Every starter except for Blake Griffin scored in the double digits on Friday, as the Celtics won their second game of their latest back-to-back, 122-114, against Utah.
Jayson Tatum was unstoppable and finished with 39 points, shooting 12-for-17 from the field and 5-for-8 from behind the arc. Tatum also shot 10-for-11 from the free-throw line, along with 11 rebounds and four assists. In the past two games, Tatum has scored 79 PTS while going 24-for-35 from the floor (68.6%), 13-for-18 from three (72.2%) and shooting 18-for-19 from the free-throw line (94.7%). In those two games, Tatum has also combined for 19 rebounds and a +43 in 67 min, with zero turnovers. It's great to see Tatum get hot as the regular season enters its latest stage with only four games left.
Second in scoring was Malcom Brogdon, who came off the bench and scored an impressive 19 points, shooting 7-for-14 from the field and 3-for-8 from behind the arc. Brogdon also had seven assists and three rebounds.
Third in scoring for the Celtics was Derrick White with 17 points. The efficiency wasn't all there, shooting 6-for-15 from the floor and 2-for-9 from the three, but the effort was. Marcus Smart was in the same boat as White, scoring a respectable 14 points, but he was chucking up shots, shooting 4-for-13 from behind the arc and 5-for-16 overall. Thirteen shots from behind the arc by Marcus Smart is unacceptable, especially if he isn't making them, but Joe Mazzulla and his philosophy of the three-point shot being what's most important is influencing everyone's shot selection, as they look to focus of creating open looks and firing away when you have one — whether the shots are falling in or not. Clearly, this playing style has worked, considering the fact the Celtics are one of the best offensive teams in the league and the No. 2 seed in the East. However, Smart shouldn't be shooting from behind the arc 13 times in any game.
As for Jaylen Brown, he had his third-lowest scoring game of the season, with an uncharacteristic 12 points. Brown was 5-for-19 from the floor and 0-for-5 from behind the arc.
Griffin was also able to provide energy, setting the tone on defense and taking hard charges from within the paint. Some charges were called, others resulted in Griffin being hit at full speed while gameplay continued with zero consequences. This resulted in the game being more gritty and chippy, motivating the Celtics to fight even harder to close out the Jazz and get the win.
"It's just great to see somebody that was essentially at the top of this league and now in a different role and he doesn't have an ego at all," Tatum said about Griffin. "And he essentially does whatever he needs to do to help us be a better team each and every night."
This is the definition of veteran leadership within the locker room, and you have to give credit to Brad Stevens this offseason for getting the big man.
As for Utah Jazz, Talen Horton-Tucker led the team in scoring with 28 points, shooting 9-for-21 from the field and making all 10 of his free-throws attempts. Walker Kessler was also a problem for the Celtics, scoring an efficient 20 points on 10-for-13 shooting while also grabbing 10 rebounds. The Jazz didn't play a bad game, they just got beaten by a much better Celtics team.
After losing to the Wizards in an embarrassing game, it looks like the Celtics have finally woken up and are playing up to the expectations they created with their dominant play earlier in the season.
