These aren’t last year’s Celtics.
That’s the biggest headline you are going to see everywhere after the Celtics’ 116-105 win over the East favorites without the help of Jaylen Brown (illness) or Enes Kanter (knee). Boston rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit thanks to a 37-11 second-half run that had nearly everything a Celtics fan that was optimistic about this season was hoping to see, on the same night Kyrie Irving and the Nets dropped to 1-3 on the season.
There was Gordon Hayward posting the first 20-point, 10-rebound game in a Celtic uniform three years into his Boston career, shaking off a woeful first half in the process and looking like an All-Star. There was Jayson Tatum erupting for 20 second-half points on 8-of-12 shooting, earning him chest bumps from Hayward and high-fives from Paul Pierce as he worked his way down the sideline after countless big shots. Kemba Walker got in on the act by frustrating the Bucks to the tune of 15 free throw attempts on the way to his season-high 32 points, taking advantage of his speed and instincts against the Bucks’ switching. Daniel Theis chipped in with 11 points and 9 rebounds in his return to the starting center spot. All in all, the starting five combined for 108 of Boston’s 116 points.
Despite the stellar play of that group, it was hard to argue that any of those names topped the most valuable Celtic for the night. That honor goes to Marcus Smart who posted 19 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists (5-of-11 from 3-point range) while also spending the majority of his 38 minutes helping to limit Giannis Antetokounmpo to a quiet 22 points.
It was a unique look for a revamped Celtics roster that had spent the majority of the past few seasons sticking a center or power forward such as Aron Baynes, Marcus Morris or Al Horford on the big man. With those guys in new places and Brown dealing with illness, the onus fell on Smart to try to make life challenging for the reigning MVP in his first start of the year. By helping to limit Antetokounmpo to just 13 field-goal attempts and one offensive rebound, the Greek Freak looked like a mere mortal for the first time at the TD Garden in years. He scored 30-plus points in all four visits to Boston last year including the postseason, but the calculus changed in this one.
Smart and Semi Ojeleye wore on Antetokounmpo as the night carried on, making him early every point he got while forcing the Bucks supporting cast to beat Boston. They were not up to the task on that front in the second half, failing to keep pace with Boston’s hot offense in the midst of a 74-46 second-half runaway.
Early Marcus Smart cobra strike on Giannis pic.twitter.com/pzoxT1iWhV
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) October 30, 2019
The way Giannis looked at Marcus Smart ? pic.twitter.com/lswIJ5xx2c
— ESPN (@espn) October 31, 2019
