The NBA’s best team, the Boston Celtics, ended the 2023-2024 regular season with 64 wins and only 18 losses (64-18) after finishing their last match against the Washington Wizards by winning 132-122 at TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, Monday (15/ 4) WIB.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla rested all his core players and provided a platform for the reserve players.
Payton Pritchard scored 38 points along with 12 assists and 9 rebounds, which was a career-high score.
Svi Mykhailiuk added 26 points and Sam Hauser scored 16 for the Celts who rested Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and Al Horford.
The Celtics finished their 15th season in club history with 60 or more wins. The Celtics last recorded more than 60 wins in 2008 when they won the NBA title.
The Celtics have a revenge mission to win the NBA title this year, after losing in 2023 in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat with a dramatic score of 4-3.
Also read: Jayson Tatum scores 51 points as Celtics beat Wizards
“The most important thing in facing a situation is not to have expectations,” Mazzulla said about the upcoming post-season match, as quoted on the official NBA website.
“If we are lucky enough to reach the final, if we don’t win it, the road to get there is always forgotten by the result of winning,” he continued.
The Wizards, who posted a 15-67 record, ended their third straight season and fifth in the last six seasons without a playoff berth.
Also read: Tatum scores 51 points, Celtics beat Wizards
Eugene Omoruyi led the Wizards with 26 points, the best score of his career. Jared Butler had 22 points in his sixth straight loss.
“I think we developed a lot of resilience and developed a competitive atmosphere, and we learned about the process of what it takes to be a really good team,” Wizards interim coach Brian Keefe said.
“We still have a lot of work to do, but I think we are starting to lay the foundations for that,” he concluded. (Ant/Z-1)
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