Celtics score second straight blowout in 119-95 win over Grizzlies
By Tristan Deschenes, 98.5 The Sports Hub
The Boston Celtics’ offensive success continued Wednesday night. After scoring 139 points and beating the Lakers by 32, Boston beat down the young Memphis Grizzlies by a score of 119-95.
The C’s shot 50.6 from the field and a solid 43.8 percent from three. Every Celtic that dressed for the game got a bucket.
Boston only held a 27-25 lead after one quarter, but used a huge second and third quarter to end the game early. The green finally got going with under five minutes to go in the second quarter. Daniel Theis finally energized the home crowd when he knocked down a three with 4:59 to give the Celtics a 44-42 lead.
A couple minutes later, Smart got the crowd going again when he found a cutting Javante Green with a crazy overhead pass for the and-one basket to give Boston a 49-42 lead. The C’s continued to gain separation and got the lead up to double digits after a Grizzlies turnover led to another flashy pass from Smart to Tatum for the easy dunk. The dunk put the C’s up 52-42 and marked a 17-0 run by Boston.
Boston would go into the half on a roll after Tatum knocked down a three with under a minute to go made it 56-42. Tatum would hit a mid-range jumper with 12.8 seconds left to put the C’s up 58-42. The Celtics played suffocating defense in the quarter, which led to their 23-2 run and a 58-44 lead at the half.
Jayson Tatum led the way for Boston with 21 first half points and Daniel Theis also had an impressive half scoring 14 points. Jaren Jackson Jr. kept Memphis in the game with 10 first-half points.
Boston would really turn it on in the third. At 8:23 Gordon Hayward’s first basket of the game put the Celtics up 68-51. Kemba Walker, who was also scoreless in the first half, scored back-to back threes to put the Celtics up 71-51 with 7:53 to go in the third quarter.
The green continued to dominate the quarter and got the lead into the 30s after a Semi Ojeleye two pointer with 4:11 to go in the third put the C’s up 84-54. A Kanter tip-in with 1.6 seconds left put the Celtics up 99-63 heading into the fourth.
The entire fourth quarter acted as garbage time and the Celtic lead got all the way up to 38 at one point in the quarter.
Boston was led by Jayson Tatum who scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Daniel Theis scored 14 points and Marcus Smart and Gordon Hayward each had 13. The Celtics got a good boost off the bench as the Celtics reserves combined to score 50 points on the night. The bench was led by Enes Kanter who scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
The Grizzlies were led by Jonas Valanciunas who scored 16 points and 13 rebounds. Jaren Jackson Jr. added 13 points. Rookie of the Year candidate Ja Morant was very quiet, scoring only two points on only five shots.
Up Next: Boston will fly down to Orlando to take on the Magic Friday night.
