The Boston Celtics, according to a different NBA analyst, won the 2024 NBA trade deadline.

The Boston Celtics are predicted to win the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline by multiple NBA analysts. However, the Celtics made just three trades—or perhaps as few as two deals combined into three—for players who most likely won’t get much playing time in the 2024 postseason. So how precisely did they use such small movements to win the trade deadline?

To be fair, the Celtics made some excellent decisions when they sent off reserve players Lamar Stevens and Dalano Banton, as well as a few second-round draft selections to acquire reserve wing Jaden Springer from the Philadelphia 76ers and backup big man Xavier Tillman, Sr. from the Memphis Grizzlies. Actually, quite good!

You will have to hear directly from the man to find out why he believes that Boston’s trade deadline will be so different from what another NBA analyst believes.

See what the popular Celtics blogger Dan Greenberg, the host of “The Alley Oop with Ryan Blackburn,” had to say about the Celtics winning the 2024 trade deadline by watching the video above.

Tuesday night’s victory over the Brooklyn Nets gave the Boston Celtics their sixth straight road victory and fifth overall.

After a closely contested first half, the C’s surged away to lead by 15 points at the half with a massive 72 points. With 31 points in the first half, Jayson Tatum tied his career best and was the driving force behind the surge.

It was the 13th time this season that Boston has scored at least 70 points in the first half, according to Celtics statistics expert Dick Lipe. That matches the franchise high achieved during their championship run in 1959–60.

Before the Nets mounted a desperate comeback attempt in the fourth quarter, the Celtics had increased their lead to as much as 23 points. In the final moments, Brooklyn capitalized on some careless play by Boston in the second half to reduce the margin to six. But it wasn’t enough, as the C’s won 118-110 in the end.

Tatum finished with 41 points, which is his highest since his 45 points in an overtime-ending game against Minnesota on January 10. The remainder of the starting lineup stepped up to score in double digits with Kristaps Porzingis (back) out. With 19 points, Jaylen Brown was the second-highest scorer.

Wednesday night’s rematch between the Celtics and Nets at TD Garden will be Boston’s last game before the All-Star break. Here are the first things we learned from the events on Tuesday.

It was clear from the first tip that this was one of those classic Jayson Tatum takeover games.

Tatum scored 15 more points in the second quarter to bring his total to 31 at the half. That tied his first-half career high for points, which he has already done three times. Through the first two frames, he nearly single-handedly outscored the Nets’ starting five (32 points).

Three Celtics have scored thirty or more points in the first half of a game since the NBA started keeping playby-play records in 1996–97.

Immediately establishing himself in the game, the five-time All-Star scored 16 points in the first quarter. In his career, he has never scored more than 16 points in the first quarter once. Coincidentally, he finished with 46 points and dropped 18 against the Nets in February of last year.

It was clear from the first tip that this was one of those classic Jayson Tatum takeover games.

Immediately establishing himself in the game, the five-time All-Star scored 16 points in the first quarter. In his career, he has never scored more than 16 points in the first quarter once. Coincidentally, he finished with 46 points and dropped 18 against the Nets in February of last year.

Early in the game, Tatum was showered with MVP chants from the Barclays Center crowd. In addition, the 25-year-old threw the crowd his trademark “kiss of death” during his tantrum in the first half, which you can watch in full below:

Tatum finished with 41 points on 14 of 26 (3-11 3-PT) shooting. It was his third 40-point game of the season and his 25th overall.

Tatum finished with 41 points on 14 of 26 (3-11 3-PT) shooting. It was his third 40-point game of the season and his 25th overall.

With just two games left before the All-Star break, Porzingis was declared out of the game due to a low back injury. Considering the 7-foot-2 Latvian’s past history of injuries, it was definitely a good idea to allow him to recover.

The Celtics handled their business without their star big man. While Tatum dropped 41, the rest of the starting lineup picked up the slack with double-digit scoring.

Horford stood out in particular. Of his 16 points, the 37-year-old veteran scored 11 in the first half. He played excellent defense and finished with a perfect score of 2-2 on three-pointers. In 36 minutes, he added six rebounds, four assists, and a steal.

Horford will most likely sit because the Celtics are scheduled to play the second night of a back-to-back on Wednesday. Therefore, if Horford, Porzingis, and the recently acquired Xavier Tillman are out, Boston may find itself seriously shorthanded in the frontcourt. If so, expect to see a lot of Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta.

The Celtics have faced criticism all season long for their excessive reliance on 3-pointers and their lack of paint penetration. On Tuesday, during ESPN’s NBA Today, former C’s big man Kendrick Perkins added to the criticism.

Perkins remarked, “I would love to see more post-ups from the wings and the guards.” When you consider Jayson Tatum’s broad shoulders, stature (6-9, 6-10), and range of motion in the low-block and mid-post areas of the court. Jrue Holiday is a post-guard that is underappreciated. His strength and ability to get to his places is so underappreciated until he gets a guy of his size. There are moments during the offense when Jaylen Brown seems to have vanished a little. Once more, the key is striking a balance rather than relying solely on 3-point shooting.

Maybe Joe Mazzulla, the coach, and the Celtics noticed. Against Brooklyn, they scored their first 16 points in the paint. In the opening quarter, they scored 20 points in the paint, and in the first half, 32.

In fact, the Celtics scored at least 18 points in the paint in the first quarter of this game for the fourth time in a row. The run has demonstrated that Boston is not limited to using the 3-ball to dominate the game. The fact that the Celtics didn’t start pulling away from the Nets until they began shooting 3-pointers, though, indicates that they still depend heavily on them for success.

In the end, the C’s scored 50 points in the paint to win.

But earlier last year, WNBA great and TNT analyst Candace Parker said some things that infuriated Knicks supporters. She was critical of Brunson’s postseason performance at the time. Parker, though, claims that she was seriously doubting Brunson’s role on the squad and his potential to be “the guy” who wins New York a championship.

Parker was attempting to make the point that when it comes to winning NBA Titles, it becomes unclear where Brunson fits into the Knicks hierarchy. Parker became the first woman to call an NBA All-Star Game last year.

It was not meant as a jab at Jalen Brunson. I believe that he improves everyone in his vicinity. Parker continued, “I think he makes winning plays.” “My point was, who are the Knicks going to target to be that guy, that No. 1 guy in those situations, to go next to Jalen Brunson?”

Parker’s prior remarks regarding Brunson’s play between the first and second rounds offended Knicks supporters because, on its face, they were untrue. Against the Cavaliers, Brunson averaged 24 points and 4.8 assists per game; against the Heat, he upped the ante to 31 points and 6.3 assists.

The two-time WNBA MVP, however, maintains that she only voiced her opinion and is holding out hope that the

Knicks, as they currently stand, can disprove their naysayers.

Parker did commend the Knicks front office for the deals they made this season to surround Brunson with top defensive players, since she believed it was what the team lacked in the previous year’s playoff series against the Heat.

Notwithstanding this, Brunson plays a significant role in the Knicks’ 33-21 starting lineup on Wednesday. In route to his first All-Star selection, the second-year Knick is averaging 27.5 points and 6.5 assists per game.

As the Knicks’ de facto number one, Brunson may have improved his game enough to carry New York to the promised land. All we can do is wait and watch how things work out.