BSJ Game Report: Celtics 121 , Grizzlies 103 - Impressive showing in first preseason game

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

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics came out with really good pace and tempo against an injury-riddled Grizzlies team and immediately built a lead. Jaylen Brown was on fire right away, dropping 21 in the first half before calling it a night. Derrick White (16 points, 10 rebounds) also looked good, and the Celtics got generally good contributions from everyone who played. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

- So far, so good: It’s still a work in progress, but the Celtics look to be delivering on their promise to play faster. The full strength (... ish… Payton Pritchard, Anfernee Simons, and Neemias Queta didn’t play) Celtics put up 51 shots in the first half and only turned it over four times. That's right where they want to be. 

- Early heat: Brown shot 6-13 overall and 3-6 from 3. More impressively, he went to the line eight times. He forced the issue and put pressure on the Grizzlies and it paid off. White was in mid-season form. Sam Hauser hit half his 3-pointers. Everyone was feeling it. 

- Earning minutes?: Josh Minott looked good and was just as disruptive as we were told after recent practices. Hugo Gonzalez made a strong case for a closer look. Luka Garza was setting strong picks and cleaning up some plays around the rim. Baylor Scheierman hit some early shots. I don’t want to overreact after one game, but this was the best-case scenario from all the guys making a case for minutes. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Jaylen Brown: I wondered if he would take the open shots or if they’d try to run through offensive progressions. Brown answered that question emphatically, but all the shots he took were good ones. I love the eight free throws. 

- Derrick White: You know why. 

- Aggressive defense: The Celtics said they wanted to force turnovers, and they ended up with 13 steals. That's probably inflated by facing an injury-riddled opponent in a preseason game, but they did what they set out to do. 

- Josh Minott: White called him a defensive pest, and we can see why. He showed good energy and strong defensive awareness. The only thing I didn’t like about his night was his 3-point shooting (0-5). The jumper did not look good, but everything else did. 

“He just has a knack for the situation, the play on both ends of the floor,” Joe Mazzulla said after the win. “He's got some good versatility, but he has a knack for the ball and has a knack for just kind of being in the mix.” 

He finished with three steals, a block, and at least a handful of deflections.

- Hugo Gonzalez: The biggest overreactions will be about him because he made a lot of great plays. Most impressively, he finished with a game-high three blocked shots, including a chase-down block in the third quarter. 

He also had a steal that turned into a monster dunk. 

- Luka Garza: A 10-10 double-double for Garza, who set screens good enough all night to have Brian Scalabrine raving. I don’t want to overreact to the game, but I don’t want to undersell this skill. If he can be the best screening big on the team, he will get a ton of minutes. 

“That’s one of my biggest skills, and one thing I can bring to this team is help get guys open,” Garza said in his walk-off interview. “We have so many elite players … you gotta get them open. It’s all about time. It’s all about hitting them at the right time, getting a little bit of separation to get downhill, because when they do our offense just goes, and we can get so many different types of shots.”

Chris Boucher: A good, high-energy game. Didn’t shoot well from 3 (1-6) but he got to the line while adding a steal and a block defensively. 

This alley oop: Minott to Xavier Tillman? I did not see that coming. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Defensive Rebounding: It improved as the game went along, but still allowed 13 offensive rebounds and 19 second-chance points. Boston did win that battle in the box score, but not by much. The offensive rebounding was pretty good, and Boston did win the second-chance points battle, but they let a beat-up Grizzlies team get too many second chances. If that were the Cavs, the score would have been reversed at halftime because of all the second chances. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- I’m impressed with how things went

I’m not going to make any determinations after one preseason game against a Grizzlies team missing all of their good players. Look at this list of guys who didn’t play: 

That said, I liked the intangible stuff. The timing wasn’t too bad, the pace and tempo was good, the effort was there. They came in with a plan and they stuck to it. 

“It was pretty good on both ends of the floor,” Mazzulla said. “We played with the right intentions, the right idea. So we just gotta continue to do that. Some stuff we did well, and obviously stuff that we need to get better at.” 

That sums it up. Given the context of the situation, their first preseason game with a few guys out and working on a new style of play, I come away doing that frowny head-nod of approval thing people do when they are somewhat impressed with something. 

Next up: The Celtics visit Toronto Friday night at 7 p.m.