BSJ Game Report: Celtics 116, Spurs 103 - Tatum, C's start fast, cruise to easy win

Everything you need to know about the Celtics win over the Spurs, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

Jayson Tatum dropped 14 points as the C’s used a 21-4 run to go up 18 after 12 minutes. The Celtics got a little sloppy in the second quarter, turning it over five times, but they still added one to their lead. The Spurs hit five 3-pointers in the third (after hitting just three in the first half) while the Celtics went cold and saw their lead cut to 12. It got down to eight, but the Celtics were able to make a run and put the game away.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- A comfortable home win: Tatum made a point to mention the Celtics struggles at home after they blew Miami out of the water. There was just no way he could say that and follow it up with a poor performance in this game. 

“The last game before All Star break is always mentally I think one of the toughest games of the year,” he said after the game. “It’s a long season, been traveling a lot, guys got plans for vacation with their families and things like that. In recent years we've dropped this game a few times so I thought it was really important the way that we started and made sure that we were just locked in throughout the game. For one, because it was before All-Star break and then because it was at home and we need to do a better job of protecting home court.”

- Tatum’s roll continues: The 14 point first quarter was part of a 32 point night. I know he is looking forward to the break as much as anyone, but he’s now dropped 32, 33, and 40 in his last three games. It’s kind of a shame to stop that kind of momentum right now.

- Torrey Craig debuts: He only played nine minutes, but it was a nice nine minutes that showcased a little shooting and some tough defense. 

“It was crazy,” he said. “The atmosphere, the crowd, the fans. It’s just a joy to play in front of a crowd like that. And yeah, man, I’m just glad I made my debut in the Garden. I’m glad I hit my first shot.”

TURNING POINT 

Kristaps Porzingis and Payton Pritchard hit back-to-back 3-pointers after the lead dropped to eight. That made it a 14-point game and the lead never dipped below double digits after that. 

THINGS I LIKED

- The strong start: Tatum would have looked like a real horse’s behind if he came out slow and lazy after his postgame comments in Miami. The team followed his lead and came to play, going up by as many as 24 and cruising through the rest of the game. It wasn’t a perfect performance by any means, but it was a great start and it felt comfortable for most of the game.

- Rebounding: Boston only allowed six second-chance points. The Spurs were not shy about firing away, but the Celtics were there to clear rebounds and limit putbacks. 

“Our first shot defense is really good, and our defensive shot quality on the first shot defense is high level,” Joe Mazzulla said. “To me, it’s just those margins, right? The rebounding on both ends of the floor, what leads to the runs, gives guys extra shots, and we just have to continue to work on those things that lead to building runs and stopping runs, and to me, that’s part of the process of winning.”

- Jayson Tatum: It feels like Tatum is finally catching a bit of a groove. Not only did he have the 32 points, but he had 14 rebounds and seven assists. If he can carry this through the rest of the season, then maybe he’ll have an argument that the earlier coasting was worth it. This stretch should get him another Player of the Week award.

- Kristaps Porzingis: He had 29 points, even taking Victor Wembanyama into the post. It was the rare play where Porzingis didn’t have a height advantage. 

“The impact that he has on the defensive end, just with his wingspan and his length is, like, historic,” he said. “I felt like I need to (makes pump fake sound effects) give him something to get the shot off.”

The fakes worked. He gave a little fist pump after the play, but nothing he did was as nice as this:  

“A little bit of Jokic, huh?” he joked.  “I just felt that Wemby, the whole time, he was helping, so I knew Al would be open. And then Al made the next read, kicked it to Sam. Sam made it a highlight, because if he missed, then it would have been, eh, whatever. But he actually made the shot. It was perfect.”

- Derrick White: You know why. 

Can I just say how nice it is to have “you know why” White back? He had 19 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, and a steal. Okay, he had six turnovers and some of them weren’t pretty, but I’ll let it slide this time. 

- Al Horford: He was part of some tough defense on Wembanyama. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked two shots. 

“He’s just an innate competitor,” Mazzulla said. “He pays a high-level attention to detail, and what the tendencies are, and he takes pride in his defense, and so people lead in different ways, and he leads us with that.”

- Torrey Craig: We didn’t see much of him, but considering what Boston’s needs are, this game was perfect. More on him separately. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Turnovers: 17 turnovers to be exact, for 22 Spurs points. This game could have been salted away much more easily if they’d taken care of the ball. They certainly let up in the second half, which wasn’t great, but they did enough to hold on. I still would have preferred some garbage time. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- The Celtics are back and things are just fine

.They have won seven of their last eight games and 10 of their last 13. The Celtics have stabilized and they're back to winning. 

“I think we finished heading into the break really well,” Porzingis said. “I think we're still experiencing a little bit, but not as much anymore, that, like people are going off against us, having career highs in threes or whatever. So, I think the luck is starting to turn our way and that's it. We just got to stay with it, and I think, as I said before, I want to speak it into existence that we're going to peak at the right moment, and we're going to hit our stride and just look like a team that's going to win it all again.”

They're 39-16. Last February 12 they were 41-12, so they're really not that far off track after last year’s amazing run. 

So last season’s super-hungry team won 64 games and this year’s team that has played lazy and coasted is only a few games off that pace. 

They still have to follow up on this and finish their final 27 games strong. They went 21-6 over their first 27 games this season, and if they do that again, they’ll get to 60 wins. Even if they don’t, they're still on pace for hell of a season. Eleven of Boston’s championship seasons have come from teams that won fewer than 60 games, so wherever they fall, they’ll be fine. 

Porzingis is right, it’s about peaking at the right time. They're not close to peaking yet, but they look like a team that's on the right path. 

Next up: THE ALL STAR BREAK!