Jayson Tatum tied his career high for first half points on Tuesday night, scoring 31 points. He torched the Brooklyn defence and got to any spot he wanted, eventually finishing with 41 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists to lead Boston to the win on the road. The Nets however did not back down, as Mikal Bridges and Cam Thomas made some timely buckets and reduced the Celtics’ lead all the way down to six with just two minutes remaining. But the Celtics once again executed well down the stretch and when Derrick White dunked the ball home with 46 seconds left on the clock the game was all but done. The Celtics went on to win 118-110.
The first quarter belonged to one man and one man only, Jayson Tatum. He scored 16 of Boston’s 36 first quarter points and completely blew away whatever defensive coverage the Nets threw at him. Tatum finished with 41 points, but the most impressive improvement in Tatum’s game is his playmaking ability. He now has five or more assists in all of his last five games, as he continues to make the right reads for his teammates.
Despite being the away side Boston felt completely at home in the Barclays Center. The Celtics put up 36 points in both of the first two quarters and led by 15 points at the half. Without Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford stepped in to the starting five and filled the gap excellently. Horford scored 16 points and was a perfect 100% from both the field and free throw line, he also contributed 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
Tatum’s offensive explosion cooled off to begin the second half and Brooklyn started to grow into the game. It was another off night from behind the arc for Jaylen Brown, he’s really been struggling from 3-point range as of late. He is just 4/20 from three over his last five games. Lonnie Walker had a really impressive game off the bench for the Nets, he scored 15 points in just 17 minutes of playing and added 3 rebounds and assists.
Brooklyn really upped the intensity in the fourth quarter, their shot makers (Bridges and Thomas) really applied pressure to the Celtics’ defence. But the Celtics weathered the storm and Mr Clutch himself – Derrick White – made a dagger dunk to close a fifth Celtics victory in a row 118-110.
After the game Tatum spoke about this years Celtics team via ESPN: “We’ve got a really good team where in any given possession we could have two, three advantages and it’s not always going to be me” … “So just understanding that and knowing that I need my teammates. I need everybody, we all need each other”. The Celtics faces the same opponent back in Boston on Wednesday night looking to go six unbeaten before the all-star break.
By Will C
Add comment
Comments