Everything you need to know about the Celtics beating the Grizzlies 122-116 with BSJ insight and analysis
Box Score
HEADLINES
Kyrie and Marcus carry the day (again): Kyrie Irving (38 points, 11 assists) refused to let the Celtics drop another game to an inferior opponent on Friday night. The All-Star scored 28 of his 38 points in the second half, helping carry the hosts to their eighth-straight win at TD Garden, a 122-116 victory over the reeling Grizzlies.
It was the ninth 30-point, 10-assist effort of the season for the point guard, who torched whatever defense the Grizzlies threw at him in a back and forth offensive battle while scoring 28 of his points in the second half. Marcus Smart had one of the best shooting nights of his career with 20 points, knocking down six treys from beyond the arc on a 7-of-9 shooting night, while Boston benefitted from big games from Al Horford (18 points) and Aron Baynes (12 rebounds) to help close the door on a hot shooting Grizz team (43 percent from 3) that played one of their best offensive games in weeks.
Mike Conley had a team-high 26 points for the Grizzlies, who have now dropped four straight games and 10 of their last 11. Boston will look to extend their winning streak to three on Saturday night against the Hawks in Atlanta.
Baynes gets crunch time minutes: The veteran center played just his second game since returning from a broken hand, but he was one of the most valuable players on the floor for Boston against a Memphis frontcourt with size. Baynes piled up a season-high 12 rebounds in his 22 minutes and got the nod over the final four minutes of the game over Marcus Morris to provide an answer for the Grizzlies imposing size up front. He was a team-high plus-21 in just 22 minutes and looks to be in line for bigger chunks of playing time moving forward.
TURNING POINT
The Celtics broke open a three-point game in the closing three minutes of the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run to push the lead up to ten with just under two minutes left behind the scoring and passing of Irving. Memphis never seriously threatened the rest of the way as the Celtics were able to sub out their starters in the closing minute to get some extra rest ahead of a back-to-back in Atlanta on Saturday night.
TWO UP
Marcus Smart: The starting guard knocked down a season-high six 3-point field goals, just one short of his career-high. His 6-of-8 shooting night from downtown lifted his 3-point shooting percentage for the season to a career-high 37.2 percent, an eight percent increase from last season.
Irving: The future All-Star has averaged 32.5 points on 62.5 percent shooting over his last two games while also posting 14.5 assists and 6.5 rebounds per game. He has also posted nine double-doubles on the season and posted back-to-back 20-point, 10-assist games for the third time in just 40 games this year.
TWO DOWN
Marcus Morris: Another sluggish start for the veteran forward, who is struggling to shoot the ball for the first time all season. He went 4-of-12 from the field on Friday night and missed all five of his 3-point attempts. He has shot below 33 percent or worse from the field over his past three games and is just 2-of-12 from downtown during that run.
Jayson Tatum: The 20-year-old failed to make a field goal for the first time all season, going 0-of-6 from the field to finish with just two points. It was his worst scoring performance of the year and his lackluster defense helped dig the starters into a hole in the first quarter for the second consecutive game.
TOP PLAY
Irving hits Smart with the behind the back pass for 3!https://t.co/Bgd4V3Netg pic.twitter.com/c8BfrEHWyv
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 19, 2019
