Celtics’ Jayson Tatum when asked about CJ McCollum’s TD Garden

Boston The Celtics hosted the New Orleans Pelicans at TD Garden on Sunday night, winning 120-119 in thrilling fashion. As usual, the Celtics home crowd was in full force. One Pelican member who noticed her CJ McCollumwho made the comment Jayson Tatum o energy in the arena.

“It’s never because of a lack of energy in the building,” Tatum said. “I was at the free throw line today and CJ McCollum asked me, ‘Does it always roll like this around here?’ I was like, ‘Yeah.’ So I think it’s a luxury we have to play in front of the best fans in the arena, whether (whether) we’re playing on TNT or playing a team that’s 8-30.”

The Pelicans overcame the adversity of being a significant underdog as well as playing in front of a hostile crowd to take the Celtics down to the wire. McCollum missed a contested layup that would have been the game-winner in the final seconds.

Tatum had an outstanding performance, leading the scorers with 38 points and along with Kristaps Porzingis with 11 rebounds. Pelicans guard Trey Murphy III had a breakout season, scoring 30 points with six rebounds and four assists while shooting 10-of-17 from the field and 5-of-10 from 3-point range.

However, the biggest story of the game was the comeback Zion Williamson, suspended by the Pelicans for their win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night. In 28 minutes of action, Williamson finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, three assists and five steals.

If the Celtics faithful can show up for Sunday night’s contest against one of the league’s worst teams, they’ll be on another level come playoff time.

Will the Celtics have home court advantage in the playoffs?

The Celtics currently have the third best record in the NBA and second in the Eastern Conference, at 28-11. The Cleveland Cavaliers, 33-5, have a 5.5-game lead over the Celtics for first place in the East.

There is still plenty of basketball left to be played and the teams will meet twice more during the regular season. The deficit of 5.5 games will be difficult to make up, but not impossible. However, there is an incredibly strong chance that the Celtics have home court advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs.