When the Celtics lost so many key pieces from their championship team last summer, including Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet, and also faced the prospect of playing this entire season without injured All-Star Jayson Tatum, outside expectations were reset.
Then Boston lost its first three games of the season, and the skeptics appeared to have a point. Since then, however, the Celtics have been one of the NBA’s best teams. And Holiday, who was traded to the Trail Blazers in a salary-clearing move, has not been surprised.
“I knew that they’d do well,” Holiday said Monday, before Portland faced the Celtics at TD Garden. “Knowing the type of determination that this coaching staff and organization has, being with this team for a couple years now and knowing the type of players they are and how they prepare, I figure they’d be good. Then obviously knowing Jaylen [Brown], I feel like he takes a lot of things personally. He doesn’t accept a lot, especially when it comes to being bad.”
Get Starting Point
Brown has emerged as a capable No. 1 option for the Celtics and he was recently named an All-Star Game starter for the first time.
“I think people counted him out, counted them out as a team,” Holiday said. “Not just Jaylen. I think Payton [Pritchard], Sam [Hauser], [Neemias Queta], [coach Joe Mazzulla], the whole coaching staff, I feel like when people say they can’t do something they prove them wrong.”
Holiday, who spent two seasons with the Celtics, said it felt “different” to come back to TD Garden as an opponent, but he was glad to have a chance to reconnect with so many friends and former teammates and be back where he had created great memories.
“The fans, the crowd, they embrace you and make you a part of their own team,” Holiday said.
Injuries have limited Holiday to 19 games this season, but coach Tiago Splitter said his presence has been essential for this young club.
“He’s huge for us, what he brings to the locker room, to the court, his experience,” Splitter said. “He’s taken care of end-of-game situations, live situations, locker room situations, all of the things that we preach about as a staff and organization. So it’s a pleasure to have him.”
Former Celtics center Robert Williams, meanwhile, was scheduled to face the Celtics for the first time since he was traded away in 2023.
Mazzulla impressed by Patriots
Mazzulla has developed a connection with the Patriots over the years that has included visits to the team’s training camp and practices. He said he has been impressed by how the AFC champions have grown into a true championship-level team.
“I just think they’re a team that’s developed identity over the course of the season,” Mazzulla said. “I think every coach, regardless of sport, is looking for that, creating that type of identity and consistency and playing to that throughout an entire season. I think that’s a great example of that this year.”
Harper in Rising Stars game
Celtics two-way contract player Ron Harper Jr. on Monday was selected to play in the Rising Stars game at All-Star weekend in Los Angeles on Feb. 13. Harper will play on a team of G League players in a round-robin tournament against teams of first- and second-year stars.
Harper has appeared in 16 games with the Celtics’ G League affiliate in Maine, averaging 24.4 points and 4.6 rebounds.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.
