Celtics reporter Noa Dalzell goes behind the scenes to discuss the Celtics' recent excellence on the road, including Jayson Tatum's MVP-caliber play, the impact of guys like Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet, and what the buzz around the team is heading into the All-Star break. Tune in for a live Q&A to get all your questions answered!
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00:00What is up, everybody?
00:28This is Noah Dalzell.
00:29And I am here with a You Got Boston episode, live from Miami.
00:35Looking forward to talking all things Celtics road trip.
00:38Celtics have now won six in a row on the road.
00:41And looking forward to answering all your questions, because it's been a little bit
00:44of time since I last did one of these.
00:46So feel free to put any and all questions in the chat as we kind of walk through just
00:52this last couple weeks, because I haven't done one of these since the last road trip.
00:55So any questions, put them in the chat.
00:58In the meantime, I will talk about just what I think the keys have been to the Celtics
01:03road dominance, because it has been quite a remarkable stretch of victories here.
01:07They won six in a row.
01:09And really every road trip so far has been a success between three and one, the first
01:14road trip of January, three and one again, and they had a three zero road trip, and now
01:17they have a two zero road trip.
01:18So if only they were able to string together these kinds of efforts at home, they would
01:22be by far the most dominant team in the league.
01:24So right now I'm in Miami.
01:26I'm heading to the airport in a cubicle in the apartment complex that I'm staying in.
01:30So I'm heading to the airport from here, and I'll be heading back to Boston.
01:35And we got one more game before the All-Star break tomorrow, Celtics Spurs, new look Spurs
01:40with Darren Fox.
01:42And we're obviously Victor Rombagnama returns to TD Garden after making his debut last season.
01:48So we'll talk about a couple things.
01:50I've also been like in the locker room, actually just got locker room access like this, you
01:54know, these past few months.
01:56So it's been really helpful to just get a better sense of the team and just kind of
01:58the dynamics at play.
02:00So I can kind of share more about that.
02:02There were some funny moments yesterday when we walked into the locker room where the Celtics
02:06were debating the all time best Celtics.
02:09And if I understood correctly, so don't quote me on it, but I think Jason Tatum was making
02:12a strong case why was Larry Bird, and then he was kind of talking about how he was vying
02:17for that leading score spot from Havlicek.
02:19So just good vibes after the win yesterday.
02:22So and then I appreciate this message, Tom.
02:25I also just wanted to say, I do these shows.
02:28I'm trying to do these shows as much as I can.
02:29I also do a postgame show on the Garden Report on CLNS Media that I'm sure many of you are
02:34already watch.
02:35You can tune into that after every game.
02:37I'm always on alongside Bobby Manning, our other reporter and the rest of the cast.
02:41But also if you want to read, I do a Celtics notebook on Celticsblog.com after every game.
02:46And you can kind of read just everything like my goal is to basically just tell the full
02:50story of everything that happened in the game, what I'm feeling from the locker room, what
02:55I'm seeing from the players.
02:56If there's little storylines or little tidbits that wouldn't fit in like a normal article,
03:00I do a little notebook and it's like almost, sometimes they can be very long.
03:03So you can kind of stroll through them and see what you want to read.
03:06But I appreciate you, Tom, for plugging that because it has been another effort of mine
03:11to just kind of go behind the scenes for people and just kind of explain what the temperature
03:15check is on the ground.
03:16So I'll start at the top, just because I think there's really only one way to fairly talk
03:21about this game and this stretch, and that's Jason Tatum.
03:25Because in these last two road games, Celtics are looking good, opposing teams are making
03:30a push because, you know, they're good teams, right?
03:35New York Knicks, Miami Heat, like these are not teams that are just going to fold.
03:38So they make a push, they cut it to single digits, they cut a Celtics double-digit lead
03:41to single digits.
03:42And then this is two games in a row now that Jason Tatum has just absolutely taken over
03:46the basketball game.
03:47And I don't know what it is about the third quarters, but he had 19 points against the
03:51Knicks.
03:52He followed, he somehow one-ups that with 20 points against the Heat last night in that
03:57third quarter.
03:58And it was pretty interesting because I thought he looked really bad in the first half, to
04:03be blunt.
04:04Like it was one of the worst halves that I've seen from him in a while.
04:07He was on the injury report, he was questionable right up until game time.
