Although he was not suited up Marcus Smart received the warmest of welcomes from the Boston Celtics faithful, as he returned to the TD for the first time since his departure in the Kristaps Porzingis trade. Unfortunately for his teammates the Celtics were cooking on gas, as they looked to avenge a poor display in a shock defeat to the Lakers on Thursday night. Jayson Tatum and Porzingis played superbly and picked up the hole left by Jaylen Brown, who sat this one out with an Injury. Boston completely outclassed the injury struck Memphis Grizzlies, scoring 70 in the first half alone and eventually closed it out 131-91.
The best 1st quarter side in the NBA started brightly once again, as they quickly jumped out to an 8-point lead after a Derrick White 3-point shot. The Grizzlies then called time to talk it over and an emotional tribute began. Marcus Smart’s best Celtics moments were displayed on the jumbotron, and the TD Garden crowd rose to give a standing ovation to a fan favourite, later chants rang out of ‘we love Marcus’ and Smart looked emotional taking it all in. Though little changed for the final 6 minutes of the first quarter as the Celtics continued to expose Memphis’ defensive problems and led 29-20 at the end of the period.
Boston continued to exploit the holes in the Grizzlies depleted roster. Tatum displayed exactly why he deserves to be in the MVP conversation, he scored 34 points in just three quarters, contributed 8 rebounds, and dished out 7 dimes to lead the Celtics in all three major stats.
There would be no let up in the second half, as the Celtics continued to dominate on both sides of the ball. Four out of five of Boston’s starters ended the game with +26 or more plus-minus and showed exactly why they are widely regarded as the best starting 5 in the league. Everybody contributed but it was Tatum and Porzingis that really led the way. Porzingis scored 26 points and hauled in 8 boards to partner Tatum’s brilliance.
With the Celtics leading by 23, Joe Mazzulla opted to roll with his bench unit for the entire fourth quarter. They still outplayed the Grizzlies in all departments and Neemias Queta played excellently, as he put up 8 points and 8 rebounds in just 10 minutes of playing time. Jordan Walsh also ran in transition and slammed home an explosive dunk to pick up his first NBA points. In the end Boston walked away with the simple 40-point win.
Head Coach Joe Mazzulla had this to say about the Celtics’ win via ESPN: “I thought we did our job; the game went how it was supposed to go. I thought we played well, we executed, and we came with the right mindset”. Boston will face the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, looking to make it back-to-back home victories.
By Will C
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