It took only one game for the 2022-23 Boston Celtics to find their rally cry.
"We’re not taking no mess this year."
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Jaylen Brown, he of the energy-shifting proclamation that became last year’s mantra, delivered that line in the aftermath of a Marcus Smart-Joel Embiid dust-up on Tuesday night that saw Brown launch himself into the fray and stick a finger in Embiid’s face.
Put it on rally towels. Slap it on T-shirts. Sell it at the 7uice store in the Seaport.
We’ve heard all training camp long how there’s been a business-like approach to these Celtics in the ramp-up to real games. Newcomer Malcolm Brogdon has marveled at how locked-in the team has been with a singular goal of securing the title that slipped through this team’s fingers in June.
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These Celtics could have come unraveled before the season even began. Brown took a spin through the Kevin Durant rumor mill, the team lost two big men to offseason surgeries, and the Ime Udoka scandal left a dark cloud hovering over the green on the eve of training camp.
But these Celtics are not taking no mess. Brown bit his tongue about the trade rumors and came back in the best shape of his life. He erupted for 35 points on 14-of-24 shooting on opening night while shrugging off a rocky start to pair with Jayson Tatum to lead the team in scoring.
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When Al Horford encountered early foul trouble, the Celtics were left leaning heavily on Noah Vonleh, the 27-year-old former first-round pick who spent last season in Shanghai and hadn’t logged big minutes in an NBA game since 2019.
But these Celtics weren’t taking no mess. Vonleh logged a team-high five minutes and 37 seconds of matchup time on Joel Embiid and held him to eight points on 3-of-6 shooting with three turnovers and a shooting foul. Vonleh was far from perfect, and he took a hard shot to the head from Embiid at one point, but rewarded the Celtics for keeping him around.
Then there’s Joe Mazzulla, who was thrust into a rather impossible position in the aftermath of Udoka’s suspension. Looking every bit a disciple of Brad Stevens, Mazzulla has projected poise and steadiness even if his own head has to be spinning at times. His reward on Tuesday night was a postgame water bath when the Celtics players hit him with the H20 sneak attack in a jubilant locker room.
Even the Embiid dust-up could have derailed the Celtics on Tuesday night. Smart hasn’t always been the beacon of level-headedness. And while it was rather humorous to hear him suggest that he showed great maturity because he, "could have cracked [Embiid’s] head open but I didn’t," it only hammered home Brown’s point.
These Celtics are not letting anyone push them around. They know there’s a target on their backs this season, they’re not sneaking up on anyone like last year’s second-half surge, and this team simply doesn’t have time for shenanigans.
"I could see [Smart] tripped him and Joel fell backwards, so I think that was more of a FIFA type of ordeal," joked Grant Williams. "We gotta stay locked in. That's the No. 1 thing. When it happened, Al [Horford] brought us in together and said, 'Don't let this affect how we approach every single play, how we lock in. Stay locked in, let it affect them, let's be ourselves, let's be who we are.' We did a good job of that, just staying focused, letting every possession come to us and we did a good job of responding."
All of this comes with the obvious asterisk that it was just one game. But it was very encouraging that the Celtics cleaned up much of what ailed them in the postseason by cutting down turnovers and getting consistency from the bench. Tatum has typically eased his way into the season but looked every bit an MVP candidate with his play in the opener.
Brogdon carried the second-unit offense at times. The Celtics were able to weather the first five minutes of the fourth quarter without Tatum and actually extended their lead.
Noted Brogdon: "We’ll definitely have ups and downs this year, everybody loses games, everybody goes through adversity, but I think we got the group and I think we got the coach that can handle it.”
After all, these Celtics aren’t taking no mess. And they don’t plan on letting anyone, or anything, derail them from their ultimate goal.
"I’m glad the season has started so we can, in a sense, stop talking about [all that’s gone wrong since June]," said Tatum. "But it was a tough summer for myself, everybody, because everywhere I went, somebody mentioned, 'Good job in the Finals, next year, you guys did well.' And they meant it in a good way but it’s just a reminder that you lost. You got to the top and you didn’t get over that hump.
"So just kind of dealing with that all summer and realizing that it’s opening night. One team is getting their ring and we’re not. So that kind of kept me up late last night. But it’s a new season, and just ready to move past it."