The undermanned Celtics fought hard for 24 minutes, but they were blown away by a hungry Pelicans team in the second half, as Anthony Davis led the Pelicans to a blowout 108-89 win.
The All-Star big man was sensational against the Celtics (34 points, 11 rebounds) all night, but the C's still played strong all-around defense in the first half that kept them in control before the break. That defense dissipated in the second half, however, as New Orleans outscored Boston by a 61-40 margin. Cheick Diallo (career-high 17 points) was an unlikely contributor off the Pelicans bench while Rajon Rondo (11 assists) helped to pick Boston's slow-footed defense apart. The Celtics' offense also stalled throughout the fourth quarter, highlighted by four straight free throw misses by Abdel Nader in one stretch.
The disappointing second half wasted a sensational performance from Jayson Tatum (23 points on 9-of-14 shooting), one of the few bright spots on a Celtics team that was still missing Kyrie Irving (knee) and Jaylen Brown (concussion). Marcus Morris also added 17 points in the defeat.
GAME: No. 70 of 82
WHO: Celtics (47-22) vs. Pelicans (39-30)
WHEN: 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: Smoothie King Center
RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub
TV: NBC SPORTS BOSTON
BOX SCORE: NBA.COM
Celtics
PG: Terry Rozier
SG: Jayson Tatum
SF: Marcus Morris
PF: Al Horford
C: Aron Baynes
Pelicans
PG: Rajon Rondo
SG: Jrue Holiday
F: E'Twaun Moore
F: Anthony Davis
C: Emeka Okafor
Second Half Notes
- Pelicans carried over their offensive momentum at end of first half and stormed out of intermission with a 13-4. Lots of defensive miscommunication early that led to easy buckets for Davis and company.
- The bigger problem for the C's though was the supporting cast of the Pelicans getting going. E'Twaun Moore hit a few 3s, Chuck Diallo got a few easy looks around the rim and Nikola Mirotic drew a number of fouls (nine free throw attempts) that got hosts' offense rolling.
- Meanwhile, the Celtics' offense started to stall outside of Jayson Tatum. The rookie had one of his best performances of the year (23 points on 9-of-14 shooting) but Morris and Monroe both cooled off. With outside jumpers not falling and Al Horford struggles continuing, the C's didn't have the firepower to keep pace with a uptempo Pelicans offense
- Tatum continued his strong first quarter by carrying the second unit on the offensive end for various stretches. He finished with 15 first half points on 6-of-9 shooting, doing well to fight through contact on strong takes to the rim. One of the best offensive games from him in months.
- Morris was right behind him in the scoring column (14 points) with a number of quick trigger jumpers that were falling from the perimeter. Those kind of shots are needed with Irving and Jaylen Brown out.
- Al Horford with a very hesitant first half. Just three shot attempts and looking more to pass than shoot with Anthony Davis guarding him. Not exactly a bad thing.
- C's defense was very solid for most of half, but had some ugly breakdowns in the final few minutes on Davis. They worried about other players on the pick-and-roll and pindowns, which left Davis for a few uncontested layups and lobs. They need to force other Pelicans to beat them instead of giving up those kinds of shots.
- Monroe doing more harm than good with his offense/defense. He's got eight points, but also have four turnovers in just 12 minutes. Baynes' minutes were limited due to foul trouble (3), but I bet he gets more of a look in second half.
- C's doing a very nice job defending 3-point line early. Only eight attempts by Pelicans in first half.
- Really interesting matchup contrast for the two teams as the Celtics went with just one starting guard in Rozier against the Pelicans three-guard lineup. C's took advantage of their size edge early with a couple nice postups by Tatum and Morris against their smaller matchups.
- Al Horford spent his entire stint on Anthony Davis and did a nice job from letting him get too many easy looks. He still managed to score 10 first quarter points, but a few of those came on tough fallaway jumpers.
- Marcus Morris and Jayson Tatum were both cooking early, hitting from the perimeter constantly to combine for 19 first quarter points on 6-of-10 shooting.
- No good place for the Celtics to hide Greg Monroe on defensively against the Pelicans stretch big or Anthony Davis. Outside of giving up an uncontested layup to Mirotic, he held his own fairly well early for his speed mismatch.
- C's played strong D early but helped keep the Pelicans in it by piling up some non-shooting fouls that let the Pelicans shoot free throws for the final 3:20 of period.
- Some early big minutes for Abdel Nader off the bench after a strong showing from him in fourth quarter of Friday's win against Magic.
- Kyrie Irving has been ruled out for tonight's contest as he continues to battle a sore left knee. He's missed the last two games to rest the injbut traveledveled with the team for their two-game road trip, generally a good sign that a player is close to returning. Jaylen Brown remains back in Boston as he recovers from his concussion.
- The Pelicans are clutching tightly to the eighth seed in the Western Conference, holding just a 1.5 game lead over the Nuggets and Clippers for the final spot. That tight race has brought a playoff type intensity for most of their matchups over the last few weeks.
- Pelicans will be playing the second end of a back-to-back on Sunday night. They are also in the midst of suiting up for five games in six nights, due to a makeout game,
- Greg Monroe is shooting 70 percent from the field over the last six games, easily the top mark on the Celtics roster during that stretch.