Happy New Year, everyone. It’s been an eventful first few months of the season for the Celtics, who leave 2024 behind with one last late-afternoon contest against the Toronto Raptors.
Being a Celtics fan in 2024 was pretty great, and even with the team in the midst of a rough patch to close out December, we’ve seen some excellent basketball throughout the 2024-25 season. And I’m here to highlight those moments for every player in one grand, overlong article. So let’s delve into this subjective display of reminiscence, and find each player’s most complete and memorable performance of the season so far.
Jayson Tatum: Chicago Bulls (Dec. 21)
Personally, I didn’t see anything possibly topping Jayson Tatum’s season-opening statement against the Knicks. And then the Bulls game happened.
In an all-time Celtics performance, Tatum became the second player in franchise history to record a 40-point triple-double. Nothing beats that, and for the season Tatum is currently having, that’s saying something.
No game plan, matchup changes, or halftime adjustments could stop what Tatum did to the Bulls in this game. Complete three-level scoring, complete control running the offense, it was simply a masterpiece performance.
Final Statline: 43 Points, 15 Rebounds, 10 Assists
The Defining Play: 3Q – 2:02 – Tatum dunk on Jalen Smith
This could really just be “the final 3 minutes of the third quarter (unedited) if we’re being honest. Each sequence ramps up closer and closer into legendary territory in front of a mostly silent Chicago crowd.
On this particular poster, I almost feel a little bad for Jalen Smith, who goes up to meet JT and stands no chance against the charged-up Tatum.
Jaylen Brown: Indiana Pacers (Dec. 27)
In a similar situation to Tatum, I thought I had a pretty good idea of where to go with this pick for JB.
The 3-point Timberwolves barrage, the 37-point night versus Atlanta in the NBA Cup, his 28-point and 9-assist game against Detroit, there were some places to really explore Jaylen’s most impressive game of the year, until the answer fell right into our lap last Friday.
Not only did Brown pour in over 40 points with a mixture of 3-point shooting and rim-destroying determination, he did it through his defense, scoring 8 points off Celtics steals. One of those steals was his own, a takeaway from an unsuspecting Myles Turner that ended in a windmill jam. It came less than a minute after Brown found a runway to the hoop and delivered a demolition throwdown over Turner midway through the second quarter.
Final Statline: 44 Points, 5 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 4 Steals
The Defining Play: 2Q – 6:22 – Brown dunk over Myles Turner
Just like with Tatum’s Bulls play, all roads lead to the poster. Earlier in the game, Brown didn’t fully commit to the cut throat taunt, but he didn’t need to. This dunk said everything that action needed to say. Brown was coming for the Pacers in this game, and with a clear lane and one man to beat, he made that statement loud and clear.
Derrick White: Atlanta Hawks (Nov. 12)
I know, I know, horrible loss, total trap, etc. Fact of the matter is, Derrick White was phenomenal in this game, even if it ended poorly.
A season-best 31 points, a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor in the fourth quarter, 7-of-12 from three, and he dished out five assists. White has been exceptional in a lot of Boston’s best games, but in one where they really messed around and found out the hard way just how tough Atlanta can be even without multiple starters, White still gave this team everything he had in order to win it. The same goes for the first Pacers loss where he hit 8 of his 9 shot attempts and helped close the gap to send it to overtime.
White’s been so good this season that a few games can certainly make strong best-of cases in their own right: his 24-point showing in the Knicks opener, his performance in a close win over the Wolves, his 23-point game consisting of all 3-point makes against Detroit. I’m open to any of those, but I think even in a pretty bad loss, White still gave us one incredible night to shine the spotlight on for this list.
Final Statline: 31 Points, 5 Assists, 6 Rebounds, 1 Steal
The Defining Play: 4Q – 1:57 – White 3-pointer
This sequence is a really great example of Derrick White’s all-around offensive package. He’s a threat to affect the game in so many ways. In this case, you see a few of them wrapped into one quick clip, where he draws two defenders to the baseline, feeds in a pass to Horford, then relocates to his favorite spot in the slot to knock down a go-ahead three.
