Coming off a night of miserable shooting from the Boston Celtics, where they completed just 9 of 42 3PA, the team bounced back in true fashion against Cleveland. Although things started slow for Jayson Tatum, he and the team quickly picked up steam in the second quarter and kept the lead for the rest of the outing. While Tatum might have stolen the show, he wasn't the only reason the Celtics came away victorious in a hard fought win.
For their opponent, credit is also due to Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland along with the rest of the Cavaliers ensemble who kept the pace and played hard down the stretch. They are a legitimate threat in the Eastern Conference, however the Celtics reminded their opponents what they are made of. In a dominant second half performance, Mitchell poured in repeated buckets, leading the game with 44 points along with most minutes played. Garland was able to drain late game clutch shots which severely cut into the Celtics lead and put everyone on edge.
Name a National Holiday After Al Horford
In a near perfect shooting outing, the veteran big man, Al Horford shot the lights out all evening. He cashed 6-8 from three and 8-10 overall with a single free-throw to go with it. Big Al also contributed 11 rebounds on the night giving himself a double-double performance. Horford has remained a tremendously clutch player for Boston, especially in times of need. At what point do we name a holiday after this man?
Additional Key Celtics Performance Takeaways
Jayson Tatum: The soon to be 25 year old put up 41 points with 11 rebounds and 8 assists almost delivering his third ever triple-double. He turned the jets on starting in the 2nd quarter and they never cooled down. He also threw down an electric put back dunk that got TD Garden fired up.
Robert Williams: Rob very much looked like his normal Rob self. He was bouncy, playing aggressive defense and swatting shots. He also was perfect from the offensive side, securing big buckets in the paint.
Marcus Smart: What an all around performance from the Celtics veteran. Marcus had 14 points and 3 steals along with two clutch time free throws to close out the game. He was there each time the Celtics needed him. Love and trust.
Sam Hauser: Seemingly showing the haters that his slump is over, it's good to see him firing the ball from a catch and shoot with such a degree of confidence. His three point shooting has been fantastic the last few weeks.
Derrick White & Malcolm Brogdon: Both players had surprisingly quiet nights based on the way they have both been playing the last several weeks. This didn't stop the pair from contributing to the team effort in other ways.
Looking Forward
Interestingly, Joe Mazzulla did not show Grant Williams a second of playing time last night in a rather surprise rotation move. We have also seen less and less minutes from Payton Pritchard over the past few games. Each time we think we've figured out Coach Joe's strategy we are left even more confused. With that said, the Celtics are winning games and excelling so he must be doing a whole of things right.
Looking forward, Celtics match up against the Nets on Friday night for the fourth time this year. Until then, let's go Celtics!
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