BOSTON — Defensively, the Celtics know they have been far from their championship-level standards.
Joe Mazzulla has stressed consistency. Malcolm Brogdon knew they hadn’t been connected enough. Frustration had been apparent this week after two ugly losses.
The Celtics had talked enough about their need to improve defensively. Sunday night at TD Garden, they finally started putting it into action.
After perhaps their worst defensive performance of the season in Friday’s brutal loss to the Cavaliers, the Celtics responded with an effort they’ve been desperately searching for through the opening two weeks. Fueled by a strong start, the Celtics found their defense and took it wire-to-wire for a 112-94 victory over the Wizards.
Jaylen Brown scored 24 points, Jayson Tatum had 23 and Brogdon added 23 off the bench as the Celtics hit 21 3-pointers en route to the blowout win.
It may have only been the Wizards, but it was a needed starting point for the Celtics, who have lacked the kind of habits that made them the best defense in the league last season on their way to the NBA Finals.
Takeaways from the victory:
Defensive focused: From the opening tip, it was clear Sunday’s effort would be different. The C’s fired on all cylinders offensively and it was triggered by their defense, which forced the Wizards into several tough looks and almost none of the easy ones that torched them in losses to the Bulls and Cavs last week. The Wizards scored just 15 points on 26.1% shooting in the first quarter as the C’s took a 22-point lead, and they rode that cushion to the victory.
The Celtics’ defensive performance was emphasized as they effectively silenced Wizards star Bradley Beal, who has torched Boston in the past. Beal went scoreless in the first half and started the game 0-for-11 from the field before he finally hit a shot late in the third quarter. He finished with just 12 points on 4-for-16 shooting.
One defensive area the Celtics failed to clean up, though, was their rebounding issues. The C’s allowed 16 offensive rebounds,
Brogdon helps put the game away: It wasn’t certain if Brogdon would even play Sunday as he was originally listed as questionable with a back issue, but the veteran guard made another strong impact with 23 points, his most as a Celtic.
Since joining the Celtics, Brogdon has stressed how important sacrificing is for him and how he embraces no longer having to take on a high scoring load. But his ability to be a high-volume scorer off the bench is a huge asset the Celtics didn’t have a year ago, and it showed in this win. Sixteen of his 23 points came late in the third and early in the fourth as he led the Celtics’ second unit and helped put Washington away for good.
Hot start: Tatum and Brown are obviously the Celtics’ stars and biggest offensive producers, but the duo took it to an extreme level to start Sunday’s game. Together, they took the Celtics’ first 12 shots and scored the Celtics’ first 23 points as they jumped out to a comfortable first-quarter lead. Marcus Smart was the first Celtics player not named either Tatum or Brown to take a shot when he drove for a layup with 4:06 left in the first quarter.
