The Boston Celtics managed to win consecutive close games, after beating the Memphis Grizzlies 102-100 on Sunday night. Boston was far from their best but managed to get the job done. Kristaps Porzingis had another excellent performance since joining the Celtics in the summer, putting up 26 points, 8 rebounds and 6 blocks, including an incredible last second rejection on Zaire Williams which sealed the win for the Celtics. The rest of the Celtics starting 5 struggled which kept the game close against a side Boston would expect to comfortably beat.
The Celtics allowed Desmond Bane and Santi Aldama to get going early, as Boston’s perimeter defence collapsed at times providing too many open looks from three. The Grizzlies also outpaced the Celtics, giving up 95 shots (18 more than Boston attempted). Jayson Tatum was far from his usual high standards, attempting only 13 shots and just a singular 3-pointers. He did however still manage to affect the game positively, hauling in 9 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists.
Boston had a good period in the second quarter offensively, which was their best of the match. Sam Hauser extended his hot streak, nailing 5 three-pointers on 5/6 shooting (excluding his full court shot attempt). It was also nice to see some of bench get some minutes, including Neemias Queta who got his first minutes as a Celtic after missing the previous 12 games with an injury. But Aldama continued to dominate, putting up 28 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists.
The Celtics where lucky Memphis is stuck in an awful injury crisis, as they continuously let Aldama and Bane get whichever and whatever shot they wanted. The one Celtics’ star who has yet to find any consistency this season is Jaylen Brown, yet again he had a poor shooting performance scoring only 12 points and shooting just 1-7 from distance. Brown is yet to live up to his $304 million contract, the question is whether he’ll be able to recreate his superb form th3 2023 NBA season.
Again, Boston’s late game execution was their road to success, they continuously made the right plays and eventually came away with the win. The only major mistake was Jrue Holiday attempting a dunk with 9 seconds to go, this resulted in a Grizzlies rebound and an open three-point shot for Aldama. Fortunately for the Celtics he missed, and Porzingis had a clutch block from a Zaire Williams fadeaway to win the game.
Joe Mazzulla commented on the Celtics performance via ESPN: “We were just undisciplined. We didn’t execute defensively as far as our personnel and our tendencies”. Kristaps Porzingis also discussed the team’s efforts after the win: “I tried to take advantage of some of the mismatches. It was just one of those games that kind of happen naturally”. The Celtics will travel to Charlotte to play the Hornets on Monday night looking to extend their win streak.
By Will C
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