04:10He wasn't at the Celtics optional shoot around.
04:12So I don't know, like he usually attends those, but they are optional.
04:15And so I didn't really think we were going to see him play, and then he's available to
04:18play, and then he doesn't look super engaged, goes three of 10 in the first half, minus
04:22seven in the first half, which was a team worst.
04:24And then there's a sequence of plays in the end of the first half that Joe Mazzullo was
04:28as livid as I've literally ever seen him.
04:31Tatum took an ill-advised three, he described it later as an ill-advised three, and then
04:34he didn't run back on defense and led Bam Adebayo, hit a three-pointer off the glass
04:39to cut the deficit to I think nine points.
04:41So Miami has all this momentum coming into the game, into the halftime.
04:46And everybody was pretty honest with us yesterday, Al Wilford said Joe was not happy at halftime.
04:50Tatum said he challenged me, and I asked Tatum, like, what gives with you taking over these
04:56third quarters?
04:57And he said firsthand, he said, I didn't have my imprint on the game in the first half,
05:03it was uncharacteristic, and I knew I had to wake up.
05:06And so he woke up, right, like he was hitting everything, he was dominant on both ends,
05:11and he ends up putting together a masterful, another masterful game, and kind of puts the
05:16game totally out of reach.
05:17By the time the fourth quarter started, this one was pretty much over.
05:20So it's back in my games as Tatum's done that.
05:21It was funny because I asked Joe after the game, like, I usually, you know, after wins,
05:27it's like, you can ask him about like, oh, this guy did play, this guy played great,
05:30this guy played great, this guy played great.
05:32But I actually felt like a big part of the story was how mad he got, because he doesn't
05:35usually express that so visibly.
05:37And I asked him, like, you know, you were pretty pissed off about that seven-zero run.
05:40I didn't use that word.
05:41But, you know, going into the half, like, what's your message to the team?
05:44Like, how do you move on from that as a coach?
05:46And he, like, lashed on to me asking that, and he was basically like, if we had lost
05:49this game, that would have been the story, because we need to close quarters better.
05:52And it's something that he's just so big about, just closing quarters, closing quarters.
05:56There's a couple of things that if you cover Joe, if you watch the game all the time, like,
05:59there are a lot of things that you realize that he just values a ton.
06:03And one of those things is closing quarters.
06:05Another one of those things is limiting opposing teams to 25 points per quarter, which they
06:09did last night.
06:11All four quarters, I believe they did.
06:12They held them at 85 points in the night, so a really good defensive performance.
06:15And they didn't have Hiro, and they missed shots, but generally speaking, a really good
06:18offensive performance.
06:20And so, yeah, I think that at a certain point, like, there is something to be said about
06:25the fact that this team is able to kind of lock in.
06:30This team is able to flip the switch.
06:33And you don't want to become a flip-the-switch team, but he has certainly become a flip-the-switch
06:36player these last few games, where you can just tell he turns it on.
06:40He's super engaged, and he just wants to kind of blow the game open, and he did it twice
06:45now.
06:46And Joe said that he challenged them, and he said, we can't overlook those stretches
06:48because this time, we got away with it, but we're not always going to be able to get away
06:51with it.
06:52So, what does it feel like watching Tatum take over the game live?
06:56I'll be honest.
06:57What it feels like is that you're watching a game turn from an away game to a home game,
07:01because by the time that quarter ended, that Casillas Center, that place was inundated
07:05with Celtics fans.
07:06They were literally everywhere.
07:07I was walking around the concourse before the game, and I was like, this feels like
07:10the TD Garden concourse, just there's Celtics fans everywhere.
07:14And granted, they have their own fan base, Miami, and definitely there were some cheers
07:19early on when they played well.
07:21As soon as Tatum started his takeover, it felt like you were at TD Garden.
07:24So that's kind of what it feels like to be standing with Madison Square Garden.
07:27There are so many Celtics fans in the building that are at these away games that all of a
07:34sudden, you have this sense of, okay, we're pretty much at a home game now.
07:39So that's what it feels like.
07:40And it just feels like you're watching greatness.
07:42I think this all the time.
07:44I feel very lucky to be covering this team.
07:46I feel very lucky to be covering great players, because you could be a reporter for 10 years
07:50and not cover any players or any team as great as Jason Tatum and the Celtics.
