Final: Celtics 113, Pelicans 100 -- Six straight win for C's

With four key rotation players (Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, Gordon Hayward, Aron Baynes) sidelined, the end of Boston’s five-game winning streak seemed to be a likely ending against Anthony Davis and the Pelicans. Boston’s underdog mentality that was prevalent throughout last season emerged yet again, however, as the undermanned Celtics took it to the Pelicans on both ends of the floor despite 41 points from Davis. Marcus Morris led the way with a season-high 31 points while Jayson Tatum added 21 points to carry the scoring load with the All-Stars sidelined. Jaylen Brown shook off a rough first half to score 19 points off the bench for the hosts as they cruised to their sixth straight victory with five players in double figures.

Boston goes for their seventh straight win against the Wizards in Washington DC on Wednesday night.

   First Half Notes 

• Celtics start with Rozier/Smart backcourt in the absence of Irving and the group runs smoothly, contain Holiday to just five points in the first half.


• Lots of good early aggression from Jayson Tatum, who has gone into full Kobe pull up mode with plenty of success in this one against a lackluster New Orleans defense. he's opened the game 7-of-9 from the field and there is no one on the Pelicans roster that can handle him defensively.


• Marcus Morris also made quick work of his matchup against Nikola Mirotic and Solomon Hill, driving to the rim nearly at will on his way to 12 first half points.


• Some very nice minutes off the bench for Robert Williams as Daniel Theis battled foul trouble for much of the first half against Anthony Davis. He stuffed the All-Star in the post on one attempt and made him work for his shots. He went 8-of-17 from the field and didn't knock down a 3.


• Brad Wanamaker worked a nice in-between game on closeouts in his limited minutes, while Jaylen Brown continued his aggression to the rim almost with too much recklessness. He went 2-of-10 from the field and earned the ire of his teammates with a couple mistakes on the final possessions of the half.


• C's will need to continue to shore up the interior defense against the Pelicans bigs and their fast paced offense in the second half. Ensuring they get out to the 3-point line (New Orleans 6-of-13 from deep) will be a priority as well.

• Al Horford is doubtful after missing Saturday's game with a sore left knee that has been bugging him over the past few weeks. Aron Baynes also is out in the wake of a sprained left ankle suffered on Thursday night. Robert Williams will be back with the team after the birth of his daughter, but Boston's frontline will be very shorthanded up front with Guerschon Yabusele (sprained ankle) already ruled out. Kyrie Irving (sore shoulder) and Gordon Hayward (illness) were late additions to the injury report after being ruled out and will leave the C's with just ten active players.


• The Pelicans will be playing the second half of a back-to-back after winning in Detroit on Sunday afternoon. However, the status of All-Star Anthony Davis is up in the air after he suffered a shoulder injury during the win. He played through the pain but looked nothing like himself (6 points, 9 rebounds in 27 minutes).


• New Orleans has undergone some changes to the lineup since the Green last saw them two weeks ago, inserting Julius Randle and Solomon Hill in the starting five in place of Nikola Mirotic and E'Twaun Moore to spread out some spacing to the bench. It remains to be seen whether the Pelicans will go with a more perimeter-oriented group against the C's starting five since they will be quite vulnerable defensively if they stick with that group.


• Given how well the Boston's offense has been playing (No. 1 in NBA during past five games) and the Pelicans pace (third in NBA), this has the potential to be the highest scoring game of the season for both teams. New Orleans is No. 1 in the league in ppg and the Celtics have topped 115 points in five straight contests.