BSJ Game Report: Celtics 121, Nets 107 - Stars shine, bench contributes, in tournament win

Everything you need to know about the Celtics win over the Brooklyn Nets in their first In-Season Tournament game, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

Both teams were firing in the first. Boston put up 38 points on 30 shots to take a five-point lead against a shot-shooting and scrappy Nets team. Jayson Tatum got hot in the second, joining a hot Jaylen Brown from the first, but some sloppiness cut into their lead heading into the half. Derrick White propped the C’s up the third and the lead got to 17 but the Nets walked it down to nine by the end of the quarter. Tatum’s return ignited a Celtics run that pushed the lead to 21 and the Nets never challenged from there.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Stars bounce back: After a rough combined outing in Philadelphia, Tatum and Brown combined for 51 on 16-36 shooting (9-20 3pt). Brown set the tone with his early scoring and Tatum finished it off in the fourth. 

- Bench steps up: Payton Pritchard snapped out of his slump while still crashing the boards and keeping possessions alive. He found Sam Hauser multiple times, helping fuel a 50% shooting night. Luke Kornet rebounded well and made a nice pass to Pritchard late in the game. Finally, the Celtics got a bunch of things from their second unit. 

- Second chance points: Boston got 17 offensive rebounds in the game, six by Kornet, but more impressively, they got four from Pritchard and three from Jrue Holiday. 

TURNING POINT

The Nets had closed the lead to nine with a long, slow, late third-quarter performance that I refuse to call a run. The Celtics started the fourth on an 18-6 run to push the lead to 21, thanks to nine each from Tatum and Sam Hauser.

THINGS I LIKED

- The guard play: Jrue Holiday was an assist shy of a triple-double. White’s eight-point third quarter was a big deal to keep the Celtics afloat in a rough third quarter. Payton Pritchard had four offensive rebounds to go along with busting out of his slump. Overall, this was a great night for the guards. 

- Hauser’s shooting: Remember when he was shooting 16% on 3-pointers for the season after the Washington game? Well he’s now up to 42.6% after the 5-10 night against Brooklyn. This is why you don’t overreact. 

- Brown’s bounce-back: More on this later, but it’s really important to see Jaylen get it going early and finish with a pretty efficient 28 point night.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Jaylen Brown alone with the bench: He finished as a +6, so they won the minutes with him on the floor. But Tatum, Porzingis, and Holiday were all +20 or better. The lineups with Brown and White were not great. And while I’m willing to cut him some slack because they didn’t have Al Horford, the lineups with Brown on the floor and Tatum off have long been less than great. 

- Four shots for Porzingis? He got to the line five times, so there are a few more opportunities baked into the numbers, but the Celtics were looking to get a lot out of Porzingis in this game. To only get him four shots is not good. It’s not a big deal because they're still figuring themselves out, but this can’t happen that often. 

HIGHLIGHTS

THREE TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Run-of-the-mill game: I’m looking back at everything I’ve included here and I feel like there both isn’t enough here but also that I’ve gotten everything there is to get. 

Sometimes a team just gets a boring ol’ good win. 

- They can’t let Brown get into a slump: I think Brown is just going to take the longest to get comfortable with everything. He wants to take 20 shots per game, and that's just not going to be available to him every night. He also wants to do the other things the team is asking, but that requires a super-high usage rate that isn’t necessary with all the talent on this team. 

“It’s definitely a balance, definitely a challenge just trying to figure that out; when to be yourself and be aggressive, and when to kind of get other guys going and let the game come to you,” he said after the game. “I think that's something that we’re all adjusting to, we’re going to have to continue to get better as the season goes on.”

Brown’s acclimation is paramount for Boston. Porzingis is probably just behind Brown in the adjustment ranks, but he seems to just be content to take whatever comes his way as they figure it out. 

When it comes to Brown, the Celtics have to make sure he’s still getting his opportunities. So the game after a rough shooting night, getting him going has to be a priority. 

- The floor was fine: It was weird, but it was okay. I know people get turned off by new things, especially for a team whose entire identity is history and tradition, but the floor tonight was fine. 

Maybe they could have gotten the green right. Maybe they could have done a parquet center. It could have been better, but there are certainly worse-looking courts around the league. 

Look, the NBA is trying to get a new thing off the ground. That means a lot of promotion and some big swings with things like the courts. If something doesn't work, they just won't do it again next season. 

Personally, I'm withholding full judgement until we see how it all unfolds. 

Up Next: Boston returns to action tomorrow night here at the Garden against the Toronto Raptors