The Celtics have, at instances in opposition to sure matchups, struggled with out Kristaps Porzingis. The offense tends to bathroom down, the tempo slows, and the dearth of an alternative choice may be obvious. Their championship hopes definitely hinge on the supply of their massive man.
But even in opposition to a neater matchup, the Celtics produced an encouraging efficiency Tuesday night time with out Porzingis. And generally, it’s so simple as Jayson Tatum being the perfect participant on the ground.
Tatum scored 41 factors – his third 40-point effort of the season – to go together with 14 rebounds and 5 assists because the Celtics dealt with the Nets on the primary night time of a back-to-back with a 118-110 victory in Brooklyn. Tatum scored 31 within the first half, which matched his profession excessive for factors within the first half, and the Celtics led by as many as 23 within the third quarter earlier than needing to carry on late in opposition to the feisty Nets.
Mikal Bridges scored 27 factors and Cam Thomas scored 26 factors for the Nets, who clawed again and took benefit of the Celtics committing 11 second-half turnovers to chop their deficit from 23 to 6 late within the fourth quarter. But when issues acquired tight, the Celtics made sufficient performs down the stretch. Derrick White drilled a 3-pointer with 2:24 to go to revive their result in 9, and after Bridges answered with a triple, Tatum’s layup and ensuing block on Thomas primarily sealed the victory.
All 5 Celtics began completed in double-figure scoring, as Al Horford stepped in for Porzingis with 16 factors and Jrue Holiday added 14 factors with 12 assists. The Celtics, even with out Porzingis, have been balanced all through the night time and stored the ball transferring with 31 assists for 43 made discipline objectives.
Source: www.bostonherald.com