All lights are green in Boston. Far from the chaotic start to the season last year, and despite the Udoka affair, the Massachusetts franchise did not tremble to maintain its leading position in the East this night despite the absence of Jayson Tatum. The winger left on an exceptional basis, with more than 30 points, almost 8 rebounds and 5 assists per game and logically attracts praise from the NBA world.
The meeting of this night nevertheless made it possible to highlight the sparkling form of two other essential elements of the C’S system: Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown.
An effective connection
With these 7.1 assists per game, Marcus Smart is the main provider of caviar for the “Jay’s”. The Smart-Brown connection is one of the most sought after in the league with 43 assists from point guard to teammate. Only the Haliburton-Hield tandems in Indiana (54) and Green-Curry in Golden State (47) do better. The Smart-Tatum line is also in the Top 10 with 39 assists.
” It has always been like this. I guess that’s highlighted more now that I’m starting at playmaker. But we’ve always had that connection,” assured Marcus Smart. “JB is one of the most athletic players in the league, especially when he comes up the field. Whichever direction he takes, he’s one of the fastest guys. So when he throws himself and he runs, people have a hard time following him and that’s how we get easy baskets, not only for him, but also for our team.
For his part, Jaylen Brown also excels in the “shadow” of Jayson Tatum, with his best career scoring average, at more than 26 points per game and his best shooting percentage in more than 19 attempts per game (50.7 %). The absence of JT this night quite simply allowed him to achieve his best game of the season, at 36 points.
Gone are the days of conflict
The cohesion between the three major elements of Boston is optimal. We are a long way from the declarations at the start of last season, when Marcus Smart publicly lit up his two acolytes, accusing them of not making passes.
Jaylen Brown assures for her part that the internal quarrels were sometimes much sharper between the two oldest members of the locker room of Boston, but necessary to allow everyone to move in the right direction.
” It is my brother. We’ve had ups and downs, we’ve had fights and fights, all kinds of things. You wouldn’t even want to know the details, I promise. But at the end of the day, he’s my brother and I appreciate him trying to get the best out of me.”recalled JB. “He is one of those who always let me know that I am one of the best players in the league and that I must not let anyone forget that. I appreciate him being a great teammate, a great support.”
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Jayson Tatum | 19 | 36.9 | 47.7 | 35.2 | 86.9 | 0.9 | 6.9 | 7.9 | 4.6 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 30.5 |
| Jaylen Brown | 18 | 35.5 | 50.3 | 34.7 | 81.6 | 0.8 | 5.8 | 6.6 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 25.6 |
| Malcolm Brogdon | 15 | 22.7 | 46.4 | 42.9 | 85.7 | 0.9 | 2.8 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 13.3 |
| Al Horford | 16 | 31.6 | 54.4 | 47.9 | 62.5 | 1.3 | 5.3 | 6.5 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 11.0 |
| Marcus Smart | 17 | 32.7 | 41.1 | 31.0 | 84.8 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 7.1 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 3.3 | 10.8 |
| Derrick White | 19 | 26.1 | 47.3 | 43.6 | 87.1 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 10.5 |
| Grant Williams | 18 | 28.3 | 54.2 | 44.8 | 84.6 | 0.7 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 9.3 |
| Sam Hauser | 19 | 16.7 | 50.5 | 47.6 | 66.7 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 7.4 |
| Payton Pritchard | 11 | 10.9 | 46.8 | 44.0 | 62.5 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 5.5 |
| Luke Kornet | 14 | 12.6 | 68.8 | 50.0 | 90.0 | 1.1 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 3.9 |
| Blake Griffin | 7 | 11.3 | 42.1 | 37.5 | 83.3 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 3.4 |
| noah vonleh | 13 | 10.1 | 52.6 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 1.8 |
| justin jackson | 6 | 5.1 | 25.0 | 28.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
| Jd Davison | 3 | 2.8 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
