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BOSTON — The Boston Celtics haven't backed down from a fight all season long. Although their preseason expectations were underwhelming due to roster turnover, they refused to sit back and succumb to the outside pressure.
Instead, despite winning a title less than two years ago, the Celtics adopted a bit of an underdog mentality, and rookie guard Hugo Gonzalez embodied that against the Miami Heat on Friday night. Early in the fourth quarter, Gonzalez and Heat star guard Norman Powell were fighting for a loose ball. That struggle nearly turned into an actual fight, as there was a shoving match that ended with Powell asking Gonzalez, "What's up?"
Of course, that wasn't a friendly question. It was essentially Powell wondering if Gonzalez was ready to escalate their tussle. While no punches were thrown, Gonzalez didn't back down, standing eye-to-eye with Powell before the two were separated.
To the surprise of no one, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla enjoyed every second of this exchange.
"That was fun," he said during his postgame press conference while grinning from ear to ear.
The Celtics mirrored their 20-year-old's tenacity versus the Heat, coming back from a 22-point deficit to beat their rivals 98-96. And even though Gonzalez logged just 2 points and 3 rebounds in 16 minutes, his willingness to fight on every possession and stare down Powell — who's an established NBA champion and 2026 All-Star — maintained the Celtics' ferocity and got fans on their feet in a time of need.
"I thought it was great," Mazzulla emphasized. "I mean, it's important, especially for Hugo. Miami is a tough team. They're well-coached and Powell's a tough player. He's a good player. And we have to be able to answer the call on that stuff. And so, anything that can create create chaos and conflict but not cost us points — we should be all about that."
After mustering just 38 points in the first half (a season-low), the Celtics answered the call in the third quarter. They scored 36 points in that frame alone and converted on 5 of their 7 attempts from beyond the arc.
One of those triples was especially significant, because once Celtics guard Derrick White turned his steal into a deep 3-pointer on the other end with a little over 5 minutes to go in the third, Boston proceeded to finish the quarter on a 19-7 run to tie the contest.
"I thought he was great defensively, thought he made big-time plays," Mazzulla described of White's performance. "I don't care how he's playing. I always think the next (shot) is going in, just because of who he is.”
From there, the Celtics went back-and-forth with the Heat until White hit another huge shot from 3-point land with 1:31 remaining in the fourth quarter. This go-ahead triple gifted the C's a 98-96 lead and to hold that advantage, White swatted Heat guard Davion Mitchell with just 32 seconds left in the game.
"I haven't got a block in a while, so lots of people were mentioning that," White joked in the locker room. "So, I had to get a couple today."
White tallied a game-high 4 blocks (one more than the Heat had altogether) to go along with 21 points in a whopping 41 minutes of play. Like Gonzalez, he didn't have the most statistically impressive outing, missing 14 of his 20 shots from the floor and netting 33.3% of his 3-point attempts.
However, when it mattered most, White, Gonzalez, and the rest of the Celtics stood their ground and gutted out a victory. A similar effort will be needed at home on Sunday afternoon if the 34-18 C's want to topple the 33-19 New York Knicks and extend their winning streak to six games, which would be their longest of the season.
"Sunday is going to be a big matchup," Celtics star Jaylen Brown said following his team's biggest comeback win since last February. "I'm looking forward to it."
Listen to "Havlicek Stole the Pod" on:
Blue Wire: https://tiny.ee/CdKp
iTunes: https://tiny.ee/RK47
YouTube: https://tiny.ee/cOW3
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Joe Mazzulla loved the beef between Hugo Gonzalez and Norman Powell
Continue reading...
Instead, despite winning a title less than two years ago, the Celtics adopted a bit of an underdog mentality, and rookie guard Hugo Gonzalez embodied that against the Miami Heat on Friday night. Early in the fourth quarter, Gonzalez and Heat star guard Norman Powell were fighting for a loose ball. That struggle nearly turned into an actual fight, as there was a shoving match that ended with Powell asking Gonzalez, "What's up?"
Of course, that wasn't a friendly question. It was essentially Powell wondering if Gonzalez was ready to escalate their tussle. While no punches were thrown, Gonzalez didn't back down, standing eye-to-eye with Powell before the two were separated.
To the surprise of no one, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla enjoyed every second of this exchange.
"That was fun," he said during his postgame press conference while grinning from ear to ear.
The Celtics mirrored their 20-year-old's tenacity versus the Heat, coming back from a 22-point deficit to beat their rivals 98-96. And even though Gonzalez logged just 2 points and 3 rebounds in 16 minutes, his willingness to fight on every possession and stare down Powell — who's an established NBA champion and 2026 All-Star — maintained the Celtics' ferocity and got fans on their feet in a time of need.
"I thought it was great," Mazzulla emphasized. "I mean, it's important, especially for Hugo. Miami is a tough team. They're well-coached and Powell's a tough player. He's a good player. And we have to be able to answer the call on that stuff. And so, anything that can create create chaos and conflict but not cost us points — we should be all about that."
After mustering just 38 points in the first half (a season-low), the Celtics answered the call in the third quarter. They scored 36 points in that frame alone and converted on 5 of their 7 attempts from beyond the arc.
One of those triples was especially significant, because once Celtics guard Derrick White turned his steal into a deep 3-pointer on the other end with a little over 5 minutes to go in the third, Boston proceeded to finish the quarter on a 19-7 run to tie the contest.
"I thought he was great defensively, thought he made big-time plays," Mazzulla described of White's performance. "I don't care how he's playing. I always think the next (shot) is going in, just because of who he is.”
From there, the Celtics went back-and-forth with the Heat until White hit another huge shot from 3-point land with 1:31 remaining in the fourth quarter. This go-ahead triple gifted the C's a 98-96 lead and to hold that advantage, White swatted Heat guard Davion Mitchell with just 32 seconds left in the game.
"I haven't got a block in a while, so lots of people were mentioning that," White joked in the locker room. "So, I had to get a couple today."
White tallied a game-high 4 blocks (one more than the Heat had altogether) to go along with 21 points in a whopping 41 minutes of play. Like Gonzalez, he didn't have the most statistically impressive outing, missing 14 of his 20 shots from the floor and netting 33.3% of his 3-point attempts.
However, when it mattered most, White, Gonzalez, and the rest of the Celtics stood their ground and gutted out a victory. A similar effort will be needed at home on Sunday afternoon if the 34-18 C's want to topple the 33-19 New York Knicks and extend their winning streak to six games, which would be their longest of the season.
"Sunday is going to be a big matchup," Celtics star Jaylen Brown said following his team's biggest comeback win since last February. "I'm looking forward to it."
Listen to "Havlicek Stole the Pod" on:
Blue Wire: https://tiny.ee/CdKp
iTunes: https://tiny.ee/RK47
YouTube: https://tiny.ee/cOW3
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Joe Mazzulla loved the beef between Hugo Gonzalez and Norman Powell
Continue reading...