Kristaps Porziņģis: Detroit Pistons (Dec. 4)
It seemed like Detroit had no answers for the mere of presence of Kristaps Porziņģis being on the floor. On a night where JB Bickerstaff experimented with Tobias Harris at the 5, the Latvian big man simply dominated his way to his best scoring performance of the season, knocking down three shots from beyond the arc, re-sparking the Cookies & Cream connection with Jaylen Brown and acting as a deterrent at the rim with two blocks, the first being a massive denial of a Tobias Harris dunk in the opening minute of play.
Porziņģis had two strong performances against the Bulls that warrant consideration for his best performance, both of which he scored 20+ on shooting efficiency above 50%, but the way KP fed off the crowd’s energy and delivered buckets across the floor against the Pistons makes this the top pick for his best outing in 11 games played.
Final Statline: 26 Points, 9 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 Blocks
The Defining Play: 1Q – 11:38 – Porziņģis block on Tobias Harris
Talk about a tone-setting defensive stop. Tobias Harris really thought he was doing something on this drive, putting the ball on the floor to get past White into a dunk attempt. Too bad the last man to beat was a 7-footer.
Payton Pritchard: Milwaukee Bucks (Oct. 28)
Choosing anything over Pritchard’s 29-point explosion over Chicago feels wrong, and maybe it is wrong, but this Bucks performance felt like the introduction into a new era of Payton Pritchard’s Celtics career.
This game, for a moment, was a real off-night for Boston, who really couldn’t get much of anything going from beyond the arc in the first half. That is, until Pritchard stepped foot on the floor, sinking five first half threes and eight in total on the night to help guide the team past the Bucks.
We’ve seen Pritchard do a lot of great things off the bench this season, but this feels like the biggest so far. It was an immediate jolt to Boston’s lackluster start that turned into an all-time bench performance, complete with his patented late-clock bucket. It has all the ingredients of a great PP game, and one that we will all think back on when (not if) Pritchard is named this year’s best 6th Man.
Final Statline: 28 Points, 5 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 2 Steals
The Defining Play: 3Q – 0.4 seconds – Pritchard 3-pointer
The play that sunk Doc Rivers into a despondent slump. There’s nothing quite like a Pritchard three before the buzzer. Anyone who has been lucky enough to experience one live has a story to tell family members for generations to come. This was a special basket, and a crucial one in the grand scheme of the game’s final quarter, which Boston ran away with 119-108.
Jrue Holiday: Milwaukee Bucks (Dec. 6)
Jrue Holiday loves playing the Bucks. This is a fact, as evidenced by three seriously productive performances that helped Boston deliver a season sweep over Milwaukee.
The last of the three was Jrue’s most quintessential performance of the season, a 34-minute picture into what makes him one of the most effective two-way guards in the game.
Holiday had his fingerprints all over this clutch time victory, taking advantage of a Bucks defense that was stretched to the perimeter against Boston’s 5-out offense with eight first-half points and five assists. On defense, he was everywhere, at one point defending Giannis all the way up the court, grabbing the board on that same possession, and pushing the ball down the floor for a Sam Hauser three in transition.
In the fourth quarter, it seemed like he had a hand in every major Celtics play, closing the final 5 minutes with a layup as the roller, grabbing a defensive rebound and again assisting on a pace-pushing three (this time to Horford), and delivering the dagger in the form of an elbow runner with 25.6 seconds left and the shot clock sounding off. Jrue Holiday made winning plays all night. That’s just what he does.
Final Statline: 20 Points, 6 Assists, 5 Rebounds, 1 Steal, 1 Block
The Defining Play: 4Q – 25.6 seconds – Holiday floating jump shot
Take a second and really watch every part of Holiday’s process during this game-sealing play. At the top of the possession, he politely moves Brook Lopez to set him into his usual drop coverage position, opening the door for a Lopez switch onto Tatum.
