrey Craig is missing the whole point. Even without taking a single shot, Hauser's spacing is crucial to how everything in this offense operates. Then if he's also making his 3s? You get performances like this.

- Here's a fun fact given to us by Dick Lipe after the game. Since the All Star break, there is one (1) player in the entire NBA who is averaging 26/6/4/1.5. Tatum? Nope. LeBron? Nope. Jokic? Nope. SGA? Nope. Luka? Nope. Mitchell? Nope. Ja? Nope. 

The answer, is Jaylen Brown

The second Jaylen led Hospital Celtics game where he didn't really shoot all that well (8-20, 0-5), but really that was just his 3 ball. From 2FGA, Jaylen was 8-15 while also being 10-11 from the FT line. Since February, did you know Jaylen is shooting 82% from the FT line? It's no longer a gigantic weakness in his game, if anything, it's turned into a strength. He's over 77% in all of 2025, which is a number I think all of us would gladly take. 

Jaylen finished with 26/8/7/3/1, he was 2nd on the team in points, tied for the lead in rebounds, 2nd in assists, and first in steals while being a +17 in his 38 minutes. I didn't exactly love his first half, a lot of it felt like he was trying to do too much and force things, but as he so often does Jaylen settled down in the 2nd half and things looked MUCH better (15/6/4/3/1 with only 1 TO on 50% shooting)

When the 2nd unit had the disaster start to the 4th quarter, essentially allowing the Jazz back into the game, once Jaylen re-entered at the 7 minute mark, he closed with 9 points on 2-3 shooting and 5-6 from the FT line. He had the big dunk on Kessler in the clutch minutes, he had a couple steals, and both he and Jrue came up massive in those high leverage moments to prevent disaster.

While I don't exactly love the Celts putting themselves in those positions, I do think there's value in being forced to execute in high leverage situations in a game where Tatum isn't playing. Teams are going to do their best to take him away in those moments, so as a result, everyone else needs to feel comfortable stepping up and getting the job done. That can be Jaylen, it can be Jrue or Derrick or Payton Pritchard. The point is, when the game called for comeone to step up, stop the bleeding and come through, Jaylen delivered.

- Another guy who maybe didn't shoot all that great (6-16, 3-11), but was still effective with 18/5/10/0/3 in his 36 minutes, Derrick White was back to doing Derrick White things. The 10 AST and only 1 TO stand out, and the fact that this guy, as a guard, had 3 more blocks all of which were at the rim was incredible to watch

You could tell he was trying to bury the dagger 4th quarter bucket down the stretch that couldn't seem to fall, but whatever. Not only are those shots we know he can make, I also have no problem with White taking clutch time shots seeing as how he oozes the clutch gene and is arguably the best clutch time shooter on the roster. This time, they just didn't fall. I don't care about misses, I care about being hesitant and not shooting. Shots will go in, shots will miss, the bigger focus needs to be on the process.

Against the Blazers, we saw what Derrick is capable of with his 40 bomb and 9 3PM. Last night, it was his defense and playmaking that can make a winning impact. Kids, that's what we call being an all around player. When your shot isn't dropping, can you find ways to make a consistent winning impact? If your name is Derrick White, the answer is yes.

- There are certain things to look out for to know if Jrue Holiday is getting back to his old self. The first, will be how he looks on his corner 3s. Remember, this is a shot he made at a 60% clip last year. This season, it's in the 30s, When he's hitting down that corner 3, it opens everything up for everyone else

The second one is your next sign. Not only is he making corner 3s, Jrue is making MASSIVE corner 3s in huge moments. and I'm not sure there was a bigger moment than that second 3PM. Jaylen had just missed a 4th quarter FT which frankly pissed me off given the time and score, and Jrue making that shot to take it from a 1 point lead to 4 might have been the shot of the game if we're being honest. It's what allowed them to exhale a little bit, the lead never really got close again and that was that. 

Then of course there's the part of Jrue's game where he pulls off a game sealing steal. That's how you know he's getting closer and closer to being back to his old self. We all remember the game sealing steal against the Pacers right? Well, here's the regular season version

Not quite the same stakes as IND, but still awesome. 

Since returning to the lineup, I haven't really noticed too much of a difference in Jrue's play with his Mallet Finger. I'm sure it's a pain in the ass, but in terms of his production, he looks and feels like the same guy which is certainly a relief. We'll see how that progresses over time, but so far I'm way less nervous about it than I was when we first heard about the injury being on his right hand.

