BSJ Game Report: Celtics 123, Sixers 105 - Tatum dominates, Scheierman shines off the bench

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

IN A NUTSHELL

Jayson Tatum dropped a casual 18 points in the first, Derrick White added 10, and Boston led by nine after one period. Boston added seven points to that in a frantic second quarter that saw Payton Pritchard get going again. It got as high as 21 before settling at 19 heading into the third. They opened the fourth on a 10-0 run and it was a wrap. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Easiest game of Tatum’s life: 35 points, seven rebounds, and two assists suggest he did some work out there. In reality, this was the breeziest night of Tatum’s professional life. I’m not sure he even needs a shower the way he was slicing through the Philly defense. 

“I told him after the game, you did your job,” Joe Mazzulla said. “Your job was to score 35 and sit the fourth quarter in a game like this, and he did it, and he was great.”

- Baylor Sheierman balls out: He played 30 minutes, scoring 15 points on 5-10 shooting (3-7 3pt), adding three rebounds and three assists. 

“He was great on both ends of the floor,” Mazzulla said. “I thought he passed up a couple early shots when he was open, and then he got them in rhythm, and he was able to make a couple … I just thought he played a well-rebounded game.”

- Pritchard keeps rolling: 19 points on 50% shooting, six assists, and four rebounds. It wasn’t nearly as dramatic as yesterday, but the 4-8 from 3 is great to see. 

TURNING POINT 

Philly cut it to eight on a Kelly Oubre layup with 7:18 to go. Boston called timeout and went a 22-9 run to get the lead to 20. Philly did get it down to 10 in the third, but they never really threatened.

THINGS I LIKED

- Tatum’s easy night: I wasn’t entirely thrilled that he played in this game, but getting Tatum to sit consecutive nights without a major injury is impossible. But I truly cannot overstate how light this work was for him, even though he put up 23 shots. 

“Joe always tells me each night is solving the puzzle,” he said. “Tonight it was different. Playing with different lineups, understanding that, Nick Nurse and his staff, they do different things defensively. Box-and-one, triangle-and-two, they just throw the different things at you. Joe just came up to me before the game and was like, 'unique puzzle that you gotta figure out tonight, and I look forward to seeing you do that.' Not necessarily score 35 and sit the fourth quarter, but that works too.”

- Baylor Scheierman: He set a career-high, which means we get to say three different Celtics had career-high scoring nights over two games. I thought he was a little shaky to start but he settled into the game nicely. It’s tough for a rookie to take the floor with Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard and not feel that he needs to be looking for them all the time. Once he got past that, he was fine. 

Payton Pritchard: More of the same from Pritchard on a less-ridiculous scale than yesterday. He’s really turned himself into a hell of an NBA player. 

Neemias Queta: He struggled a little early on, got reamed by Mazzulla on the bench, then came back in and produced. 

“I just think he had some opportunities to finish plays in the paint, and with them blitzing and changing defenses, we had to be able to punish that,” Mazzulla explained. “I thought in the first half, we were just a little hesitant on those. In the second half, he did a great job of finishing them. So when you’re hard on a guy like that, I told him that yesterday, I truly think he has a chance to be a good player in this league, and he’s won games for us, and it’s hard sometimes when he doesn’t get to play all the time, but that can’t impact his value. So I really believe in him, and he’s got a chance to be good, so just got to stay on him.”

He had six-straight points in that 10-0 run to start the fourth. 

Torrey Craig: 12 points on 4-5 shooting (2-2 3pt) and four rebounds, all offensive. Here’s hoping this springboards him into more minutes. 

Luke Kornet: Mazzulla complimented Kornet’s screening before the game and Kornet responded by setting great ones all game long. I loved this play: 

He’s such a solid, smart player. He’ll have his bad nights, but he’s become very reliable in this role. 

- Resting Jaylen Brown: Finally.

- Lonnie Walker’s big night: I can put this up here because it didn't matter in the game, but I’m happy Walker got this opportunity and he cashed in on it. He hasn’t exactly been great since signing with the Sixers, but I’m glad to see him have this success. 

“I mean, it just felt good to have a good game, finally,” He said. “I mean, this is like my first really overall better game as far as finding some rhythm and flow within the team and within the league. So more importantly, I’m just happy that I’m starting to get my footing right. But whenever you have a good game against a really good team, it’s always a good feeling, for sure.”

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE.

- The game itself: Yesterday’s game was fun. This game was … a game. It lacked flow and there were long stretches where the in-arena music should have been “yakety sax.” However, I’m not mad that TNT got fed a stinker after how they presented the All-Star game. I’m glad the Basketball Gods got around to making that right. 

- Kelly Oubre: He knocked three Celtics in the mouth, most notably knocking Derrick White’s fake teeth out. He was a menace to the Celtics in this one but never got called for an offensive foul … which Boston’s bench was begging for each time. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Someone get Derrick White some head gear. 

He made it clear after the game that he didn’t want to play with a mouthpiece, but I don’t even know if that would be enough at this point. 

White got clocked by Oubre, which knocked out what turned out to be a temporary bridge that fixed the injury he suffered in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. 

“It’s not a pretty sight, so thankfully I covered my mouth right away,” White explained. “We went to the back and I was trying to debate how I was gonna go back. Then I got some glue, put the mouthpiece on, and I was good to go.”

Tatum was right there when it happened. 

“You just hate to see someone deal with the same thing over and over again,” he said. “I was surprised he came back, but (he's a) competitor. He hates not to play, always wants to be out there. So I'm glad he's doing alright."

White said he’s going to be fine for Saturday night’s game against the Lakers. 

“I was supposed to go in (to the dentist) probably two weeks ago,” White said. “But I kept pushing it off to get my permanent ones. But I’m gonna go tomorrow.”

Next up: The Celtics host the Lakers Saturday night at 8:30