Final: Celtics 122, Grizzlies 107 -- Four straight wins for C's

Jayson Tatum scored all of his game-high 29 points in the opening three quarters, which helped enabled the Celtics to cruise to a 122-107 win over the under-manned Grizzlies.

Kemba Walker and Gordon Hayward also chipped in with 19 points in the balanced offensive effort for the C’s that featured six players scoring in double figures against a Memphis team that was desperate for a win. The Celtics broke things open with some help from the bench midway through the first half and did not look back over the final 24 minutes as the C’s posted 51 percent shooting from the field and 43 percent from 3-point range. It was the fourth straight win for the C’s and probably the last appearance by the starters ahead of the postseason with just one meaningless seeding game remaining on Thursday.

Ja Morant had a team-high 26 points for the Grizzlies along with 13 assists who fell to 1-6 in the bubble. They are in danger of falling out of the play-in game for the No. 8 seed entirely in the Western Conference which would up the odds of the C’s receiving a higher draft pick.

First Half Notes

—Celtics defense was locked in from jump street in this one and it carried over for the entire half with the undermanned Grizzlies shooting just 33 percent from the field and 7 percent from 3-point range in what was close to a must-win game for them.

—Fueling that defense was a large part of the second unit as the Marcus Smart/Rob Williams/Brad Wanamaker trio were tremendous yet again in the second quarter, opening the game up with a 11-0 run. Williams chipped in with three blocks while Wanamaker and Smart were both gritty defensively.

—Jayson Tatum was sensational in the first half with 17 points despite a little injury scare after rolling his ankle on a jump shot. He was 6-of-8 from the field, mixing in plenty of turnarounds.

—More good ball movement from C’s with 13 assists on 20 made field goals.

—Grant Williams with his first extended run with the regulars in about a week. He struggled at times with a pair of turnovers but did have a pretty block on a Ja Morant drive.

—Kemba Walker had a nice bounce back shooting outing from Sunday’s dud, knocking down four of his first six shots to get in double digit points in the first half.

—Rob Williams and Enes Kanter both got minutes but Williams outplayed Kanter yet again. The veteran big man continues to struggle finishing around the rim while the C’s defensively hit a different level with Rob Williams on the floor.

—Overall an encouraging 24 minutes of basketball from the C’s who will just be looking to get out of this game healthy so they can put the starters on ice before the playoffs begin.

• This will likely be the final game of action for the Celtics regulars before the start of the postseason next Monday. Brad Stevens emphasized over the weekend that the C's would want to use at least one of the final two games to maintain strong conditioning heading into the playoffs. "I feel good about our shape now," Stevens said Sunday, "But you have to keep it up. As long as guys feel good they’ll play for now, because I do think rhythm and conditioning are important. It’s not like we’ve played 80 games and now it’s the playoffs. We’ve played five, so we have to continue to get our feel for each other and that level we need. I’m encouraged because we came in saying we’d play our best as we go along. That’s been the case in the last couple, but we’ll see if we can keep it up."


• The Celtics will have a chance to play spoiler in this one and knock the Grizzlies closer to falling out of a play-in game in Western Conference for the No. 8 seed. Two losses by Memphis in their final two games would open up the door in that scenario for Memphis to fall into the No. 14 draft lottery spot. More details on potential scenarios here.


• Memphis remains without starting power forward Jaren Jackson Jr (torn meniscus) and backup point guard Tyus Jones (knee). They are just 1-5 in bubble games so far, the worst record out of anyone in the Western Conference in Orlando.


• Daniel Theis is the only Celtic on the injury report (probable) with foot soreness. Reduced minutes for him should open up the door for increased competition at the backup center spot between Rob Williams and Enes Kanter.