07:54And so there's a moment of just gratitude, honestly, that I feel being in the building
07:59and being able to be for free at these games.
08:01I certainly feel that.
08:02It goes through my mind.
08:04So sometimes it's fun to watch it on TV.
08:05A lot of times I try to rewatch games as much as I can.
08:09But I think, yeah, last night was a pretty special performance on the heels of another
08:12really special performance.
08:14And he's on an injury report tomorrow.
08:15So he will play versus the Spurs, and then he'll have some all-star break.
08:20So yeah, I see a comment here, Celtics and Clippers always feels like a home game.
08:24It's yeah, it's not just Clippers.
08:27I've been on the road for almost every road game this year.
08:30And the only one that really felt like they had a very legit home crowd that couldn't
08:35be taken over by the Celtics fans was OKC.
08:38And I don't know if part of it was the fact that they had a really good game and the Celtics
08:42lost, so there wasn't much to cheer for.
08:43That was also one of the only road losses I've been at this year.
08:47But yeah, it definitely stood out.
08:51So yeah, it's been fun.
08:52I know it's kind of like a tired storyline.
08:54Sometimes I asked Al about his like, yeah, this moment of connection with the fans at
08:57the buzzer.
08:58As the Celtics had won, like Al was kind of going like this to the fans and locking eyes
09:02with them and kind of hyping them up.
09:03And I posted on Twitter, but I asked Al, like, what's the, what is that moment like?
09:07Like, what's going through your mind?
09:08And he said, you know, it's just special, this connection with the fans.
09:10I just want to have that moment of acknowledgement.
09:12So I think players really appreciate it.
09:14It makes it easier for them to be on the road.
09:16And yeah, it's pretty fun as a reporter, because I recognize people recognize me.
09:19I recognize people like there's a certain kind of like home away from home feeling, even
09:23when you're on the road, even in a place like Miami or New York that are major media markets.
09:29So right now, Celtics are four games behind their record of last year, but their net rating
09:35is pretty much the same by most metrics, defensive rating, offensive ratings, they're pretty
09:39much the same as they were last year.
09:41The big difference is that last year, last year, there were there weren't two teams that
09:46were playing better than them.
09:47And that's the Cavs and the Thunder this year, those two teams have been more dominant than
09:51Boston.
09:52And so that's, I think, what kind of overshadowed them.
09:54And obviously, like, I'm not going to lie and say that, you know, January was pretty
09:57basketball.
09:59But even so, like, they're only four games behind where they were last year.
10:03And obviously, last year, they were at a historic regular season pace.
10:06So they'll want to close things out.
10:07They have a little bit of a tougher schedule after the All-Star break than they did last
10:10year.
10:12But yeah, certainly, they're in good shape.
10:14And you know, winning six of seven is is a big, you know, kind of a big piece here of
10:18turning things around here and winning on the road, because a lot of these road trips
10:21were against mostly playoff teams, and they were able to string together win after win
10:25after win.
10:27The only two road losses, I believe, in 2025 was Oklahoma City and the Lakers.
10:33That's I didn't look that up.
10:34But just thinking through in my mind really quick.
10:36Yeah, I think those are the only two road losses.
10:37So and they've been on the road pretty much all 2025.
10:40So it's been impressive.
10:42And then I love road games.
10:44I actually I have like better access on the road because there are less reporters, there's
10:48less hurdle.
10:49I think players have their guard down with us a little bit more.
10:50So I like road games from that standpoint.
10:52And then I also just like the fact that there's road fans that are so excited to be there.
10:58I've written stories about this.
10:59But on the road, you have people that drove like eight hours to make it to their first
11:01game.
11:02You have people that this is their one opportunity a year to see the team.
11:05So like I always feel bad for the home fans when the team is losing when they're home
11:09and it's like you brought the kids and the whole arena is kind of deflated.
11:11But I have a special place in my heart for Celtics fans that only get to watch the team
11:15play once a year, if that.
11:17And so when it does come to town and the Celtics shows in Houston, like you want to see a win.
11:22And so I'm always glad when the Celtics are able to pull out wins and kind of I always
11:25talk to the fans before the game and connect with them.
11:27And so I hear a lot of stories that I'm like, I hope for this family that drove from Mexico
11:31or I hope from, you know, whatever that the Celtics put on a good show.
11:34And they really have been very consistent.
