The Boston Celtics hosted the New Orleans Pelicans at TD Garden on Sunday night, winning 120-119 in thrilling fashion. Per usual, the Celtics' home crowd was out in full force. One member of the Pelicans who noticed was CJ McCollum, who made a comment to Jayson Tatum about the energy in the arena.

“It's never from a lack of energy in the building,” Tatum said. “I was at the free throw line today, and CJ McCollum asked me, ‘Is it always this turnt up in here?' I was like, ‘Yeah.' So I think that's the luxury that we have of playing in front of the best fans in the arena, regardless of [whether] we play on TNT or we playing a team that's 8-30.”

The Pelicans overcame the adversity of being a significant underdog as well as playing in front of the hostile crowd and took the Celtics down to the wire. McCollum missed a contested lay-up that would have been the game-winner in the final seconds.

Tatum put together a remarkable performance, leading all scorers with 38 points and co-leading the game in rebounds with 11 alongside Kristaps Porzingis. Pelicans shooting guard Trey Murphy III had a breakout game, scoring 30 points with six rebounds and four assists while shooting 10-of-17 from the field and 5-of-10 from 3-point range.

The game's biggest storyline, however, was the return of Zion Williamson, who was suspended by the Pelicans for their win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night. In 28 minutes of action, Williamson ended up with 16 points, seven rebounds, three assists and five steals.

If the Celtics' faithful can show up for a Sunday night contest against one of the league's worst teams, they will be on another level come playoff time.

Will the Celtics have home-court advantage in the playoffs?

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) handles the ball against the Houston Rockets during the third quarter at Toyota Center.
Erik Williams-Imagn Images

The Celtics currently have the third-best record in the NBA and the second-best in the Eastern Conference, sitting at 28-11. The Cleveland Cavaliers, 33-5, have a 5.5-game lead over the Celtics for the top spot in the East.

There is a lot of basketball left to play and the teams will go head-to-head two more times during the regular season. A 5.5-game deficit will be difficult to make up, but not impossible. There is an incredibly high chance, however, of the Celtics having home-court advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs.