BSJ Game Report: Celtics 139, Grizzlies 110 - C's cruise to second seed

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics win over the “Memphis Grizzlies,” with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics asserted themselves early behind Jayson Tatum but struggled to get the lead past 12 points for most of the second quarter. Then Tatum went bonkers and the game was basically over. Tatum scored 26 in the first half, Boston had a 72-49 halftime lead, and then both sides basically played at All-Star game speed until the benches came in for super-extended garbage time. 

HEADLINES

Not much to say about this game: Mission accomplished, as far as I’m concerned. The Philadelphia 76ers won tonight, so Boston had to win to avoid falling to fourth and facing Toronto. Memphis got all their regulars a tuneup last night so this was a nice little roll over for Boston. No one got hurt. Everyone get on the plane and go home. 

51 wins: Let’s just ponder this for a hot minute. Boston was 18-21, and then finished the season 33-10. That's almost an exact even split of the season. It’s still tough to comprehend. 

“I knew when I saw us get healthy in January, and we started that run, even before the trade deadline, it didn't look the same,” Brad Stevens said on the Celtics’ “View From The Rafters” podcast. “Even though we were playing teams that were beat up and didn't have all their guys, we looked different. We looked more dynamic, we were playing every possession, we were executing. We just looked different. And you could see something that clicked there. And in large part, it was health, and then the other thing was, our best players became really, really good and our role players became unbelievable in their roles.” 

Yeah they did, but it’s still incredible to think about. 

2nd seed: The Celtics, Bucks, and Sixers all tied with 51-31 records. Boston owns the tiebreaker over both teams (head-to-head vs. Philadelphia, and record against East playoff teams vs. Milwaukee), so Boston walks into the postseason with home court in at least the first two rounds. 

TURNING POINT

The Grizzlies got it down to 55-44 with 2:48 to go and then Tatum went off. He scored 10 points in a 17-5 closing run, including a 4-point play where he turned to someone in the stands and gave a big, exaggerated “wow.” You’ll see that on highlight films. 

FIVE UP

Jayson Tatum: A hyper-efficient 31 points on 11-14 shooting in 26 minutes. He tacked on 9 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal. He had a few late turnovers when the game was no longer in question. 

Daniel Theis: Same story as the past few games, really, for Theis. The Celtics don’t have to adjust their style of play for Theis, just the level of some of their passes and maybe a couple of the plays they try. There was one play where Horford touch-passes a lob after flashing to the middle but with Theis there, it had to be lower and it was stolen. 11 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists for Theis, but most importantly 6 of his offensive rebounds were on the offensive boards.

Al Horford: 13 points but on 6-8 shooting a nice corner 3-pointer after some sweet ball movement. The Celtics overall had 34 assists in this game. 

Payton Pritchard: How about Pritchard skying in to rip down a couple of offensive rebounds? I have my questions about how he’s going to be targeted in the playoffs, but I’m not counting this guy out. He has heart, so he’ll find a way to contribute. 

Luke Kornet: Let’s give him some love for this fourth quarter, getting out there for lobs and finishing with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. 

Malik Fitts: Fitts would have been strumming air guitar on the sidelines for some of the plays he, himself was making in the game. He threw down one dunk that made me think Javonte Green was back on the team. 

ZERO DOWN

Yeah, right. Not today. 

TOP PLAYS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- I’m totally fine with getting the second seed

I’ve said this before but I’ll reiterate it here: Brooklyn doesn’t scare me. Yes, they have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Those guys have also been playing more than 40 minutes a game just to lift Brooklyn to seventh. They are being worked to their absolute limits just to make the playoffs. 

Since March 1, Boston is 15-4 while Brooklyn is 12-8. Boston’s offense and defense are both better than Brooklyn’s. Boston has a league-best net rating of 14, more than twice Brooklyn’s 6.1. 

One of those wins came over Brooklyn, in Boston, with Durant and Irving, in a tense playoff-like atmosphere where the Nets were very clearly trying everything they could to win. Their 12 wins came over Charlotte, Philadelphia, New York, Orlando, Portland, Utah, Miami, Detroit, Houston, Cleveland, and Indiana. 

Their losses were against Toronto, Miami, Boston, Dallas, Memphis, Charlotte, Milwaukee, and Atlanta. 

So they mostly lost to good teams, and mostly beat the bad teams. All the while they were trying to get OUT of the play-in tournament. They were trying to win more than they did. 

Brooklyn has Durant, and that's daunting. They have Irving and that's tough, but also Irving’s reputation is quite inflated. He takes away from Durant and he’s a target for Boston. The Nets play small, and Boston has length that can shoot over the top of them and can bother them defensively. 

Would a series against Chicago have been better? Sure. Would sacrificing home court against an actually good team like Milwaukee be worth that? Nope.