Celtics
Jayson Tatum and the Celtics pulled out a 118-106 win over the Nuggets in a sport that featured a Kristaps Porzingis damage scare.
Jayson Tatum and the Celtics closed a troublesome highway journey with a 118-106 victory over the Nuggets (sans Nikola Jokic) on Tuesday, pulling away within the fourth quarter for a double-digit win.
Listed here are the takeaways.
Jayson Tatum took over late.
Tatum sat the primary 4 minutes of the ultimate interval, however when he returned, he took over on each ends, scoring seven of his 29 factors within the last seven minutes to go together with a pair of assists, a steal and a block.
On an evening when the Celtics weren’t notably environment friendly and weren’t notably spectacular from deep, they rode Tatum for prolonged stretches, although Tatum himself was off from 3-point vary.
The excellent news for the Celtics? Tatum has been elite in isolation this season – 1.20 factors per possession getting into Tuesday’s sport, by far the perfect mark within the NBA – and he continued to shine towards the Nuggets. Even Peyton Watson, a really promising younger wing defender for the Nuggets, didn’t actually have something for the Celtics’ MVP candidate.
Tatum completed 11-for-23, however he was 10-for-15 contained in the arc (and an icy 1-for-9 exterior of it). His first eight subject targets have been all both dunks or layups, and he didn’t make a jumper till he lastly made his first three of the sport with slightly below two minutes remaining within the third quarter.
Because the Celtics’ hunch from 3-point vary continues, Tatum’s capability to get to the rim has taken on extra significance – he’s capturing 65.6 % contained in the arc this season.
A scary second with Porzingis (who was tremendous).
Porzingis had an enormous first quarter although he wanted to take a break on the two-minute mark after crumpling to the bottom in a scary second for Celtics followers.
The excellent news for Porzingis? He returned earlier than the quarter was completed, as a result of the damage wasn’t severe (he bought kicked within the groin).
The dangerous information? It felt fairly severe within the second.
“It was actually fairly painful, I’m not going to lie,” Porzingis informed reporters afterward. “However it went away fairly fast, so it’s all good. I do know I scared everyone, but it surely’s all good.”
Porzingis had a pleasant sport, particularly early on – he scored 15 of his 25 factors within the first quarter. With Jokic out, Porzingis dominated the offensive glass particularly – he pulled down 5 offensive rebounds and scored put-back buckets on 4 of them.
Porzingis bought dunked on (after which he didn’t).
Within the first half, Michael Porter Jr. introduced down an enormous one-handed sledgehammer on Porzingis, who tried and failed to satisfy him on the rim.
Unphased, Porzingis went as much as problem DeAndre Jordan within the second half with a really totally different consequence.
Difficult 2025 DeAndre Jordan is slightly totally different than difficult him 5-10 years in the past may need been.
Nonetheless, credit score to Porzingis for risking his delight a second time in the identical sport.
Jrue Vacation and Al Horford made massive pictures.
The Celtics have been as soon as once more considerably chilly from three (12-for-35 for 34 %, however 5-for-16 within the first half). Two gamers, nevertheless, discovered the vary although they haven’t been fully constant this yr: Jrue Vacation and Al Horford, who shot 3-for-7 and 3-for-5 respectively.
Most notably, Vacation – who scored 19 factors – made all three of his triples within the second half, together with one with simply over seven minutes remaining that pushed the Celtics’ lead from two to 5 as they launched into the run that basically put the sport out of attain for the Nuggets.
Horford, in the meantime, buried his third 3-pointer a minute later – capping a fast 10-0 run on the six-minute mark because the Celtics took a 103-93 lead.
When the Celtics make 3-pointers, a detailed sport can turn into a blowout fairly shortly.
By the way, the Celtics at the moment are 47-2 all-time when Vacation scores 14 or extra factors.
Sam Hauser: Excessive-flying defender.
Late within the third quarter, Hauser flew in from behind Porter Jr. and rejected a dunk try by the Nuggets ahead, solely to be whistled for a foul. An indignant Hauser motioned that the bench ought to overview the decision, and when replays confirmed that Hauser had certainly blocked the dunk cleanly, they obliged.
The second was notable partly as a result of Hauser doesn’t get loads of blocks and understandably appeared to need credit score the place it was due.
However it was additionally a great signal for Hauser, who has been coping with again points this season and hasn’t at all times appeared like himself bodily.
He completed with 9 factors on 3-for-5 capturing, two rebounds and – crucially – one block.
The Celtics completed the highway journey 3-1.
The highway journey is over, and it was unquestionably successful, albeit a considerably muted one.
Coming into the journey, a 3-1 consequence felt optimistic. The back-to-back from Minnesota to Houston was going to be a problem. A 3:30 begin time towards the Thunder lower than 48 hours after the Rockets sport was maybe under-discussed in an comprehensible effort to keep away from making excuses. The Nuggets are robust even throughout a down yr, notably at altitude. Three wins in 4 makes an attempt is sweet work.
And but, whereas the Celtics discovered methods to win, they didn’t fully resolve the problems that led to their 5-5 stretch earlier than the highway journey. Most notably, the 3-point capturing remains to be lackluster, and whereas it’s a lot too far to say “when the Celtics’ capturing is mediocre, they’re mediocre,” it’s clearly truthful to say that in the event that they don’t shoot effectively, they’re much less formidable.
The Celtics additionally didn’t precisely dominate Tuesday’s sport, although Jokic – the NBA’s plus/minus king by a mile – was in poor health and couldn’t play. They grinded out a pleasant win and confirmed some resilience down the stretch, but when it doesn’t really feel just like the Celtics are returning to Boston as conquering heroes regardless of going 3-1, the truth that they couldn’t blow out a crew that performs prefer it belongs within the lottery with out its famous person most likely has one thing to do with it.
After all, the requirements to which the Celtics are held are undeniably inflated. They’re anticipated to be good as a result of they set the bar so excessive for themselves – an elite crew with back-to-back aspirations who’ve proved over their final 5 outings that they will win even when a crew takes away their most well-liked quantity of 3-pointers. It’s laborious to fret excessively a couple of crew on tempo for 59 wins with a internet score of +11 (per Cleansing the Glass) this season.
That’s to not say the Celtics are above query – they aren’t invincible, particularly once they miss 3-pointers, and hyper-aggressive defenses just like the Magic and Thunder have proven that there are methods to journey them up.
However the Celtics have maintained loads of elite metrics, and they’re discovering loads of other ways to win.
Not dangerous for a championship hangover.
Returning dwelling
The Celtics will now head again to TD Backyard for a matchup with the Kings on Friday earlier than the Pelicans come to city on Sunday. After a busy stretch, they now play simply three video games in eight days.
Join Celtics updates🏀
Get breaking information and evaluation delivered to your inbox throughout basketball season.
