Banner Town Breakdown: Jaylen Brown Leads the C’s to a Dominant Win Over Memphis
AP Photo | Michael Dwyer | ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Celtics looked to get over .500 in their first back-to-back of the season against the Memphis Grizzlies (1-2). This is the last game in 2020 for Boston, so getting more settled and starting 2021 on the good foot was crucial against an undermanned Grizzlies squad without young studs Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. among a slew of other absences (De’Anthony Melton, Jontay Porter, Killian Tillie, Xavier Tillman, and Justice Winslow).
With Tristan Thompson resting due to his right hamstring strain recovery, and Javonte Green out for what seems to be a potential COVID exposure, Boston will run a lineup with Teague and Smart in the guard spots with Daniel Theis operating at the 5. Tacko Fall was listed as questionable (eye irritation) and the usual suspects of Walker and Langford were listed out, as expected.
The biggest things Boston needed to work on this game were on the defensive end, especially in transition. Boston has recently been bitten by the turnover bug, and the same 3rd quarter implosions that cost them a Finals appearance in the bubble seem to be persisting. As a team, tackling these trends against a lesser team is not only expected but vital to the team self-diagnosing the issues that have plagued them. Getting back on defense and being smart with possessions will alleviate a lot of these struggles.
Both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown showed up in a big way tonight, with both getting hot early on. Brown was particularly hot on the night, dropping 26 points in the first half alone (10/15 shooting, a scalding 6/8 from deep, 5 reb, 1 ast). While dealing with a sprained thumb in his left hand, Jayson Tatum also did his damage with 14 points (5/9 shooting, 3/5 shooting from deep), as both young guns were shooting with confidence from behind the arc. Boston managed to rip off six steals in the first quarter alone against the Grizzlies’ skeleton crew, and the punishment continued.
Boston managed to score 30+ points in each of the first two quarters, and by the time the first half wrapped up the Celtics had a stranglehold lead of 66-40. Boston’s bench didn’t score as much as previously, but that’s partly due to players being out as well as Boston’s star duo putting in serious legwork. The team was still having turnover issues, but overall, it made little to no impact thanks to how well Boston played otherwise.
The Celtics scored at least 30 points in every quarter and outscored Memphis on the fastbreak 29 to 8. The Celtics still had 16 turnovers, but Boston’s defense only allowed 12 points off lost possessions. On the flip side of things, the Celtics tallied an absurd 17 steals and 36 points off turnovers, and despite Memphis never giving up, Boston won this game with ease, 126-107.
Jaylen Brown had himself a night, setting a new career-high in points with 42 points in 29 minutes (on an absurd 15/21 from the field, 7/10 from deep, 5 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl). Jayson Tatum had a good game as well with 16 points on 6/12 shooting (3/5 from deep, 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), but it was evident that JT had no problem taking the back seat on Brown’s big night. Marcus Smart continues to show patience offensively, dropping 14 points and 4 assists and shooting 5/11 (4/9 from deep). Robert Williams had another solid outing with 6 points (3/4 shooting) and 10 rebounds in addition to 4 blocks. Payton Pritchard has continued to prove himself, notching 8 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals on 4/6 shooting.
Boston did a great deal to be proud of this game, and while they did not win the 3rd quarter, they didn’t collapse entirely as they have in some games and only lost the 3rd by one point (31-30). The turnovers were still an issue, but due to Memphis lacking the firepower needed to punish Boston, as well as the Celtics cracking down on transition defense, they avoided getting burned this game. Moving forward, I would hope Boston continues to work on good possessions and letting Jaylen Brown lead the offense in spurts if Jayson Tatum is having an off night. Brown has shown himself more than capable of leading on the offensive end, and based on the effort we saw tonight, Brown may just play himself into All-Star status this season.
