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Key Moment
No Marcus Smart. No Jeff Teague. No Kemba Walker. No problem.
Even without their top three point guards Wednesday night, the Boston Celtics still pulled off their best quarter of basketball of the season, ultimately propelling them to a double-digit win over the Toronto Raptors in Tampa.
After being outscored 32-23 during the first quarter, Boston flipped a switch and outscored Toronto 38-14 during the second frame. The C's did most of their damage during the final 5:34 of the first half, which included a 25-6 run.
Jayson Tatum was the catalyst of that stretch, scoring the first 14 points all on his own. He wound up recording 21 points during the quarter, which made up for more than half of his season-high 40 points on the night.
At the start of its run, Boston had been trailing 40-36. By the end of it, they were riding a 61-46 lead into halftime. The Raptors never came close to regaining the lead after that point, as Boston rolled to a 126-114 victory.
Key Player
On Wednesday night, Jaylen Brown had his first 40-point effort of the season. Five nights later, it was Jayson Tatum's turn to do the same.
Tatum dropped a season-high 40 points, marking the third in his career to reach that number. He was efficient from all over the floor, shooting 11-of-19 from the field, 5-of-8 from 3-point range, and a career-best 13-of-13 from the free-throw line.
Tatum also corralled six rebounds dished out two assists, and blocked two shots, while logging a plus-24 rating during his 32 minutes of action.
And he accomplished all of that just one night after canning the game-winning shot over the Pistons in Detroit. It was quite the set of back-to-back performances for Jayson Tatum, to say the least.
Box Score Nuggets
- Jayson Tatum logged a season-high 40 points.
- Tatum shot a career-best 13-of-13 from the free-throw line, with 10 of those makes coming in the first half.
- Fred VanVleet led the Raptors with 35 points and eight rebounds.
- Robert Williams led the game in rebounding with 15 boards.
- Williams became the first Celtics player in 54 years to corral at least 15 rebounds while playing less than 20 minutes.
- The Celtics shot 15-of-29 (51.7 percent) from 3-point range.
- The Celtics dominated the boards, 56-37.
- Boston led by as many 26 points after trailing by as many as 13.
- Both teams tallied 40 points in the paint.
- The Celtics' bench scored 60 points.
- Grant Williams led the game with three blocks.
Quote of the Night
Grant Williams on Payton Pritchard not getting to play in Summer League before his rookie season.