There are lengthy scoring runs in any NBA scoring game generally but what the Celtics did in the middle two quarters of the C’s blowout win against the Grizzlies on Wednesday night even had Brad Stevens beaming after the game. A 7-point deficit was eventually turned into a 33-point edge in the third quarter thanks to a 52-12 outburst by the hosts. The majority of the most impressive damage was done in the second frame when Memphis absorbed a 23-2 swing heading into halftime that kept the visitors scoreless for nearly seven minutes.
“I thought our guys really dug in on the defensive end of the floor,” Stevens said. “Then (Tatum) scored a bunch of buckets in a row and pushed it out. Our other guys were struggling to get any real rhythm offensively and that got us going. Then in the second half, third quarter, every one of those guys picked up where he left off. So that was good. I thought he made big plays, Theis spacing the floor really helped us against a guy like Valanciunas. Obviously Kanter did what he does. Thought we played pretty well at times. I’m encouraged because we took another good punch from them and stayed the course and guarded and played together, so that’s good.”
The Grizzlies had finished with the fifth-best offense in the NBA over the last 10 games while surging into a playoff spot in the Western Conference amid an 8-2 stretch. They are far from the Lakers at their best but their offense had shown the potential to be as potent as them when they got going. Yet, the Celtics managed to bring their run-and-gun play to a full stop for two quarters with the type of energy on both ends that had Stevens seeing a more sustained performance.
“We’ve said all year, we’ve pressured the ball better the past couple of games,” Stevens said. “I do think we looked a little fresher. I think that is part of it. I think that we were not allowing the ball to get to the paint before you feel pressure. If that happens with us, I’ve said this all year, if they catch it on the block without any resistance, if they catch it inside the three or at the three point line without resistance, then we’re in trouble. We’re not going to be able to impact the ball or impact them at the rim the way we want to. Our best rim defense is keeping the ball away from it. We have to be able to push things out with our pressure. We were better the last two games at that. Again, I don’t think it is a huge coincidence, we just looked a little fresher.”
MARCUS SMART pic.twitter.com/vj91YFrxqC
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) January 23, 2020
Theis for three before the clock expires
??????? ?????? (? @MetroByTMobile ) pic.twitter.com/xqYa26L2DY
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) January 23, 2020
Jayson Tatum from Worcester pic.twitter.com/RGaeqbjzup
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) January 23, 2020