With Tatum working to create an advantage and the shot clock winding down, Holiday lifts into open space to the slot as Tatum reaches the left block on his drive, giving him an easier path to kick it out. It’s a fantastic sequence from Holiday, who makes this long-distance runner look a lot easier than it actually is.
Al Horford: Cleveland Cavaliers (Nov. 19)
Great Al Horford games, you never forget them. And this, my friends, was a great Al Horford game.
In one of the best NBA Cup games this season, Horford was an otherworldly two-way force that helped knock off the last undefeated team standing. This game had all the ingredients of a classic Horford finish.
He was elite from beyond the arc (4/5), defended the hell out of the paint (3 blocks) and made multiple game-changing plays down the stretch, scoring five points with two blocks in the fourth quarter.
Defensively, the Cavs shot 9/24 (37.5%) when Horford was the nearest defender, including two clutch time blocks on layup attempts from Darius Garland and Georges Niang.
Just like Game 5 of last year’s Eastern Conference Semifinals, it’s hard to fathom how different those two individual results might have been if not for the winning play of Boston’s gracefully aging big man.
Final Statline: 20 Points, 7 Rebounds, 3 Blocks
The Defining Play: 4Q – 4:36 – Block on Darius Garland
Holding onto a five-point lead with under five minutes to play, Horford took on the extremely difficult switch assignment of keeping up with Darius Garland, staying attached all the way to the cup to deliver a massive block that directly resulted in a Derrick White 3-pointer on the other end. That, right there, is a winning play from a winning player.
Sam Hauser: Detroit Pistons (Dec. 4)
It hasn’t been quite the same level of success off the bench for Sam Hauser this season, who has dealt with some injuries along with inconsistent shooting nights, but a nice stretch early in December showed a player that was starting to find that shooting touch again.
He was a flamethrower against Detroit in this contest, knocking down 7-of-12 shot attempts and 5-of-10 3-point tries. In his second start of the season, Hauser got going early, stealing an inbounds and pulling up from deep on a sequence that was so quick even the Celtics broadcast missed it.
Off the catch, off the dribble, off handoffs, it didn’t matter what Hauser did in this game, that shot was pure coming off his hands regardless.
On top of all that was a solid night defensively. On the Cade Cunningham matchup, Hauser held the star guard to 1-of-4 shooting with one turnover.
Final Statline: 20 Points, 3 Rebounds, 1 Steal
The Defining Play: 3Q – 4:22 – Hauser layup plus the foul
It’s a little weird that Hauser’s defining play is in fact not related to his 3-point shooting, but this was just an exceptional coast-to-coast finish through the contact. Rarely do we see Hauser take it upon himself to charge to the rim, and he was rewarded for his efforts here with a sweet reverse layup past a fouling Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren.
Luke Kornet: Miami Heat (Dec. 2)
At this stage in the season, just eight players have registered a game with six or more blocks (Victor Wembanyama, miraculously, has done it five times). One of those belongs to Luke Kornet, who stepped in for a 27-minute effort with Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis sidelined.
Sure, this could have gone to Kornet’s 19-point effort against the Hornets earlier in the season, a worthy contender considering his perfect shooting from the field and from the free throw line, but it doesn’t quite stack up to the marvel of Luke’s rim-protecting masterclass against a hated rival.
On the tail-end of a back-to-back with neither team at full strength, the Celtics were mostly in control of this one aside from a poor start out of the gate in the third quarter, but Kornet was simply at his best throughout. This was one of those rare instances where drop coverage was noticeably excellent all night, both for Kornet and Neemias Queta. It was also a night where Bam Adebayo’s shooting hit an Error Code 404, finishing 6-of-18. Kornet more than held up in that matchup, with Adebayo shooting 5-of-13 with two turnovers when defended by the Celtics big.
