13 for 13, Part 1: Assessing Celtics’ core four starters through 13 games

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13 for 13, Part 1: Assessing Celtics’ core four starters through 13 games originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Finally … a chance for all of us to catch our breath.

The Boston Celtics endured a gauntlet of games to start the 2025-26 season, playing 13 times over 22 days. That included a brutal stretch with five games in seven nights, then culminated Wednesday with the team’s third back-to-back of the young season.

For the first time in the new campaign, the Celtics have multiple days off, and that feels like a good chance to take inventory on what we’ve seen as part of the team’s 6-7 seesaw start.

The good news: Boston has a +4.1 point differential that ranks sixth in the Eastern Conference and 11th overall in the NBA, even if it’s aided by a couple of blowouts inside TD Garden. The bad news: The Celtics have a league-worst minus-2.1 win differential, suggesting that they’ve coughed up a couple winnable games based on their efficiency, per Cleaning the Glass data.

Or maybe that’s actually good news. While Boston’s record is somewhat pedestrian — team sits 11th overall in the Eastern Conference after Wednesday’s games — the Celtics could just as easily be nestled in the logjam behind the streaking, conference-leading Pistons, if not their lackluster 2-5 record in crunch-time games.

The Celtics are figuring out this new-look roster on the fly. Coach Joe Mazzulla has tinkered with both his starting lineup and who he’s leaned on off the bench, searching for the right combination of energy and rebounding around the team’s returning core. Maybe we should have expected late-game growing pains for a team learning how to navigate life while Jayson Tatum rehabs from Achilles surgery.

But we’d suggest that there’s been more good than bad, and sometimes the losses have masked some of the big-picture progress that has occurred, including some encouraging early returns from a handful of young players trying to carve out bigger roles.

With this three-day break, we’re taking a step back and offering 13 thoughts and 13 notable stats from the 13 roster players who have touched the floor for Boston so far this season through 13 games.

In Part 1 of our three-part series, we’ll focus on Boston’s core four starters. Next up Friday will be the team’s key reserves.

1. Jaylen Brown

One number: 31.3

That’s the percentage of Brown’s shot attempts that have come in the long midrange (from 14 feet to the 3-point stripe) this season. It’s the highest output in the league, far ahead of even midrange-loving Kevin Durant (26.7 percent of shots in long mid-range).

But Brown has been thriving in that spot. He’s shooting 56 percent (44 of 79) from the long midrange and 51 percent on midrange shots overall. It feels like every midrange shot is going in as he hangs in the air above his defender.

Brown’s 3-point shot has been streaky, but he’s also showing off some nifty footwork while getting excellent looks in the midrange, and it’s a big-reason for his team-leading 27 points per game.

One thought

Brown has been fantastic while elevating into a harsher spotlight while Tatum is rehabbing. He’s putting up All-NBA numbers and on solid efficiency while shooting 51.6 percent on 19.8 shots per game.

His assist numbers (4.2 per game) should climb a bit when his teammates start knocking down shots, but even when Boston was stumbling through an 0-3 start, it felt like Brown was doing everything he could to put this team in position to win.

After a rare misstep in Philly on Tuesday, Brown took the blame for missing a box out in a key spot. He’s been a true leader with both his play and his voice.

2. Derrick White

One number: 29.2

That’s White’s 3-point percentage this season, down 9.2 percent from last season and 10.4 percent from Boston’s title campaign. His shot-making woes extend to other portions of the court — including at the rim (down 14 percent from last season) and in the short midrange (down 24 percent from last season).

One thought

Would it be oversimplifying things to suggest that much of Boston’s woes can be traced solely to White’s shot-making? It probably would.

White has still been elite at generating “Stocks” (steals plus blocks) and ranks eighth in the NBA with 2.85 Stocks per game. His assist percentage is up and his turnover percentage is way down. The Celtics still have a solid +4.2 net rating in his team-high 422 minutes of floor time.

Still, we can’t help but wonder if White making 3s more consistently would mask some of the team’s missteps. We don’t suspect those shooting woes will persist, and White should eventually thrive, even with additional attention this season.

3. Payton Pritchard

One number: 108.2

That’s the total number of points per 100 shot attempts that Pritchard is averaging this season, which is down 20.6 points per 100 shots from last season, per Cleaning the Glass data.

Like White, Pritchard’s 3-point shot has evaded him at times this season, but he’s also found other ways to make up for those misses.

One thought

Maybe a haircut is all Pritchard needed. Move over Jayson Tatum and his top-five designation after a fresh cut. Pritchard joked after Wednesday’s win over the Grizzlies — a game in which he was a team-best +42 in 30 minutes — that a haircut might have helped him play more like his usual self.

Like Brown, Pritchard has thrived in the midrange, shooting a staggering 61 percent on 59 attempts there. The Celtics have a +9.4 net rating in Pritchard’s 414 minutes of floor time.

Getting Pritchard and White back to playing like their more familiar selves would go a long way toward generating the consistency the Celtics are seeking. Pritchard is showing he can impact winning beyond the Sixth Man role.

4. Neemias Queta

One number: 99.2

That is Boston’s defensive rating in Queta’s 311 minutes of floor time, which is the second-best mark in the entire NBA among players with at least 10 games played, trailing only Oklahoma City’s Ajay Mitchell (98.6).

Queta is third in the NBA with a +18.1 net rating, trailing only the Denver tandem of Nikola Jokic (+21) and Christian Braun (+18.2).

One thought

All eyes were on the frontcourt after Boston’s offseason changes and Queta has been an absolute rock there while logging the lion’s share of center minutes for Boston.

Queta is averaging 8.9 points and 8.1 rebounds. He’s shooting 64.9 percent from the floor. The Celtics have outscored opponents by double-digit points during Queta’s floor time in six of their 13 games, and he’s been a positive in nine of the 13 overall.

Yes, he missed a key box-out against Utah that really hurt. Otherwise, he’s been a screen-setting, rim-running machine who has made tremendous progress since his Boston arrival in 2023.

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