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Key Moment
All it took was four minutes of game clock for the Boston Celtics to turn a one-point deficit into an 18-point advantage over the Brooklyn Nets Wednesday night. Actually, it took only three minutes and 58 seconds to be exact.
With 2:14 left in the first quarter, Brooklyn had a 24-23 lead over Boston. By the 10:16 mark of the second frame, the Celtics, who were playing on the second night of a back-to-back, had run out to a 43-25 advantage.
Three different players fueled Boston’s 20-1 run, with Gordon Hayward accounting for nine points, Brad Wanamaker tallying four points and Robert Williams scoring the remaining seven.
It was Williams who kick-started the run by throwing down an and-one dunk to give the Celtics a 26-24 lead, and they never trailed after that point. Williams returned to the charity stripe 21 seconds later and converted two more free-throws, before throwing down another dunk in alley-oop fashion. In a matter of a minute and 25 seconds, he already had seven points to his name.
Hayward logged all nine of his points during the run in consecutive fashion. He canned a pair of free throws with three seconds left in the first quarter, then made two more 20 seconds into the second, before knocking down a 3-pointer and mid-range jumper.
Wanamaker also scored two of his points from the free-throw line and added two more on a 21-foot pull-up jumper. Though, his defense was just as important, as he logged a steal, a block and two rebounds during the four-minute stretch.
The Celtics never looked back after that scorching stretch, as they went on to win 149-115, giving them their highest single-game point total in nearly 28 years.
Key Player
Rob Williams was perfect Wednesday night in every which way. He didn't miss a shot, he didn't turn the ball over, and the Celtics were simply at their best whenever he was on the court.
After logging only 13 seconds of bubble action through the first three games of the season restart, Williams earned 19 minutes against the Nets and took advantage of each and every one of them. He shot a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, while also canning all four of his free throws to finish with a career-high 18 points. On the defensive end, the third-year big man corralled five rebounds and blocked more shots (three) than the entire Brooklyn team (two).
It's also worth noting that the Celtics outscored Brooklyn by more than a point per minute when Williams was on the floor, as he recorded a plus-21 in 19 minutes of action.
While he may not have had much of a presence during the first three games of bubble action, Williams certainly made a case for more minutes moving forward.
Box Score Nuggets
- Boston's 149 points represented its highest-scoring effort since Nov. 25, 1992.
- The Celtics made a season-high 20 3-pointers on 39 attempts.
- Boston's bench scored 69 points after tallying just 24 points against Miami the previous night.
- All five Celtics starters scored in double-figures, led by Jaylen Brown's game-high 21 points.
- None of Brooklyn's starters reached the 15-point mark.
- The Celtics outscored the Nets by 30 points when Gordon Hayward was on the court.
- Robert Williams logged a career-high 18 points while making all seven of his field-goal attempts and all four of his free-throw attempts.
- Jayson Tatum notched 19 points during just 18 minutes of action.
- Brooklyn tallied 72 points in the paint to Boston's 48.
- Robert Williams blocked more shots (three) than the entire Nets team (two).
- The Celtics blocked 10 shots as a team, with nine of those swats coming from the second unit.
Quote of the Night
Brad Stevens on the win.