- Pretty solid minutes from both Queta and Torrey Craig in this win, which is what you expect. Good energy, solid rebounding, good defense, Craig making his 3s and Queta finishing around the rim.

Down the stretch of the season both guys should have the opportunity, and a game like last night is really all I need from both. Just be playable, that's the bar. Queta's been a little more up and down as of late, and I'd say Craig is starting to look more settled in with his new team, which I suppose should be expected. 

- You'll never see me complain about 28 AST and only 9 TOs while also making 18 3s and being 16-18 from the FT line. Celts were one again solid around the margins and we all know how important those things are, especially in a trap game. Being bad around the margins are how you lose games like this, so it was nice to see the Celts be on their shit.

The Bad

- The good news is this was the 6th straight game we've seen the Celtics build a 20+ point lead. Pretty good! 

The bad news is this was also the 6th straight game we've seen the Celts watch that 20+ point lead get under 10, and then under 5. 

I get it "20 point leads aren't what they used to be" blah blah blah. I get it "other teams go on runs all the time, it's normal" blah blah blah.

Runs are fine. As I said after the Lakers game, I can live with a 22 point lead getting down to 12-14 because the opponent goes on a run. That's life in the NBA.

But that is NOT what we've been seeing since the Cavs collapse and every game that's followed. While you don't technically "blow" a lead until you are trailing, I think most people understand what you mean if you say the Celts blew another 20 point lead last night. Technically, no they didn't as they never trailed after being up 22+, but at the same time they saw that lead get down to 0. 

The Celtics had a 21 point lead entering the 4th quarter, and once again, we couldn't trust it. That's annoying as fuck, even with them eventually pulling it out. All you had to do was play with a pulse for 12 minutes, and instead, we got this

A 34-14 quarter at one point, even if you think that UTA shooting is fugazi, that's not really the point. Again, this was the 6th straight game we've seen the Celts be unable to maintain their 20+ point lead or even keep that lead in the high teens. This has happened in Jaylen led teams, Tatum led teams, Jaylen and Tatum led teams over this span. 

This time it was more the deep bench that fucked everything up as you can see from the graphic above, but just once I'd like to be able to trust a 20+ lead entering the 4th quarter, especially when you're facing a depleted team that very much would prefer to tank.

The 4th quarter has sneaky been an issue all season, with the Celts ranking just 24th defensively in the final quarter. Their TS% is mid at best, coming in at 14th. Their offense? 11th. Now they're awesome in the clutch this season, but there's something about these 4th quarters that the Celts have struggled with all year, even at home. 

Their 4th quarter defense at home this season is 28th in the NBA! 28th!! Their net rating is -5.6 which is good for 24th. That seems impossibly bad, yet here we are.

- I found a Jordan Walsh DNP-CD to be very confusing, especially since he's been pretty solid in his minutes. What's that about? Isn't this the time to actually get him some run? Baylor wasn't all that great, he was fine. I guess maybe that's the role, you're going to get inconsistent opportunities, but I found that to be pretty strange.

- An off night from Pritchard (3-11, 2-8) but I couldn't possibly care. I think he's shows enough to have an off night here and there. The guy plays every game, we move.

- Then of course there was the KP news

I'll be honest, this doesn't sound great. An unknown virus? You're telling me this isn't just the flu or whatever? A guy has a never seen before ankle injury in the Finals and now has a mystery virus that science has never seen in 2025?????

Also, is this a season ending thing? Is he back tomorrow? Why am I more confused now than I was before his tweet? 

On one hand, this does prevent any potential injury, which I don't hate. On the other hand, does he legit have the bubonic plague? I don't want to make jokes about someone's health, but at the same time I need to in order to prevent my brain from going to dark places. The whole thing stinks.

The Ugly

- You know the rules, 5 in a row and we skip this section! (really I just put all the things in the Bad section but whatever, 5 in a row baby!!)

And now we can finally focus on the rematch with OKC. As we know, things were great in the first meeting until the 4th where the Celts only scored like 12 points or some bullshit to lose that game. Now, the Thunder come to town motivated after the Nuggets just whooped that ass last night, and the entire basketball world will be watching what many expect to be a Finals preview. Not in the sense that LAL/BOS was a final preview, but one that might actually happen.