Jayson Tatum stars in Boston’s 109-104 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. The Celtics were without Jaylen Brown, Kemba Walker, and Robert Williams tonight and their absences showed. The Nets had even scoring from their team. 5 players scored in double digits and 8 players scored 8+ points. Marcus Smart got off to a slow start tonight, but was very dominant in the 3rd and made some good defensive plays down the stretch. Outside of Smart, Pritchard, and Tatum, Boston did not get good performances. Boston had 19 turnovers tonight and the Nets scored 17 points off those turnovers. In the fast break department, Brooklyn outscored Boston 32-3. Joe Harris had 20 points on 4-7 shooting from 3. Kyrie Irving struggled, but was a rebound shy of a triple double. Tough loss for Boston.
STAR OF THE GAME
Before tonight’s game, Jayson Tatum shot 3-17 from the field in two straight games. Tonight, Jayson Tatum showed the world why that was just a rough patch and that he is a great player. Tatum had 38 points on 14-27 shooting and was 6-12 from 3. He also had 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Down the stretch he did miss a couple of key free throws, but if it wasn’t for Tatum’s 38 points tonight, Boston would have lost by 20+. Even in the games Tatum shot 3-17, he had a triple double in one of them and was 4 assists shy of another one. Tatum knew that with Brown and Walker out tonight, he needed to be a scorer. Jayson Tatum continues to get better each and every game and it is honestly amazing to see.
BIGGEST CONCERN
In the first two matchups this season between these two teams, Kyrie Irving has scorched his old team. Tonight, he was not that great offensively. Kyrie had 15 points on 4-19 shooting and was 0-6 from 3. What is so concerning about that? Brooklyn basically dominated Boston from the 2nd quarter on with their best player struggling. Boston got swept in the season series against the Nets while never facing their big 3. The Nets were without 2 of the top 10 players in the league and still beat the Celtics pretty convincingly. Boston is 0-6 against the Nets and 76ers this year.
SURPRISE CONTRIBUTION
Payton Pritchard has had a pretty amazing rookie season. He was the 26th pick and immediately made an impact on this Celtics team and after the trade deadline, he became Boston’s primary backup point guard. Tonight though, he was outstanding. He had 22 points on 8-12 shooting and 6-7 from 3 point range. Those 6 3’s tied a career high. He even made some pretty impressive deep 3’s tonight as well. Pritchard has been playing great basketball recently, but tonight he stepped up to a different level when the Celtics needed him to.
Next Game
At Charlotte Hornets, Sunday, April 25th at 10:00 AM
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