Under the eyes of Cooper Flagg and his Duke teammates, the Celtics set the record straight against Orlando, well led by a former Blue Devil, Jayson Tatum, author of 30 points on 12/21 shooting, more 6 rebounds and 4 assists, against another former university student, Paolo Banchero (21 points).
After their slightly humiliating setback against the poorly ranked Toronto (110-97), and only seven victories in their last fourteen games, Coach Mazzulla's men returned to the front last night against the Magic. And they especially adjusted their sights behind the arc, finishing the evening with an excellent 46% success rate… while Boston struggled at a tiny 28% over their five previous outings!
An address…
“It did us good to suffer this ugly defeat”explained Kristaps Porzingis, author of a very good match with 23 points at 7/10 on shots, on Celtics official website. “It was a bit like a wake-up call for us. We've had a lot of ups and downs lately and losing like that really hurt our pride. Stitch properly actually! Because, [hier] evening, we showed a completely different face. »
And for good reason, the C's announced the color from the start, with a perfect first quarter in terms of skill, with a 6/6 on free throws and a 5/5 on 3-pointers ! With a season record of 61% success in the first half, and a gap which will swell to 27 units in the second, the Celtics had a rather quiet evening against a potential competitor next April. By regaining their defensive balance in particular…
“I found that KP’s circle protection was very, very good,” says veteran Al Horford. “He protected the racket well, we really felt that he made an extra effort to be as present as possible and set the tone. And the whole team defended well when it was necessary to do so. »
…and a defense found
For only the tenth time this season, Boston actually managed to hold its opponent below the symbolic bar of one hundred points scored. A trend to be confirmed for the future, especially since these Celtics have not shown themselves to be masters of consistency this season…
“We were well connected on both sides of the pitch, and particularly in defense,” Tatum appreciated. “Everyone was on the same wavelength, we were on time, we were helpful. Regardless of the plus/minus, our approach was much better in this match. »
Still behind the Cavs at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, the Celtics have one last meeting at home, against the Hawks, before embarking on a four-game road trip on the West Coast. A new challenge that would come almost at the right time for the old hands of Beantown.
“Tomorrow we have another match, and we have to play at this level again,” concludes Porzingis. “That's the good thing when you have a bad stretch in the season, the next game is never until a day or two later, and we have another chance to find our identity. Now we must continue to build on this victory. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Jayson Tatum | 38 | 36.3 | 46.2 | 36.1 | 79.6 | 0.7 | 8.6 | 9.3 | 5.3 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 27.8 |
| Jaylen Brown | 34 | 35.5 | 45.4 | 32.4 | 76.3 | 1.4 | 4.5 | 5.9 | 4.8 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 23.3 |
| Kristaps Porzingis | 18 | 28.4 | 46.5 | 38.1 | 83.1 | 1.9 | 5.2 | 7.1 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 18.8 |
| Derrick White | 39 | 33.6 | 43.8 | 37.2 | 82.5 | 0.9 | 3.3 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 16.1 |
| Payton Pritchard | 41 | 27.7 | 46.8 | 41.5 | 83.0 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 14.5 |
| Jrue Holiday | 35 | 30.7 | 44.9 | 34.2 | 89.1 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 11.8 |
| Al Horford | 33 | 27.3 | 42.7 | 36.9 | 83.3 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 5.3 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 8.5 |
| Sam Hauser | 34 | 20.3 | 43.0 | 37.4 | 100.0 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 7.5 |
| Neemias Queta | 33 | 14.8 | 67.0 | 0.0 | 70.6 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 5.3 |
| Luke Kornett | 35 | 16.1 | 62.4 | 0.0 | 71.7 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 5.0 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 4.5 |
| Drew Peterson | 11 | 9.9 | 50.0 | 41.2 | 85.7 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 3.2 |
| Jordan Walsh | 28 | 8.4 | 34.0 | 25.0 | 50.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.6 |
| Jd Davison | 5 | 4.7 | 40.0 | 33.3 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.2 |
| Jaden Springer | 18 | 3.9 | 28.6 | 0.0 | 70.6 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1.1 |
| Xavier Tillman, Sr. | 24 | 7.3 | 27.8 | 21.1 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| Baylor Scheierman | 6 | 6.3 | 9.1 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
