The Boston Celtics were practically perfect on both ends of the floor against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night. And as a result, the C's demolished the Nets en route to a 136-86 blowout win. The only thing that didn't go well for the Green Team involved Kristaps Porzingis' ankle.
Boston's star center accidentally stepped on the foot of Nets wing Cam Johnson in the first half. This mishap wasn't bad enough to get Porzingis out of the game immediately; however, he didn't log any minutes in the final two quarters. On Tuesday, Porzingis was sidelined for Boston's 118-110 victory over the Nets due to a lower back contusion.
According to Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, sitting Porzingis amid the beatdown of Brooklyn was more of a precaution than anything, per Celtics Wire reporter Cameron Tabatabaie.
“He's good,” Mazzulla said of Porzingis' status. “He told me he was fine.”
Although Kristaps Porzingis was only able to put in 16 minutes, he quickly recorded 15 points, five rebounds and one block. The Celtics didn't need him in the second half anyway, as they were thoroughly dismantling the Nets all game long. Brooklyn only managed a meager 32 points in the first 24 minutes while Celtics guard Payton Pritchard notched 28 points alone in his 31 minutes off the bench.
Starting in front of Pritchard was guard Derrick White, who posted an impressive 27 points, five rebounds and four assists. With Boston's starting five clicking and the bench contributing a whopping 57 points, Brooklyn didn't have much of a chance at stopping the season sweep.
Boston is now 43-12 overall heading into the All-Star break, which is enough for the NBA's best record. To keep up their winning ways, Porzingis and company will need to utilize the week off to heal up. Of course, Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will be a bit busy, as they're both participating in the 2024 All-Star Game in Indianapolis.