On Friday night, the Celtics won in dramatic fashion at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, beating the Pelicans 118-116, moving to 34-15 on the season.
Boston gets the win on the strength of 27 points from Jayson Tatum, who hit a buzzer-beating jumper from 20 feet out with .2 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, securing the Celtics a second consecutive win.
In addition to his 27, Tatum tied his season-high in assists with 10 on the night. Those 10 assists led to 25 points for his teammates.
That’s 52 points accounted for by Boston’s best player, who was selected to his sixth-career All-Star Game earlier this month.
“I [saw] when they scored their last shot, there was 24 seconds left on the shot clock,” said Tatum in the locker room after the win. “So it was all about getting the last shot. We got the matchup that we wanted to get, got our spacing right. It was all about just making sure that we took the last shot.”
Kristaps Porzingis - who was impressive in his own right on both ends of the floor on Friday with 16 points, 4 blocks and 3 steals - told the media postgame that Tatum “was due” for a big moment in a big spot.
“JT, you know - as I said, he was due for a nice game winner,” said Porzingis. “Smooth, looked good, and he did it. He brought us home.”
Leading all Boston scorers on Friday was Tatum’s fellow All-Star teammate Jaylen Brown, who accounted for 28 points of his own, to go along with 4 assists and 6 rebounds.
With tonight’s win marking 5 victories in the last 7 games for Boston, Brown said postgame that he can feel their team rounding into form as the second half of the season continues to roll along.
“Do you think that starting group is starting to find a rhythm?” asked NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin.
“It feels like it - yeah, I think so,” said Brown. “I think we’ve adjusted our offense from last year a little bit, but I think it’s starting to catch into a rhythm now where it feels like us. I feel more comfortable, and we’re playing a little bit faster. Playing through the corners, shooting the ball better. So I think it’s, you know - it makes some adjustments, but I think it’s been good for us.”
The Celtics will look to make it three wins in a row for the first time since January 3 on Sunday, as they’ll head to Philadelphia to take on the 76ers (19-28).
Boston will look to exact revenge on their Eastern Conference rivals, as they dropped their Christmas Day meeting 118-114 at TD Garden.