Final Statline: 6 points, 4 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 6 Blocks
The Defining Play: 3Q – 8:39 – Block on Tyler Herro
In easily his finest defensive display of the night, Kornet took the switch onto Tyler Herro, forced on him by an Adebayo screen at the top of the arc. Herro naturally bursts by Kornet as soon as the ball hits his hands, but Kornet miraculously recovers to deny what should have been a clean layup attempt.
Neemias Queta: LA Clippers (Nov. 25)
There’s a strong argument to be had that Neemias Queta’s most impactful (and most rim-rocking) performance came against the Golden State Warriors, but I’d argue his game against the Clippers was his most complete.
While the return of Porzingis and the 3-point barrage that led to an immediate beatdown were the leading headlines on Nov. 25, it was Queta’s all-around performance off the bench that I’ll remember the most from the first part of his season.
Queta effectively defended the rim against smaller matchups like Terance Mann and Kobe Brown, did his part in keeping the ball flowing on offense, controlled the glass with nine rebounds and delivered three monstrous dunks.
Against a team that really lacks frontcourt options off the bench, Queta flourished in one of Boston’s biggest beatdowns of the season.
Final Statline: 12 points, 9 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 2 Blocks
The Defining Play: 4Q – 5:38 – Give-and-Go Dunk with Derrick White
This beautiful example of unselfish, off-schedule basketball is just as much a Derrick White highlight as it is a Queta one. This sequence that sees White save a long rebound and participate in a passing back-and-forth with Queta had the Clippers steps behind as Queta skied up for a two-hand slam.
Jordan Walsh: Indiana Pacers (Dec. 27)
Forget best performance before the New Year, this was Jordan Walsh’s best performance as a Celtic.
A late addition to the list, Walsh (and the team collectively) delivered an emphatic blow to the Pacers, a response to a rough patch that saw them lose three of their previous four contests.
It was a performance where we saw everything Walsh is capable of, but haven’t consistently seen. He shot the ball confidently on open looks, he walled up defensively, crashed the glass and provided glimpses of on-ball creation. Each of these elements of his game were seen at different points in the preseason, but we got it all wrapped together in this 21-minute package.
Final Statline: 9 Points, 5 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steal
The Defining Play: 4Q – 1:03 – Assist to Xavier Tillman
This play did not have much effect on the outcome, but boy did it add to the positive energy surrounding this win.
Getting a rare opportunity to create on the drive, Walsh flashed a crossover move to get into the right side of the paint and delivered a laser kickout into the corner to Xavier Tillman, who knocked down a late three to push the Celtics over 140 points on the night. The pass flung right between the outstretched arms of Jarace Walker like a kick through the uprights.
Drew Peterson: Detroit Pistons (Dec. 12)
After three garbage time appearances through all of November, Drew Peterson soon found himself thrust into the rotation for a handful of early December contests. Each one presented some positive minutes, some confidence shooting from the perimeter and some capable defensive effort, making this a three-horse race for his best night of the season.
Between his extended appearances against Cleveland, Miami and Detroit, his Pistons game was his lowest scoring output and the only one where he didn’t connect on a three, yet I think it was still his best overall appearance.
Peterson was part of the connective tissue that made the offense hum in this game, delivering two assists just through a trust in the system. Along with contributions on the glass, three free throw makes and a smooth step back midi late in the game, it was Peterson’s only game of the three big appearances where his +/- was positive (+12). He looked like he belonged out there in the rotation, and that’s about as much as you can ask for out of a two-way player that’s stepping into a big role with two wings out for the night.
Final Statline: 5 Points, 2 Assists, 3 Rebounds
The Defining Play: 4Q – 3:37 – Peterson step back jump shot
I’d like to imagine a large majority of Celtics fans tuned into the final minutes of this all-but-over Thursday night matchup with Detroit lost their collective minds when this shot went down.