11:36The Lakers game was like the one big letdown game, even OKC, I mean, they had a lead at
11:39the half.
11:40So for the most part, they've been coming up kind of ready to go from these wins.
11:45So yeah, that's a good question, though.
11:49Right now, there's still, I think, four games behind the Cavs, five games behind the Cavs.
11:53They certainly have a chance.
11:54The Cavs are going to have to go on a little bit of a skid, and it's always possible.
11:59But I think their fate is a little bit out of their hands at this point.
12:01If the Cavs maintain their current pace of winning, I don't know that there's going to
12:05be four games to really make up realistically.
12:08But they haven't had like a really severe losing stretch out there.
12:10I think they lost three in a row once.
12:12The Hawks kind of got them, which was kind of weird.
12:14But yeah, I think I would guess right now, if I had to put money on it, I would expect
12:20the Celtics to not be able to catch up to the Cavs at this point.
12:23And I also don't think it really matters, because as I just talked about, extensively,
12:27the road record has been really good.
12:29And if they have home court advantage in the first two rounds, and they do, ultimately,
12:36that's not the end of the world.
12:38And who knows?
12:39I mean, the Cavs could also be eliminated before then.
12:40I never like to focus too much on particular matchups, like one matchup.
12:45This is a key matchup.
12:46Because last year, we did it with Denver.
12:47We talked all year about, are they going to beat the Nuggets?
12:48Are they going to beat the Nuggets?
12:50Nuggets didn't even make the conference final.
12:51So we'll see.
12:53But yeah, ultimately, this is probably not super, super realistic.
12:59Just want to give a shout out, before we continue here, and feel free to continue putting questions
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14:00So I'm going to continue kind of looking through these questions.
14:03I also just wanted to say I do a daily show on the Bleacher Report app.
14:06So for those of you that want more regular podcast episodes, which I know some of you
14:11have reached out to me about the fact that there hasn't been a new show in a while.
14:13So it's Monday, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays on the Bleacher Report app.
14:17I do a show on there.
14:18It's also the same idea as this, like a 30-minute stream where I answer questions, that sort
14:23of thing.
14:24But the chat there is much emptier.
14:25So if you have questions, I can definitely get to them over there.
14:29So just on the note of road fans, I'll just close it out here.
14:33But what's the loudest, most hostile arena to play on on the road?
14:36I always want to disclaim, this is only my second year covering the team.
14:39I wasn't on the road too much last year.
14:40So I don't have a huge sample size.
14:42For example, in LA, I thought the crowds were pretty weak.
14:45But then also there was the fires that just happened.
14:47So I don't know how much that was impacting the game, how much that was affecting things.
14:51But by far, Oklahoma City was the most hostile crowd this season.
14:55Cleveland was pretty good too.
14:56I got to give them that.
14:58So probably a little bit of a result of those two teams having great years.
15:01So the fan bases are excited, they're engaged.
15:03They're not washed out.
15:05They're not basically just casual basketball fans that want to watch a game or people that
15:09are actually there to watch the Celtics.
15:10That's what happens a lot of times.
15:12Those two fan bases are obviously in the make for championships.
15:14They're looking forward to that.
15:16And then I don't watch football like at all.
15:20I was rooting for the Eagles just because everybody told me to.
15:23And I know that I saw all the stuff like the Chiefs lose, America wins, all this.
15:28So I was like, I'll root for the Eagles.
15:29I like Jalen Hurts from just like hearing him talk about stuff.
15:32But I'm a one sport person completely, which sometimes when Joe Mizzoula starts talking
15:36about like other sports, soccer, baseball, I'm like, okay, I got to like read up on these
15:40kind of the connections here because I know everything about basketball and that's kind
15:43of the extent of my sports fandom and following.
15:47So yeah, and Tom, absolutely.
15:50I think the late Cavs game just to close that loop on the record, that's a must win if they
15:56want to close that loop and they want to come back ultimately and win.
15:59So we'll see.
16:02And it's an interesting point.
16:03Like I do think there's a little bit of a different thing.
16:07Oh yeah, and then just shout out.
16:10Yeah, if you want to, if you are subscribed to my channel, You Got Boston, that's where
16:13my podcast episodes are, or you can, you know, you can also subscribe to CLNS Media where
16:17all of our shows are as well, but just hit the notification bell so you can get notifications
16:22when we go live.
