Celtics

“I try to coach it as if it were the first quarter, out of respect for the guys that are on the floor and the work they put in.”

The Celtics dominated the Pacers throughout the entirety of Wednesday night’s game at TD Garden.

Boston won by 51 points, which was the second-biggest margin of victory in franchise history. Still, Jayson Tayum, Kristaps Porzingis, and Derrick White played more minutes [27 apiece] than any of Indiana’s starters did.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla did eventually play the entire roster. Payton Pritchard played 26 minutes and scored 15 points on 6-10 shooting. Oshae Brissett got 20 minutes. Lamar Stevens, Luke Kornet, and Dalano Blanton all got some playing time.

In total, the Celtics bench scored 46 points. Mazzulla said they’re the reason he opts not to take his foot off the gas when the Celtics are up big.

“I don’t think – no,” Mazzulla said when asked if he can relax when the Celtics are up by so many points. “But, it’s because there’s five guys in the game that have worked their [expletive] off to get to that spot. The best thing I feel like I can do for them is coach them because that’s what they want and they’re looking for that.”

“And so, I try to coach it as if it were the first quarter,” Mazzulla continued. “Out of respect for the guys that are on the floor and the work they put in.”

Mazzulla praised the bench players for their execution. Pritchard dished out nine assists. Sam Hauser made five of his six 3-point attempts. Only two of Boston’s 11 turnovers came from bench players.

“They were organized,” said Mazzulla. “They got to their spots faster. I thought Payton did a good job organizing it. I thought Dalano got to their spacing, they ran plays for Sam. I thought all those guys, Luke and Lamar and O’Shea and Svi, I just felt like we played with more of a sense of purpose. They managed the game in that way.

“There are things you can do to put yourself in a better situation in those, and that’s defending without fouling, limiting them to one shot, and not giving up transition. Those are three things that they did in the Washington game, and three things that they did in this game taking that away.”