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Regardless of struggling for many of the night time, the Celtics had been in a position to pull out one other clutch win, 102-100, this time towards the Memphis Grizzlies. The win marks their sixth in a row and improves their file to a league-best 11-2.
The Celtics performed removed from their greatest basketball, committing a whopping 8 offensive fouls and ending the sport with 17 turnovers, 8 of which got here from Jayson Tatum.
The Jays struggled general — Tatum had 20 factors, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists, however was quiet for a lot of the night time, whereas Jaylen Brown had 12 factors, 6 rebounds, and three assists, however shot simply 5-16 from the sector.
With Brown and Tatum struggling, Kristaps Porzingis saved the Celtics in entrance, ending the night time with 26 factors, 8 rebounds, and 6 (!!) blocks. He additionally scored the final 4 factors of the ball sport — a pair of free throws and an open dunk off of a feed from Jayson Tatum with a minute to play.
“Emotional sport,” Porzingis stated after the sport. “These guys [the Grizzlies] performed exhausting, they usually got here to win. We needed to grind this one out. We didn’t have our greatest sport.”
With 1:48 to play, Desmond Bane, who had the recent hand for big stretches, hit a three-pointer to drag the Grizzlies forward 100-98. These had been the Grizzlies’ final factors of the night time. On the next Celtics possession, Porzingis caught a tough Jrue Vacation move and was in a position to convert on two free throws.
Then, Brown stole the ball from Santi Aldama, and Derrick White acquired tangled in a bounce ball with Bane. The Celtics had been in a position to keep possession with simply over a minute left to play, and Tatum discovered Porzingis for what ended up being the game-winning dunk.
The final thirty seconds had been as wild as you’ll see within the NBA. After Bane missed a pull-up, Tatum had an opportunity to place away the sport however missed his patented turnaround fadeaway. Derrick White acquired the large offensive board, however Jrue Vacation missed a dunk that just about price the Celtics the sport.
Aldama, nevertheless, missed a possible game-winning three-pointer, and although the Grizzlies acquired one other probability to tie it after securing the offensive board, Porzingis blocked Ziaire Williams’ hoist on the buzzer.
For the Grizzlies, Bane (30 factors, 8 assists) and Aldama (28 factors, 12 rebounds, 6 assists) led the best way. Each hit large photographs all through the night time, however weren’t notably environment friendly, each capturing an an identical 11-27 from the sector.
Jaren Jackson Jr, who was an All Star for Memphis final yr, completed the night time with 17 factors and eight rebounds however struggled with foul bother. Memphis completed the night time with 21 second-chance factors off of 14 offensive rebounds, oftentimes beating the Celtics to free balls.
“I assumed they only performed more durable,” Mazzulla stated in his post-game interview. “I assumed that was only a exhausting enjoying, powerful crew. I don’t assume we took them frivolously, however I assumed they performed more durable for us for certain.”
Memphis was with out Marcus Good — who’s out with a sprained ankle for the following month — however actually performed his scrappy, defensive-minded model of basketball. Memphis was additionally with out Ja Morant, who’s suspended till December, Steven Adams, Brandon Clarke, Luke Kennard, and a number of other different rotation gamers.
“I didn’t assume we deserved to win,” Mazzulla stated, who stated his group didn’t govt offensively nor defensively.
They’ll take the very best file within the league, in any case, and wrap up their highway journey tomorrow in Charlotte.
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