16:23That's for post game show.
16:24That's for myself on my channel, You Got Boston.
16:26My goal is to do these once a week, but I think that I'm going to start doing them more
16:31regularly as we gear towards the playoffs and then honestly probably we'll do them daily
16:34during the playoffs.
16:35So tune in for daily Q and A's during the playoffs.
16:37I know everybody is super locked in during the playoffs.
16:40I want to make sure that there's an opportunity for you guys to get all your questions answered
16:42if you'd like that.
16:43Yeah, Denver was okay.
16:44This is about the fan base thing.
16:45And then we'll move on from the fan base thing, because I'm sure you guys want to hear other
16:52stuff too.
16:53Question.
16:54Do you believe that, do you buy the narrative that Tatum has unlocked another dimension
16:57in his game with all the emotions he showed recently?
16:59I do think he's unlocked another level of emotion.
17:02I have noticed that.
17:04I also, I also think that he as a playmaker has improved so much that he kind of has to
17:11be guarded a little bit differently.
17:12Like teams know they have to respect him as a playmaker to a degree that's just different
17:16from earlier in his career.
17:18It's really stood out.
17:19It's been super impressive.
17:21And I just think he's getting better.
17:22He's just getting better because he's hitting his prime and he's taking another leap from
17:26last year.
17:27The shots sometimes will fall, sometimes they won't.
17:30So as long as he's locked in, like, and he generally speaking has been, like, obviously
17:34he's had quarters or moments that he hasn't been as much.
17:37Yeah, it's just been huge.
17:38So I've been super impressed with his performance.
17:41I do feel like he's having a little bit more anger or a little bit more energy.
17:46He's almost been like a little bit even more personable with the media.
17:48There was a funny clip last night that you guys can check out.
17:50I posted it on Twitter, but he was asked by a Lakers reporter about like, or not Lakers
17:55reporter, but it was a guy that was clearly had a Lakers angle about like Luka going to
18:01the Lakers and about just what that was like.
18:04And if as a young Kobe fan, like, is he happy the Lakers have a new star?
18:07And he was like, I'm a Celtics fan.
18:08Like, I'm not a kid anymore.
18:09I don't watch the Lakers.
18:10And he had like a funny little clip there.
18:12So he's just kind of more, he's a little bit kind of breaking out of his shell a little
18:16more so than he has in the past.
18:18But yeah, he's just been playing some great basketball.
18:20And then I just want to give it a huge shout out.
18:23Nobody's asked about it specifically, but I want to give a huge shout out to the Celtics
18:25bench.
18:26Because I think the Celtics bench has just been tremendous as of late, Peyton Pritchard.
18:32He had two back to back 20 plus point games entering last night.
18:36I talked to him a treat on yesterday and we kind of talked about like, you know, sometimes
18:39he gets a decent amount of shots and he's can score a lot other times he's really barely
18:42getting shots.
18:43His shot attempts went down from 12 a game in December to eight a game in January.
18:47So it's like, that's mostly the Porzingis impact.
18:49Like Porzingis is taking 12, 14 shots a night, like they have to go come from somewhere and
18:53one of the places they're coming from is Peyton Pritchard's shot attempt.
18:56So it stood out to me.
18:58And then obviously he can still score at will, like his efficiency hasn't gone down at all.
19:03And he had these two back to back 20 plus point performances, one of which was the come
19:06back or the failed come back against the Mavs, or I don't even want to use the word failed
19:10because they were down by 27 in the fourth and they go down and they're down by seven.
19:14And Pritchard really loved that charge with Jordan Walsh and Damien Shkeda and Drew Peterson.
19:17So it was an impressive stretch and he had 17 points in that fourth quarter, comes back
19:21and then scores 25 against the Knicks.
19:23And it was just an underrated storyline in that Knicks win that he had 25 casually off
19:28the bench.
19:29Last night, five points, two for eight from the field, struggled with a shot and never
19:33broke a rhythm.
19:34He was one of the most important players for the Celtics.
19:36And I know everybody knows, everybody that knows me knows that I'm a big Pritchard fan.
19:40I'm a huge fan of his game.
19:41I just think that he's, he just kind of, just so many things to love about his tenacity,
19:46his shot making, his, you know, his handle.
19:48Like I just love stylistically how he plays.
19:52And so I think that there's an element of Pritchard that is underrated because people
19:57now know him as like a shot maker.
