Celtics get their first NBA in season tournament win against the Brooklyn Nets 121-107
The Boston Celtics kicked off their first ever in-season tournament campaign against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night. I could spend ten minutes on the court and the Celtics new jerseys and all the reactions or overreactions to those but instead let’s focus on the actual game.
Both teams got off to a hot start in this one lighting it up from beyond the arc. There wasn’t an abundance on defense in the first quarter with the Celtics shooting 41% and the Nets shooting 50% resulting in a 38-33 Celtics lead after one. Jaylen Brown led the way in the first rebounding in a major way after his struggles against the 76ers on Wednesday night, Brown finished the first quarter with 12 points 1 rebound and 4 assists. Boston needed all the scoring they could get out of Brown in the first quarter as Tatum was held scoreless through the first 15 minutes.
Jayson Tatum exploded in the second quarter after starting off ice cold hitting 3 quick 3-pointers scoring 13 points in a matter of minutes extending the Celtics lead to 9 halfway through the second quarter. Jrue Holiday added 11 points 6 rebounds and 4 assists to the Celtics total in the first half, but it was still the Jaylen Brown show as he led all scorers at the half with 21 points giving the Celtics a 66-54 lead.
The Celtics continued to extend their lead in the second half, Tatum and Brown continued to score while Kristaps Porzingis and Holiday dominated defensively. Brooklyn tried to keep up in the third but a 10-2 Celtics run with 4:45 left in the quarter gave the Celtics an 81-64 lead as they showed no signs of slowing down. Everyone was getting in on the action after a massive Luke Kornet dunk and Brown 3-pointer the Celtics lead was 86-71 and the Nets seemed overmatched. Payton Pritchard and the Celtics bench looked much better in this game as Pritchard had 9 points and 4 rebounds at the end of the third. This was a massive improvement compared to how the bench looked on the road early in the season. The Celtics would head into the 4th leading by nine 93-84.
Boston came out in the fourth quarter on fire with Pritchard stealing an offensive rebound and Sam Hauser rattling off back to back 3-pointers to stretch the Celtics lead to 104-86 early in the quarter. Hauser continued his hot streak hitting his 4th 3-pointer of the night to finally extend the Celtics lead to 20 points 111-90 with just under 6 minutes left in the fourth. The Boston bench was just getting started and ended up playing their best quarter of the season with Kornet racking up offensive rebounds, Hauser hitting 3’s and Pritchard doing it all late in this one.
For a team who’s bench had been a question mark the first few weeks of the season, this was a major step in the right direction. Especially on the first night of a back to back for a team that was already resting Al Horford. The Celtics bench and ball security were the story in this one for me, the team only had 7 turnovers if you’re not including the shot clock violation at the end of regulation. Maybe the biggest takeaway though was that a bench who had been under fire over the past week showed up in a big way in the 121-107 win on the first night of a back to back. As the Celtics are right back after it tomorrow at home against the Raptors and a rested Horford will be needed and ready to go for that one.
Scaz’s takeaways
- Jaylen Brown rebounded in a massive way after struggling in Philly
- Porzingis and Holiday give the Celtics a defensive level they didn’t have last year
- Luke Kornet and the bench look much better at home than they have on the road.
- Celtics are going to continue to live and die by the 3 pointer for better or worse.
