BSJ Game Report: Celtics 139, Nets 96 - Everything goes right in wire-to-wire blowout

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics' win over the Brooklyn Nets, with BSJ insight and analysis. 

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics came out swinging, running off misses, attacking the rim, and then using that to create 3-pointers. The Nets provided a lot of misses for Boston, who built a 30-point lead in the first quarter alone. They basically cruised from there. There was a little lull to start the second but Brooklyn never threatened.

Box Score

HEADLINES

Finally, a hot start: No messing around here for Boston. They started on a 7-0 run, then it turned into a 14-3 run, then 21-3, and so on, and so on, and so on. The Celtics ran off every Nets miss, scoring on 11 of 15 opportunities there. 

3-point shooting returns: The Celtics first quarter featured 20 to 8 points in the paint advantage and a 13-1 fastbreak points advantage, but Boston’s 8-11 3-point shooting in the opening quarter pushed a nice lead into a dominating one. On top of that, the Nets shot 2-12 from 3, which means they were outscored 24-6 from beyond the arc. Boston held on to shoot 48 percent and set a TD Garden record with 26 made 3-pointers. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown evenly split a 14-24 shooting night from deep. 

“I thought they took good shots. I thought they were in rhythm,” Joe Mazzulla said. “I think for them, and for our team, we just had an aggressive mindset from the beginning. We just played proactive basketball at both ends, and I think that helped.” 

Rest for the weary: Brown played 32 minutes, Tatum played 29, Al Horford play 25, and Robert Williams played 19. The Celtics were able to sit all their starters for the whole fourth quarter. Malcolm Brogdon did play in the fourth, but came out quickly and only logged 22 minutes on the night. 

TURNING POINT

The opening tip. I know that sounds like a joke, but the Celtics literally stomped the Nets from the get go. They opened the game on a 41-11 run and finished it 46-16, their biggest-ever first-quarter-point differential. Aside from a minor lull in the second quarter (more on that later), they never looked back. 

FOUR UP

Jayson Tatum: A ho-hum +46 on the night for Tatum, who finished with 31 points in 29 minutes, shooting 12-19 (7-12 3pt), adding 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block. 

Jaylen Brown: 26 points on 50% shooting for Brown, who was also 7-12 from deep. I loved the moment with about eight-and-a-half minutes to go where he drove and instead of rising up for a shot where he could start adding to his point total, he dropped it off nicely to Robert Williams for an easier lay in. That play told me that the Celtics had the right mindset in this game. 

Robert Williams: Another FIVE offensive rebounds for Williams in this game. He’s one of the best in the league on the offensive glass. He finished with 16 points and 9 rebounds, and he even displayed a little jump hook in addition to his putbacks and lob. 

"I think when you have a guy with such great instincts and such great athleticism and he's so unselfish, I think he has a super high ceiling," Malcolm Brogdon said "And Rob’s still young. I think he's trying to get just 100 percent, and I'm not sure he's 100 percent. So his ceiling is I'm not sure what his ceilings will look like." 

Derrick White: 14 points and a season-high 10 rebounds to go along with 5 assists starting in place of Marcus Smart. 

NONE DOWN

There's nothing to complain about in a wire-to-wire win by nearly 50. 

TOP PLAYS

And this is the best one... just watch Day'Ron Sharpe, who fell asleep on his feet. 

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- I’m impressed the Celtics didn’t give the lead back 

If there's one thing coaches hate it’s a big first-quarter lead. Even a 30-point early lead can be whittled away. Cutting it to 18 at the half and down to 10 or less by the fourth is a very easy thing to happen because players tend to back way off when leads get that big. 

Boston had one little stretch where it seemed like that was about to happen. 

“We were down eight to start the second quarter,” Mazzulla said, referring to a stretch where Boston’s lead dipped to 22. They responded with a 17-5 run to close the quarter. “I thought we did a good job responding to it. Credit to our guys, I said it in the locker room, I enjoyed the fact that when you are in situations like that, our guys continue to play hard, compete and play the right way.”

Let’s be honest, most of you were thinking this game would be close, or at least closer than it should have been, at some point in the fourth. I would not have been surprised by that myself, but the Celtics did what they had to do and actually got themselves an easy win. Even if you throw out the 30-point first-quarter lead, Boston still won this game by 13. 

Next up: The Celtics host the Phoenix Suns on Friday night at the TD Garden