19:59And last night he was not a shot maker.
20:00He only had five points on the night.
20:02But even still, he is doing other things that are critical.
20:06He had 10 rebounds, which was tied for a game high with Al Horford.
20:09He had eight assists.
20:11And as a playmaker, Al Horford said this himself, Al Horford said after the game, when you asked
20:15like when did the tides turn for you guys, you guys were down by 11 early on.
20:18He said when Pritchard checked into the game, the pace completely changed.
20:22He's playmaking, he's dribbling, you know, he's driving, he's kicking it out.
20:26He's playing with a level of defensive pressure that wasn't there and it's making everybody
20:29else step up.
20:30And also the same thing about Luke Hornet more broadly, not specifically about last
20:33night, but that Luke Hornet is a guy that has been just kind of elevating the play of
20:38everybody around him because everybody recognizes, okay, like Luke is trying really hard and
20:43Luke is super engaged protecting the rim.
20:44I kind of have to do that as well.
20:46So I was, it was interesting to kind of hear that from Al, that Al actually pointed to
20:51Pritchard as like the turning point last night, because if you looked at a stat line, it didn't
20:54jump out at you.
20:55It really didn't.
20:56But Pritchard said to me, like we went back and forth on it for a couple of questions
21:00and it was really, he was really candid.
21:01He was like, I don't care about the shot attempts.
21:03Like as long as we're winning, I don't care.
21:06I know that I can score at an elite level.
21:08Everybody knows that I can score at an elite level.
21:09Some nights they need me to take three shots, some nights they need me to take much more
21:12than that.
21:13But it's fine either way.
21:15That was kind of his take to me.
21:17And so it was interesting to hear that because obviously I know he's a super competitor.
21:21He requested a trade, right, when he wanted to get more minutes elsewhere.
21:24And so right now he's in that six man role.
21:26I would be stunned if he doesn't win six man of the year.
21:28I feel like he kind of comfortably is in the lead there, not just from his stats, but also
21:32to how much he's actually contributed to winning, which this award historically does favor guys
21:36that contribute to winning.
21:37So yeah, just another strong stretch here from him.
21:41And he's just been consistent.
21:43If you don't pay super close attention, it might seem like, oh, early on he was on a
21:47heater and then he kind of fell off.
21:48But I don't think that's really reflective of what his gameplay has actually been.
21:52And so I do agree that he's super underrated.
21:54And then great point here about Hauser, I'm going to just mention Hauser has been struggling
21:59with a lower back injury.
22:00Everybody knows about it.
22:01It's something that I feel really bad for him because low backs are so tough.
22:05You don't always know exactly what the problem is, exactly how to fix it.
22:09And he still has a belt.
22:11I think a hot pad or a cold pack or whatever it is, he's clearly still dealing with it
22:14on the sidelines.
22:15But last night he comes in, hits five threes, four of them were in the second quarter.
22:19So it was just a level of kind of helping the Celtics separate from Miami.
22:24And he only hits five on the night, but those four in the second quarter turned it into
22:28like from them trailing to actually them taking the lead.
22:30They went on an 18-0 run there in that second quarter.
22:33So just big minutes.
22:35And he plays so well alongside Peyton Purchase and Luke Cornett.
22:37It's unusual for guys to have that level of continuity with one another on the bench.
22:42Like normally bench players, they're in, they're out, they're in, they're out, they sign bigger
22:45contracts elsewhere.
22:46You can't really retain them.
22:47If a bench unit works, it means you had some breakout stars, and that means that they're
22:50going to go somewhere else.
22:51They have managed to keep these guys.
22:53Luke Cornett is on a minimum contract.
22:55He is not a minimum player.
22:56I know that people are still getting used to how effective he actually is as a player,
23:01but he's not a minimum player in the NBA anymore.
23:03Sam Hauser, Peyton Purchase, I think Hauser's making like 10 a year, Purchase is making
23:068 million a year.
23:08Probably Purchase's contract is super undervalued, just considering his impact this year.
23:13But those are guys that like, they got, they were really able to retain those guys, and
23:17now you're seeing continuity and chemistry on that bench.
23:19You can sense it in the locker room, they're all good friends, but you can see it on the
23:22floor too.
23:23You can see how much they're elevating the play of one another and how much they benefit
23:26one another.
