FootyChatter.com

NBA Josh Minott has already helped transform the Celtics early this season, leading to three straight wins. Kyle Ross / Imagn Images PHILADELPHIA — Blood spilled down Derrick White’s head. Three straight missed free throws and a turnover during the final minute put the Boston Celtics in danger. Their 109-108 escape against the Philadelphia 76ers provided compelling theater, just not to all of the Celtics players. Josh Minott, who missed a pair of free throws with 3. 8 seconds left, couldn’t enjoy himself even after Boston closed out the win by forcing a long Joel Embiid miss as time expired. The combination of frustration and relief was clearly printed on Minott’s face. Advertisement “Mix of both, ” Minott said. “I shoot 90 (percent on free throws) in my career. I don’t know, someone might have to fact-check me, but that might have been the first time I ever missed two free throws in a row in the league. But yeah, I’m just glad we got the win. We pulled it out. It was ugly. But hey, a win’s a win, right? ” The win certainly could have been more comfortable. Minott still seemed to be beating himself up about the misses afterward, but he stood out as the perfect symbol of the Celtics’ night. He was the hero who grabbed the most significant rebound of the game after a Tyrese Maxey miss in the final seconds and the player who followed up that rebound with two straight bricked free throws to give the 76ers another chance to pull ahead. Minott’s length, energy and rebounding ability have already helped transform the Celtics early this season, leading to three straight wins since he joined the starting lineup. However, he finished 0 of 5 from the field on Friday and earned an earful from head coach Joe Mazzulla after sending Embiid to the free-throw line early in the first quarter. “He did a hell of a job, ” Celtics teammate Hugo González said of Minott anyway. “And he’s playing super, super good. I think he’s one of the examples of the team on giving 100 percent every possession. ” Now 3-3 after dropping their first three games of the regular season, the Celtics are everything you think they are. They are championship tested. They are inexperienced. They are great. They are bad. They are everything in between. They are learning how to win with a new mix, but their prideful core hasn’t forgotten all the lessons of recent deep playoff runs. Their role players lack polish but hustle like moths flying to the light. They have about three-quarters — if that — of the collective basketball IQ that led them to consecutive 60-win seasons, but have committed themselves to Mazzulla’s idea that non-stop hustle and toughness can overcome whatever they lack. Advertisement They led by 24 points in the second quarter on Friday and were still fortunate to leave Philadelphia with a win. “Overall, I think every game we have shown more minutes of who we need to be on a consistent basis, ” Mazzulla said. “First game we played good for 12 minutes, second game like 24, third game like 30. And then I think we’ve put together 36 or more (since). And we’ve just got to continue to build an identity of what we want to be. “It has to become just an every-night thing, and you’ve just got to chip away at it. So I credit the guys; they have a great mentality, high care factor on wanting to win, wanting to do what it takes. So that’s usually a good recipe for long-term success. ” In the short term, the Celtics will experience thrilling ups and frustrating downs, as they did again in Philadelphia. Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard put on a first-quarter shot-making display, but lost some of their effectiveness late in the game. Pritchard made several midrange jump shots, but finished just 1 of 9 on 3-point attempts, extending his early-season outside shooting slump. Brown scored 32 points on 13-of-19 shooting, but he held himself accountable for letting the game get as close as it did down the stretch. He committed five turnovers, including an offensive foul with 11. 6 seconds left that gave the 76ers the ball back with a chance to pull ahead. “Just poise, ” Brown said. “Taking care of the basketball, executing, owning your space, all the little things. Definitely some stuff I could be better at. I had too many turnovers. I was just too casual with the ball tonight. Philly did a good job of just being physical, and they’re at home, so they’re allowed to get away with it, I guess. So I’ll take my accountability. I just got to be better down the line. ” As hard as Brown was on himself, it only seemed to excite him that the Celtics pulled out a win despite their mistakes. Advertisement “At the end of the game, big-time rebounds, two stops to win the game, ” Brown said. “That’s a good sign of a good team. Like, we missed the free throws. I missed my free throws, turned it over. They had two opportunities to win the game, and we got two stops. That’s what I’m talking about. That’s Celtic basketball. ” Though the clutch stops seemed familiar to Brown, the formula has changed drastically. After losing an overwhelming amount of basketball knowledge over the offseason, they have turned loose a cadre of energizers in their supporting cast. In Philadelphia, it was González who brought the biggest jolt. Over 14 minutes, he produced what would have been a season’s worth of hustle plays for most players. He dove on the floor after a loose ball he had no chance of securing. He batted out an offensive rebound in traffic as one of his three offensive rebounds. He jumped onto the court for one steal and intercepted a pass about 90 feet away from the basket for another. He picked up five personal fouls; though González thought one against Embiid showed poor judgment, another showed the relentlessness the Celtics are aiming to achieve. When Quentin Grimes appeared to have an open fast-break dunk, González raced across the court to foul him at the rim. Hugo Gonzalez. Two plays, 26 seconds apart. There may not be another player IN THE LEAGUE who would give this type of effort on two plays in that short amount of time. pic. twitter. com/v Xcur VVGIi — Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) November 1, 2025 Anything less than maximum effort would have led to an easy score for the 76ers. Instead, González made Grimes earn his points at the free-throw line. Mazzulla might have clapped harder after that play than he did at any other point in the game. “If I see somebody that is going to try to make a dunk or a basket, I’ll go 100 times (out of 100), ” González said. “I don’t care about the result. I’m not allowing — or we’re not allowing — easy baskets. ” Advertisement The Celtics could have had an easier win. That’s why Minott was so upset with himself after the game. He entered Friday having made 43 of 48 career free-throw attempts. As soon as the final buzzer sounded, he untucked his jersey and lifted it over his head. Josh Minott was so upset after the missed free throws and his teammates swarmed him after the buzzer Celtics win 109-108 pic. twitter. com/u GRN3m0b Dk — Noa Dalzell ? (@Noa Dalzell) November 1, 2025 While Minott digested the pain of the misses and the joy of survival, several of his teammates approached him to convince him to concentrate on the latter. It took hardly any time at all for several of them to find him and cover him with more comfort than his jersey ever could. González said he wanted to cheer up Minott and that Minott was a big reason they won the game. “I love them, man, ” Minott said. “These are my guys, man. It felt good knowing they had my back. I mean, they know what was going on in my head, so it felt good to know they got my back. ” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Jay King is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Boston Celtics. He previously covered the team for Mass Live for five years. He also co-hosts the "Anything Is Poddable" podcast. Follow Jay on Twitter @byjayking