1 day Ago By Tom Westerholm
By Tom Westerholm Jaylen Brown and the Celtics won a big game (at least by Emirates NBA Cup standards) on Friday, pulling away down the stretch for a 108-96 victory that could have important implications. Here are the takeaways. Jaylen Brown grinded out a big evening.
The normally 3-point happy Celtics were a catastrophic 11-for-46 (23.9 percent) from behind the arc on Friday, and Jayson Tatum was way off as well. That put the onus on Jaylen Brown’s capable shoulders, and while he wasn’t particularly efficient either (11-for-27 overall, 3-for-13 from three), he scored a game-high 31 points, adding 11 rebounds and five assists.
Late in the game, Brown was part of an important stretch when the Celtics pulled away, as he and Tatum scored six consecutive field goals for the Celtics inside the arc. Activate Fadeaway Jays 🎯 pic.twitter.
com/zf6QEtEEOB When the Celtics can’t get their 3-point shot working, having a player like Brown who seems to prefer to operate in the paint is crucial. Brown hoisted a couple of 3-pointers that looked less than advisable, but Joe Mazzulla often likes to talk about doing what the game requires, and Brown gave the Celtics precisely what they needed on an ice cold evening. What does this mean for the NBA Cup? Curiosity over the implications for the NBA’s in-season tournament saved what was otherwise a very ugly game.
The Wizards did give the Celtics a bit of a boost down the stretch by trying to foul and extend the game, which allowed Jrue Holiday and Jayson Tatum to increase the lead to 10. With 10 seconds left, Wizards coach Brian Keefe called timeout, which stopped the action and signaled that all bets were off and everyone was chasing point differential. Unfortunately for Keefe and the Wizards, extending the game did not work in favor of the NBA’s worst defense — perhaps predictably, it worked in favor of the defending champs.
The Celtics won by 12, which raised their point differential to +15 in their group — a big result on a night when the group-leading Hawks trailed the Bulls by double-digits in the second half. We will have a full picture of the Cup implications later this evening after the Bulls and Hawks wrap up, but on a night when the Celtics weren’t particularly impressive, things still seemed to break their way pretty nicely (and they might owe Keefe — a Winchester native — a small Dunkin gift card for his help down the stretch). Luke Kornet helped keep the Celtics alive in the first half.
After a DNP-CD against the Cavaliers on Tuesday, Kornet had a nice first half off the bench with six points and a notable impact defensively. Kornet caught an alley-oop without looking at the rim and threw it down behind his head and put together a better defensive outing than Neemias Queta, who started the first half (but not the second). Kornet also had a funny moment — at one point late in the second quarter, Kornet found himself isolated against Wizards rookie Carlton Carrington.
Carrington pump faked and jabbed at Kornet, but in the process, he shuffled his pivot foot and was whistled for a travel. Kornet, who wobbled backward on one of the jab steps, pumped his fist and jogged back grinning — clearly aware that if Carrington hadn’t traveled, Kornet might have ended up on a highlight reel. First he gave us the Kornet Kontest.
Now he gives us the Wizard Wobble. Luke's distraction methods are elite. pic.
twitter.com/BEN4DZJUz9 Kornet finished with six points, six rebounds, an assist, a block and a big steal down the stretch. Jayson Tatum was way off.
After putting together a monstrous performance against the Cavaliers, Tatum couldn’t find the range on Friday, finishing with 16 points on 6-for-19 shooting. He never stopped shooting, but he never broke through and finished 0-for-10 from behind the arc, and he had a couple of uncharacteristic turnovers. Perhaps Tatum’s worst two shots were a pair of very deep 3-pointers that weren’t particularly close and didn’t really make sense within his personal flow of the game.
Tatum did make a couple of turnaround jumpers in the fourth quarter, and he finished with nine rebounds and eight assists. The assists could have been higher if the Celtics hadn’t been ice cold as a team from 3-point range – he created a number of opportunities that his teammates clanked off the rim. Still, on a night when the Celtics had a prime opportunity to win by quite a bit to give themselves a better shot at advancing in the Emirates NBA Cup, their MVP candidate did not look like himself.
Bill Nye was in the building. The Wizards might not have a good basketball team, but they did have a pretty cool celebrity row on Friday. Bill Nye the Science Guy is here at Wizards-Celtics and the Wizards played the theme song from his show.
pic.twitter.com/6sbAbCaMCt Jaylen Brown, meanwhile, got to meet him afterward.
Jaylen Brown got his wish pic.twitter.com/WQiPHZXy7V Three games in four nights Friday’s game was the first in a three-games-in-four-nights stretch for the Celtics, who now face the Minnesota Timberwolves in Boston on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.
m. The Clippers will be in town on Monday evening at 7:30 p.m.
We will have more takeaways later this evening. Sign up for Celtics updates🏀 Get breaking news and analysis delivered to your inbox during basketball season. Be civil.
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