23:27Like I always think Hauser, when Purchase is on the floor, is a different guy because
23:29Purchase is always looking for him.
23:32So in any case, I thought this was another great kind of two-game road trip here.
23:39They've been so good on the road.
23:40I know I titled this show, Why the Celtics So Dominant on the Road, and I think the real
23:45reason is because this is who they are, this is who they're capable of being when they're
23:48super locked in.
23:49And I think that they've had some games at home where they come back from a road trip
23:52and it's like, okay, like, we're relaxed, we finally did this difficult road trip, now
23:55it's going to have a little bit of an easier game here when we come back.
23:58Some reason why they lose against teams without stars oftentimes, whether it's Anthony Davis,
24:04over the last few seasons, there's so many times where I can point to them losing a big
24:07game when the star was sitting, whereas I feel like their odds of winning would actually
24:11be higher if the star was playing because there's a psychological element that's just
24:15tough.
24:16And sometimes they narrowly avoid losing, like versus the Clippers when they saw their
24:19entire starting lineup, had to go to overtime, shout out Gene Springer, no longer with us,
24:25but still super key, no longer with the Celtics, I should say, but still super key to this
24:30kind of what this team was able to accomplish early on a couple big games.
24:34So yeah, just another another kind of impressive stretch here.
24:39I'll just say being around this team, I've been you know, this has been super fun and
24:42thank you so much for the super chat here.
24:45Just being around this team.
24:46I've been impressed with just the focus, the mentality going into these road games, you
24:51can tell it's just business as usual.
24:53And it's just like, we have a goal, we have a something we need to accomplish, and we're
24:57just going to go and do it.
24:58That's how you be a good team.
24:59That's how you're consistently a good team.
25:00And that's how you go through six, seven years of sustained winning the way that Jason Tatum
25:04and Jalen Brown have.
25:06I'll be at All-Star Weekend this weekend, I'll probably do a show from All-Star Weekend.
25:10Just kind of giving some insights on the ground and all that.
25:13I also know that people have reached out to me about doing a show about just like my career
25:17and how do you get involved in the NBA media space.
25:20And I'm always more than happy to give feedback and advice on that as well.
25:24So that's definitely something that we can do.
25:27So I will schedule that.
25:28Maybe we'll do that over All-Star Weekend as well, because it'll be a little bit of
25:30a slower period of time.
25:32And then, yeah, I know everybody's talking about the sale.
25:37Bratz even spoke to us last week.
25:38He said, he doesn't really know much about the sale, he hasn't been super involved.
25:43Is there any kind of concern about how this might impact the team and contracts and trades?
25:49Absolutely.
25:50Everybody's seen what's happened with the Mavs right now.
25:53Ownership matters.
25:54Who's in charge matters.
25:55The Celtics have been blessed with really good ownership over the last 15 years.
25:59And so you want to make sure that whoever retains control of this team is aligned on
26:03the vision for the future.
26:04They're not going to just trade away one of your stars because, I don't know, I don't
26:07know what the Mavs were thinking.
26:09The more I think about it, the more reckless that one was.
26:12So it does matter, but there hasn't been a ton of reporting or insight on that.
26:15And Brad himself was the closest person we have to a source on this, and he wasn't able
26:20to share too much.
26:22So I'll wrap it up here.
26:25Thank you all so much for tuning in to today's You Got Boston Live episode.
26:29As I mentioned, you can find me on the Celtics postgame show on CLNS Media after every game.
26:35You can also find me on the Bleacher Report app, 5 o'clock, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays.
26:40Download the app, search Celtics, you'll see me on there.
26:43So if you want more coverage, if there's not enough coverage, there's always more coverage
26:46wherever you're looking.
26:47And then I'll just, I shouted this out earlier, but if you want to read, you can read literally
26:52everything there is to know about every single game.
26:53I put it in my Celtics notebook, no paywall.
26:56It's right there for you.
26:57You can read it, check it out on Celticsblog.com.
27:00You can check out all my stories.
27:01I've done a notebook after every road game because on the road, there are fewer reporters.
27:04I want to make sure to get it all in there for you guys.
27:07So thanks so much.
27:08I'm heading to the airport right from here.
27:10Look forward to being back in Boston and we'll have some coverage tomorrow from Petey
27:13Garden after Celtics Spurs.
27:15Thanks everyone.