Two newcomers lead way as Celtics blow out Pelicans for first win

Zack Cox, Boston Herald on Oct 27, 2025

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After their worst start to a season in a dozen years, the 2025-26 Boston Celtics finally secured their first victory Monday night in New Orleans.

Boston rode a well-rounded scoring effort and a dominant fourth quarter to a 122-90 win over a New Orleans Pelicans team that was playing without injured star Zion Williamson.

Six Celtics players scored in double figures, led by Anfernee Simons’ 25 off the bench on 9-of-17 shooting (6 for 13 from 3-point range). Josh Minott (15 points, nine rebounds) was an all-around difference-maker in his first career start, with Boston outscoring New Orleans by a whopping 42 points across his 28 minutes.

The 1-3 Celtics will return home to host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night at TD Garden.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla trotted out his third different starting lineup of the season, inserting Minott alongside consistent starters Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Jaylen Brown and Neemias Queta.

Minott was a DNP-CD last Friday night in New York, but he gave the Celtics some strong minutes off the bench on Sunday. His 10 points and two steals in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter helped spark an ill-fated late-game rally in Detroit.

That effort earned the fourth-year wing his first NBA start — he got the nod over Hugo Gonzalez and Sam Hauser — and it took him all of six seconds to register his first highlight, skying to throw down a White lob off the opening tip. Minott, one of Boston’s top performers this preseason, also grabbed four rebounds and drew a foul on an aggressive crash during his first six-minute shift.

The Celtics built a 14-point first-quarter lead but had trouble protecting it, much like they did in their loss to the Pistons one day earlier. The player who caused Boston the most consternation after its strong start was, of all people, 37-year-old big man DeAndre Jordan, who just signed with New Orleans last week. Jordan’s two emphatic dunks fueled an 8-0 Pelicans run that cut the C’s lead to 34-32 three minutes into the second quarter.

Mazzulla reinserted Minott at that point, and the athletic 22-year-old again helped shift momentum back toward Boston. In the ensuing 90 seconds, he sank a layup, grabbed a defensive rebound, blocked a Trey Murphy III 3-pointer and drilled one of his own. Shortly thereafter, Minott pulled down an offensive board, stole a Saddiq Bey pass and slammed home a less-than-graceful fast-break dunk.

The awkward Minott slam stretched the Celtics’ lead back to double digits. They led 65-54 at halftime, with Minott, Brown, Pritchard and Simons all scoring in double figures in the first half. Minott was a plus-18 over his 12 first-half minutes, second-best behind Pritchard’s plus-21.

New Orleans staged another rally midway through the third quarter, getting buckets from Bey, Murphy and Yves Missi on four consecutive possessions to cut the deficit to four. The Celtics were able to weather that charge, as well, thanks to the contributions of two other wings.

Second-year pro Baylor Scheierman, used sparingly over Boston’s first four games, recovered a loose ball to set up a second-chance 3-pointer from Hauser. Scheierman then recorded his first points of the season with a 28-footer. Hauser, who’s come off the bench in the last two contests after starting the first two, also ran through an illegal screen to draw an offensive foul as Boston held New Orleans to just four points over the final four minutes of the third quarter.

Boston’s backcourt then broke the game open for good. White smothered a Jordan drive in midair — despite giving up seven inches and 75 points to the veteran center — to ignite a 22-2 Celtics drive that featured three Simons 3-pointers.

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