Celtics have the look of a champion

The agreed-upon topic here is supposed to be a collection of scattered thoughts on the Celtics bench. No promises, but as the pecking away at the keyboard commences, I’m pretty sure it will be. Eventually.

First, though, I cannot resist addressing the Celtics’ 52-point throttling of the Warriors Sunday. Because in scopes large and small, the performance in that 140-88 victory gave me always-welcome flashbacks to those Big Three-era ‘80s glory days of my youth.

I know, those among us who flex that strange pride of refusing to enjoy anything that occurs before the duck boats are revving their engines probably don’t want to hear that.

So, caveats to appease the cynical and the joyless: There’s a long way to go. They haven’t won anything yet. Better knock on the parquet and pray for continued good health. Et al.

Now about those scopes, and the massive, valid hopes for the summertime securing of Banner 18 that this Celtics team — winners of 11 in a row, by an average margin of 22.1 points — ought to be inspiring.

Large scope: The dismantling of Golden State — which defeated the Celtics with experience and poise as much as shot-making in the 2022 NBA Finals, and handed the Green one of their few frustrating losses this season on Dec. 19 — was delightfully ruthless.

No matter how high their lead swelled in the first half, when the Warriors’ Draymond-brained plan to let Jaylen Brown tee up threes backfired spectacularly, the Celtics continued swarming on defense. (I can’t recall Steph Curry ever looking so discombobulated.) They didn’t want to beat the Warriors. They wanted to break them. And they did it without Kristaps Porzingis, who watched approvingly from the bench.

The stakes and magnitude are not the same, of course — not yet — but it reminded me of what DJ and Danny and Larry and Kevin and The Chief did at the peak of their powers. Specifically, their 36-6 third quarter in Game 5 of the 1986 Eastern Conference semifinals against the Hawks.

Wrote Bob Ryan of that 132-99 demolition: “A scintillating display of interior defense, transition basketball and Globetrotter-like passing, which transformed the game into something bordering on legitimate humiliation, but which never degenerated into farce.”

Yessir, that’s what Sunday felt like. And if the passing didn’t quite send you to YouTube to look up Curly Neal highlights, allow me to submit the following sequence as a sampling of aesthetically flawless basketball.

Forty seconds left, first quarter. Luke Kornet blocks Trayce Jackson-Davis’s 4-footer with two hands. Jrue Holiday corrals the ball, takes two dribbles past midcourt, and zips a chest pass ahead to Payton Pritchard, who pulls up and drains a three. Celtics 42, Warriors 22. Garden erupts.

That reminded me so much of those fast breaks the ‘80s Celtics would run, where the ball would touch the court once, if at all. Pass, pass, pass, dagger. (I could write a column every other day about Holiday’s selfless malleability in a contract season. But two dribbles are two more than necessary in this quest for aesthetic basketball perfection. Tighten it up, Holiday!)

On the smaller scope — and hey, would you look at this, we’re getting to the bench — I cannot be the only one who noticed Pritchard’s 6-for-6 start and thought, “Huh, wonder if he’ll go 11 for 11 like Scott Wedman in Game 1 of the 1985 Finals.” He did not. Pritchard finished 8 of 12 for 19 points, and actually shared the ball a little more than usual during garbage time, which in this game was basically the entire second half.

Because we marvel at Brad Stevens’s bigger moves since becoming president of basketball operations in June 2021 — bringing Al Horford back where he belongs for Kemba Walker, or getting Derrick White for some stuff, or acquiring Porzingis and two first-round picks in the three-way deal that sent Marcus Smart to Memphis, or being ready to pounce when Holiday became available — we forget he’s done an excellent job of building depth.

Horford is such a mainstay that we don’t even think of him as a bench piece; the Celtics really have a starting six. Pritchard and Sam Hauser — a true development success story given that he went undrafted — are trustworthy as shooters. Kornet is perfect for the role he is asked to play. Oshae Brissett is all energy, hustle, and good vibes. Xavier Tillman is fully capable of being this year’s P.J. Brown. Even the kids — Jaden Springer and Jordan Walsh, in particular — are intriguing, though their time will not come this year.

Heck, the Celtics have even traded capable reserves this year. Lamar Stevens and Dalano Banton each had 19 points when the Grizzlies and Blazers played a few days ago. This bench has come a long way from the Tremont Waters-Carsen Edwards-Tacko Fall days, or even the Malik Fitts All-Stars two years ago.

Given how the Celtics are playing and their lead in the conference (8 games with 22 to play), I expect we’ll see more of the bench as Joe Mazzulla prepares his team for the playoffs, taking the opportunity to get his starters extra rest.

I’m looking forward to watching the reserves do their thing, just as long as those ahead of them on the depth chart remain healthy. (Knocks on parquet again.)

We know what a champion looks like. There’s a long way to go, great players to overcome, and much to endure. But these Celtics, top to bottom, have that look. It’s OK to say it, and it’s OK to savor it.