Joe Mazzulla praised the Boston Celtics' bench for their game-changing impact on the team as they held off the New York Knicks.

The Knicks attempted a late comeback, but the Celtics held out for a 123-117 win to pick up their seventh victory in the last nine games.

Jaylen Brown finished with a season-high 42 points, recording his third 40-point game of the season, while Derrick White added 22, but it was Boston's bench that earned the spotlight as they outscored the Knicks' bench 33-10.

Jordan Walsh, Hugo Gonzalez and Josh Minott combined for 23 points between them, but they put in strong performances all around to draw Mazzulla's eye.

"They're just finding — they're slowly chipping away at what it means to be really impactful in this league," said Mazzulla.

"And, really, what they do matters for our team, and having that role of kind of going out there every night and knowing they can change the game. And everybody on the team has done that. I thought this was the best example of multiple guys doing that.

"It came from Hugo, it came from Jordan, it came from Josh, even Sam [Hauser] defensively, I thought was great. So, they're just having an understanding of how much they can impact the game and how important that is for us and how much it impacts winning. So, they've just got to keep doing it."

Keep them 40 pieces comin @FCHWPO is tonight's @Gatorade Player of the Game pic.twitter.com/3Iq0yneVEK

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 3, 2025

Brown continues to be the Celtics' centrepiece without Jayson Tatum, and he went 16-of-24 from the field while making eight free throw attempts.

Boston are currently eighth in the Eastern Conference with a 12-9 record but having beaten the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons in recent weeks, Brown is proud of the progress the team has made this season.

"It's easy to focus on what you see now," Brown said. "But if you go back to preseason, before the season, we're in a much different space now.

"You can see the difference if you go back and look at some of those early games in the season. It's only been 20 games, and there's been a huge amount of growth from a lot of guys — Neemi [Queta], Jordan, Josh, even Baylor [Scheierman], Payton [Pritchard].

"So, we're continuing to take it just one step at a time, but the best is yet to come, so we've still got a lot of work to do."