I think viewers of Peterson’s college days and G-League work have seen some strong on-ball creation over the past few years, but we really have not seen it in his minutes up in Boston. This was a spectacular finish. A cool enough step back to warrant an appropriate Kevin Durant shoutout on the broadcast from Drew Carter.
Xavier Tillman: Washington Wizards (Oct. 24)
There hasn’t been a whole lot of Xavier Tillman action throughout the early goings of this season. His offensive struggles have played a big part in that, but it’s a small surprise to see him so low on the frontcourt pecking order after some strong performances throughout his first half-season in Boston.
Some of it has to do with his offensive struggles, and just how far teams play off him, but in this early-season showing against the lowly Wizards, Tillman had himself a quality night on that side of the floor, knocking down a pair of threes and scoring a layup in transition.
In his 15-minute appearance, Tillman was a season-best +15 on the floor in a 20-point win. He’s had some nice defensive jolts off the bench in limited minutes during the season (including a productive 2-block outing against the Wizards on Nov. 22), but this performance teased some perimeter improvements that ultimately haven’t paid off, but at least gave us something to talk about during the first week of the regular season.
Final Statline: 8 Points, 1 Rebound, 1 Assist
The Defining Play: 4Q – 10:39 – Tillman 3P shot assisted by Brown
This is a pretty straightforward pick-and-pop 3-pointer for Tillman, but one I think we all wish we could see him knock down with some consistency.
Considering the gravity of Brown’s drive, you could expect the majority of defenses to give this kind of respect (or lack thereof) to Tillman’s shooting, but in this instance, he made them pay for it.
Jaden Springer: LA Clippers (Nov. 25)
Opportunities have been hard to come by for Jaden Springer this season, although he has had a few more appearances come along in December.
There’s not a whole lot to write home about in those appearances, but his garbage time showing against the Clippers certainly stands out as one of the many motivated performances found in that particular blowout.
It was only a 5-minute appearance on the floor, but Springer made his presence known on both sides of the floor, assisting on two Jordan Walsh buckets, hounding Bones Hyland for a steal, and taking a straight-line drive to the cup for a nice layup. Not bad work for just 5 minutes.
Final Statline: 3 Points, 2 Assists, 1 Steal
The Defining Play: 4Q – 3:02 – Steal on Bones Hyland
When Jaden Springer checks into a game, the two areas I expect to be positively influenced are rebounding and point-of-attack defense. In this case, it’s an example of the latter.
Springer just straight-up robs Hyland blind, literally springing into action to snatch the ball away and earn a trip to the free throw line. Side note: I think it’s hilarious that Springer wants to heave the ball into the middle of the stands after the layup didn’t fall his way. He really should have made that even with the contact, but alas, it was a great play nonetheless.
Baylor Scheierman: Miami Heat (Dec. 2)
We’re obviously at a point in the roster where significant performances are harder to come by. With Baylor Scheierman, it’s particularly slim pickings with only five appearances as a Celtic, and a lot of time spent down at the G-League.
We’re prevailing on regardless, and his 11-minute appearance in the Miami game is the clear-cut choice for the Creighton product. It’s his only appearance over 10 minutes and also gave us two pretty sweet highlights that showcase Scheierman’s potential as a secondary playmaker and as a defender.
Final Statline: 1 Assist, 1 Rebound, 1 Steal
The Defining Play: 3Q – 42 seconds – Assist to Brown
This is such a sweet highlight for the rookie. Placed in the right spot to bail Payton Pritchard out of a corner double team, Scheierman evades two defenders himself to deliver this absolute no-look dime in the opposite corner to Jaylen Brown, who completes the highlight to send the Celtics up 20 late in the third quarter.
Scheierman’s passing ability was one of my favorite elements of his game at the college level. This was a really impressive taste of what he could bring to the table beyond his rookie year.
